Yay! The Hummer is saved!

Joined: 06 Jul 2003 Posts: 8380 Location: Central CA

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090602/bs_nm/us_hummer_10

The rich man's favorite toy and the yuppy soccer mom's favorite suburban guerrilla school bus is still gonna be there for the one percenters. Isn't that just great???

And even though they're gonna be built by a Chinese company, they will still have a $31000-70000 price tag so yes all you aspirants to the nobility, they'll still be a status symbol.

Our fricking governor had EIGHT of the damned things before it started affecting his political status. Who in the hell needs EIGHT fricking Hummers???

I remember a few years ago a lady here in our town won some kind of contest. Her prize? She got to drive one of Arnies Hummers for a year.

Hummers. Bleh! Let the damned thing die a natural death. Or better yet, gather 'em all up in one spot and blow 'em the hell up.

Joined: 22 Dec 2007 Posts: 461

Way back when the hummer was actually made by AM General which was part of AMC for awhile. When it comes down to it it's really a military type of vehicle.

I know people that have test drove one at some fair. Nearly bragged how you can feel nothing by driving on top of a curb...why is that a good thing?

I don't exactly like SUV's. Sure if you have a trade that demands hauling things by all means have one. plumbers, carpenters, electricians etc.

So many though drive them with NOTHING in them. Paying money for just moving extra empty air. Then I've heard arguments of that since you are higher you'd get a better view of the road...actually a gps has a better view. And if that argument was taken personally (people walk more than they drive) we'd all be walking on stilts!

www.keenzo.com/showproduct.asp?M=AIR-TREKKERS&ID=1452048&ref=GB

Besides I like having the ability to turn and and drive without feeling sluggish. Outside of those that hold positions that need it I think SUV's were largely a 90's fad that gradually is dying off.

Joined: 06 Jul 2003 Posts: 8380 Location: Central CA

I've also heard the argument that it's great for intimidating the poor working stiffs in their tiny little volks cars... in other words, if it becomes necessary to run over a normal size vehicle because you were applying your makeup or shaving with one hand, drinking your Starbucks Latte Creme Mocha MoFo with the other, yapping to Aunt Mabel on the cell phone about what a positicvely horrendous day you're going to have and didn't see the little bastard stop for the red light ahead, it's going to be the other guy that gets maimed or hurt as he passes under your urban version of an M1-A1.

As for hauling anything... why a Hummer? Pickup trucks are made for hauling. No matter it's size, the Hummer, or at least the H2 is just another misconceived cross between a truck and a family sedan. And like most such concoctions it doesn't do either as well as a plain old pickup with a crew cab. Go on out to a construction site or a ranch somewhere and see what people actually use for WORK trucks.

From the viewpoint of practicality, the Hummer was never anything but another yuppy status symbol and once it was glommed onto by GM, I don't think it was really ever MEANT to be anything else. The perfect example of creating a market where none really existed. Just another means by which to exploit the purely American passion for conspicuous consumerism and rubbing it in the faces of the rest of the planet.

Once again GM blew it by taking a vehicle that actually fit in a certain (albeit small) niche... which was not that of a family car... when it was being manufactured by AM and turned it into just another attempt to make it appeal to a broader audience at the same time that audience was going away in large herds.

This is one of the main reasons why they're bankrupt and you and I now own a car company.

Joined: 08 Jul 2003 Posts: 6309

I've heard people crying that when they bought a SUV that their insurance didn't just go up but SUV owners actually pay more in that they can CAUSE more damage with their SUV. And there's that pesky tip over problem as well. Too many also like to justify this extravagance with " oh , it's for my family when I drive them around " and yet they're the ones driving it 7 days a week.

Yeap , the Hummer is this decade's yuppie scum status symbol. The 80s had Hondas, the 90s were minivans and SUV and this decade we have the Hummer and Escalade. Conspicuous consumption at it's finest.

Joined: 18 Mar 2005 Posts: 256 Location: 3rd coast

In my neighborhood, the Hummer was some kind of macho status symbol, that you were man enough to afford such a ridiculous expenditure. (Or maybe to compensate for a lack of something else . . . )

Supposedly, a few years back you could write off the purchase of a large vehicle (SUV, heavy-duty truck, etc.) by claiming you used it 70 percent of the time for work, even if you didn't haul anything or need the extra room, or own a business for that matter. This no doubt helped move quite a few "suburban guerrilla school buses" off the lots of many a GM dealership.

This reminds me of a boss who purchased a skill saw with company money, claiming he was renovation our stock room and needed to cut shelves. He cut one shelf, then took the saw home for his personal use, all the while plopping the cost of the saw on his business tab.

/suburban guerrilla bus - LMFAO part II

Joined: 06 Jul 2003 Posts: 8380 Location: Central CA

We're just a bunch of dumbassed sheep who go where the corporations tell us to go, do what the corporations tell us to do and... most significantly... BUY whatever the **** they stick in front of us so we a) won't be accused of not doing our duty to God and country... (remember Bush's speech after 9/11? "Get back out there and start consuming people. If you don't keep spending tons of money you don't have, the terrorists win!", or words to that effect... and b) so Biggy Johnson down the road a piece won't have something we don't have and get ahead of us in the race for the most toys.

If Americans were to shop only for what they need instead of what Wall Street and Madison Avenue TELL them they need... we wouldn't be going through the dung storm we're going through.

Joined: 22 Dec 2007 Posts: 461

I don't think it was that much of a big seller anyway. Also the concept of "security" in SUV's is a bit of a fallacy. The roofs of cars supposedly can only withstand I've heard 300lbs or so. So if a SUV rolls over it's going to be less time to survive when it caves in.

If being in something bigger ment safety then I guess we'd all be safer if we got bus passes!

Joined: 22 Dec 2007 Posts: 461

Actually I stand somewhat corrected
www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aPxCsmJvcDaI

It looks like China might reject the deal because it's not fuel efficient enough!

"Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co.’s bid for Hummer runs counter to China’s attempts to develop a globally competitive auto industry by focusing on fuel-efficient vehicles, according to analysts. The government also wants to pare the nation’s more than 100 automakers to ease competition."

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