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Greenblade -> new "H1" or super-hummer with another name forthcoming? (5/17/2006 4:36:57 AM)
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A brother and I were talking hummers today, and wondering why GM killed the H1, postulating as best we could about why they would kill the flagship of the brand & such a cultural icon at that.
The "bad rap" of the H1s mileage, size, and all? In the end it seems, the H2 is the one under the most attack, not the H1, which is sheltered somewhat from the lonney toon episodes by its military origins. The lack of sales? As i mentioned in the other thread, I can't imagine that they lose much money selling humvees at a $100,000 markup with basically no marketing efforts, etc.
And as Ferrari periodically releases a world-beater, like the GTO, F40, F50, and Enzo, as Porsche has its 959 and Carerra GTs, Corvette has its Z06s et al., etc. and so on... brands with performance/status/cool aspirations are well served by their flagships. And the H1 is, in a way perhaps, a better flagship than any of those, because its the origin of the thing rather than an occasional engineering exercise. While we certainly don't know, and aren't privvy to inside information of course, we hypothesized that perhaps a replacement flagship was in the works.
The logic behind such a thing isn't hard to imagine. The Humvee is now an ~25 year old design that was designed only for utility in its varied military roles. If such a truck was designed even somewhat from new, it could be made so incredibly much better on so many levels. Legroom could be vast for its 4 occupants, the engine/frame could be designed to isolate motor noise to a 1000x higher level, sound deadening could be taken into consideration, and you could make a truck (at that insane price point) that was both uber-lux AND humvee capable. It wouldn't take many changes to make massive improvements in alot of the areas that aren't up to modern-vehicle standards.
And perhaps deliver a vehicle that would attract buyers who wanted something expensive and rare and exotic and all... but couldn't live with the sins of the H1. Those for whom the H2 is too common, and the H1 is too crude. All they have now is the Range Rover, which while devilishly handsome, really doesn't cut the mustard as a super-vehicle. And the Range isn't a better all around truck than the H2, it's just a socially safer choice for people wanting to slip under the radar a bit more than the hummer allows, and it has a higher base price & more conventional styling, which would interest some people as well.
The counter to this basic logic would be that GM is in financial trouble, not historically prone to super-vehicle development, and perhaps not prone to thinking the long-term through (at least historically). And the cost of developing such a vehicle wouldn't be low, although it might not be all that bad.
OK, that's late night contemplation in a shade of green. [:D]
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