By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

When we drove the original Hummer a few years ago we got stares at every stoplight. We were questioned in parking lots. We even were followed into a driveway where we had pulled in to visit a relative.

That vehicle, similar to the one that patrols the streets of Baghdad, is now called H1 in the new General Motors/AM General parlance.

AM General still builds the original — with a price tag well into six figures — as well as the military version.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

Last spring Car and Driver magazine gushed over the off-road prowess of the Hummer H3. It was the hands-down winner in rock crawling and hill climbing against some stiff competition. But the writers sent the small Hummer out to the woodshed for a good whupping over its lack of horsepower. It could hardly get out of its own way on the highway, they opined.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

As sales dwindle and the brand looks for a new owner, the “right size” Hummer H3 sport utility vehicle is still an award winner.

In 2008 the H3 captured Four Wheeler magazine’s “Four Wheeler of the Year” award, Truck Trend magazine’s “Best in Class” honors, and Intellichoice’s “Best Overall Value of the Year” in the intermediate utility segment.