Hummer Guy Hummer News and Opinion from an experienced off-road instructor
With registration for the 2007 SEMA show opening up recently, we’re stoked about what we’ll see this year. There’s been so many rumors flying around about the new Hummer truck (made official by Martin Walsh in November of ’06) and the production of a new, smaller Hummer model (made official by Martin Walsh several days ago). So the big question is: What’s going to be at the SEMA show in 2007, and will Hummer choose that venue to release more information to eager Hummer fans? Vehicle manufacturers typically don’t use the SEMA show to release new models, but it is a place where they can take the public’s temperature on new ideas. For instance, Hummer’s 2005 SEMA show display had an H3 “Street” model (seen above), that turned out to have all the major design cues (tire cover, chrome brush guard, wheel/tire combo) that would be sold as the H3x nine months after the show. Over a year after the show, Hummer released a custom 18inch chrome wheel for the H3, that happened to be identical to the one on the accessories display (minus the H3 logo, see below). One more thing about this H3 before we move on – do you see any similarities in the front bumper from these 2005 photos, to the new bumper in the 2008 Hummer H3? In 2005, Hummer also had an H2 on display that tried out the look of a brown leather interior (see below). Again, any similarities to the new option for 2008?
In short, do we think Hummer is going to announce any new models at the 2007 SEMA show? No. Do we think there will be some new, unofficial products that will become mainstream for Hummer in the future? Yes. Our prediction for H2s is we’ll see a new, possibly larger wheel option (they’ve been stuck on 17 inches forever!). This will certainly appease the ‘bling’ crowd. However, what about the hard-core off-road enthusiasts — the type of person that had a moment of silence when the H1 was discontinued? Only time will tell, but we bet Hummer will have something to win back some anti-bling, off-road muscle points at the show.
On the H3 we don’t expect much that we haven’t heard already, and expect most of the focus will be on the upcoming (and at that point released) Hummer H3 Alpha model.
