Hummer H1 end a hollow symbol for environmentalists

Hummer's H1 and Toyota's Prius have both earned too much attention from people concerned with the environment, though from different ends of the scale. That is to say, the former is the target of too much criticism, and the latter is the recipient of too much praise.

2006 Hummer H1 Alpha (Photo: General Motors)

Consumer experience and competitive challenges will bring the Prius down to earth one day soon, but corporate reality has already caught up with the vehicle which caused me to create the expression "sport-brute" to describe its general characteristics.

General Motors has just announced that it would no longer market the original civilian Hummer model after the end of the 2006 product year. By the way, it's worth pointing out that only 12,000 H1 models were sold anywhere, and that GM of Canada never sold it in this country at all.

Many environmentalists reacted to this decision like they'd brought down the largest purveyor of pollution in the world, scourge of the land and defiler of the air. In reality, the H1 looked more than played the part of environmental curse.

2006 Hummer H1 Alpha (Photo: General Motors)

Sure, the H1 has terrible fuel economy ratings and is capable of going to parts of this largely unspoiled continent to leave tread marks and gum wrappers in places that no other vehicle could reach. You couldn't drive it fast because it handled like, well, a military vehicle that was designed to go at slow to formal speeds over any kind of terrain except a paved road. It was also hard to get into, noisy and uncomfortable. Everything a modern vehicle is not supposed to be, in fact.

But that's not the kind of thing H1 owners were looking for. They wanted something that other self-indulgent rich people didn't have, and the less sense it made for the real world the better. For that, it was perfect.

Consider that it's must famous regular customer was Arnold Schwarzenegger, when he was still a genuine movie star in the early 1990s. The Gubernator of California bought an H1 shortly after it was created for public use from the Humvee military vehicle, and their combined public profile kept his macho image alive and made the vehicle into the icon that GM cashed in on in 2000.

2006 Hummer H1 Alpha (Photo: General Motors)

When GM did that licensing deal with the Indiana firm that makes the H1, more than anything the Detroit-based car company wanted access to the Hummer (pronounced Who-mare in Paris) name, so it could hang the badge on some more sensible products.

Not long afterwards GM unveiled the smaller but still imposing H2, using a modern truck architectures with a body mimicking classic Hummer styling points. A smaller H3 followed about a year ago, and we can expect more variations on the theme in due course, all sporting the same basic appearance but a much more benign environmental attitude. Indeed, I'm betting right now that we see a Hummer Hybrid before the end of the decade, with electrical outlets on the outside so its owners can do the environment a favor and plug in a frying pan to cook those burgers rather than running a stationery generator or, worst of all, lighting a barbecue.