![]() Image Credit: REUTERS / Alamy Stock Photo The Hummer H2 SUT was branded as an evolution of the Hummer H2 SUV (Sport Utility Vehicle). In addition to its ravenous petrol consumption, the Humvee was, in many ways, wildly impractical for everyday use by civilian drivers, but Schwarzenegger’s wishes were nonetheless realised in 1992 when AM General began selling a civilian version of the M998 Humvee.Īctor Arnold Schwarzenegger poses with a Hummer H2 SUT (Sport Utility Truck) in New York on 10 April 2001 at the world premiere of the concept vehicle. That the future Governor of California didn’t regard the Humvee’s gas-guzzling performance (the average fuel efficiency of a military-grade Humvee is around 4 mpg on city streets) as a barrier to commercial success says a lot about changing attitudes to fuel economy. In fact, he was so smitten that he contacted the manufacturer, AM General, to share his passion for the Humvee, insisting that it should be made available to the public. Inspired by a military convoy he spotted while filming Kindergarten Cop in Oregon, the action movie star became a huge fan in the early 1990s. Perhaps fittingly, the Hummer’s reputation as the ultimate tough guy vehicle was driven by the enthusiastic endorsement of Hollywood’s ultimate tough guy, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Here’s the story of how a robust military vehicle made its way to city streets across America. With its lumbering ex-military build and rugged design, the vehicle swiftly became a favourite of ‘macho’ men, even briefly being advertised with the slogan, ‘reclaim your masculinity’. In 1992, the Humvee was rebranded for civilian use as the Hummer. The Humvee’s rugged build and stability off-road made it a mainstay of US military operations in the Middle East for several years. The Hummer evolved from the military Humvee (High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle), a model first used by the US military in Panama in 1989 and then used frequently during the Gulf War of 1990-1991. But when did Hummers first emerge, and how have they evolved over the years? Some may point out that these enormous, cartoonishly rugged SUVs are better suited to the battlefield than civilian roads. Given its tank-like proportions, the fact that the Hummer was initially developed as a military vehicle probably won’t come as much of a surprise. ![]()
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