The short, disgusting life of the Hummer

As General Motors tells Congress it is weighing the fate of the gas guzzler, Salon compiles a scrapbook. Enjoy these proud moments in Hummer history.

Editor's note: On Monday, April 27, General Motors announced that it will stop producing new Hummers by the end of 2009. Pontiac and Saturn will also be put out to pasture. In this December 2008 piece, we celebrated the Hummer's ignominious life.

By Katharine Mieszkowski

Read more: Environment, Politics, News, Economy, General Motors, Cars, Auto Industry, Katharine Mieszkowski, Environment & Science

Ruth Fremson/The New York Times/Redux

Dec. 5, 2008 | As Detroit once again went begging for billions from Congress on Thursday, executives from the Big Three vowed to wash their hands of gas guzzlers and embrace a future of fuel efficiency. General Motors says it is even placing the future of its Hummer division "under strategic review." For public consumption, that means selling the brand, but observers wonder who would buy it.  If the Hummer meets its maker instead, its last gasp will be a symbol of gargantuan proportions.

Since its debut in the early '90s as the manly man's answer to what to drive when a Dodge Ram pickup is just too damn small, the mighty Hummer has been celebrated and reviled as a metaphor for American bravado -- and wretched American excess. But this hip-hop icon, this military-porn embodiment of America's post-911 belligerence, may now be a victim of the market. Thanks to recent high gas prices, and the stunning collapse of domestic auto sales, Detroit can't give Hummers away. The beast, at least in its North American incarnation, may die not long after the Bush administration, whose shortsighted environmental policies and twisted tax codes helped give it commercial life.

What a shame! Now what are tree huggers going to use as a symbol of Detroit's excess? What are poor Richie Sambora and 50 Cent going to drive? In an affectionate eulogy, Salon presents proud moments in Hummer history.

March 1983: The Hummer is just a metallic gleam in the Pentagon's eye when it awards a $1.3 billion contract to AM General to create a war-worthy successor to the Jeep. In October 1985, a Hummer nation is born with the 9th Infantry Division, based out of Fort Lewis, Wash., the first Army unit to go Hum.

June 1991: Heralded as the "vehicle that won the war" in the Gulf, the Hummer finds its first civilian buyer in Arnold "The Terminator" Schwarzenegger. Battle-field chic inspires a long Hummer-celebrity love affair with famous Hummer drivers. These include Paris Hilton, Shaquille O'Neal, Hugh Hefner, David Beckham, Mike Tyson and rapper 50 Cent. 

October, 1992: The first mass-produced, dealer-sold Hummer, averaging 13 miles per gallon, goes on sale to civilians, starting around $40,000.

September 1996: Rapper Tupac Shakur, an early adopter of Hummers, dies. His Hummer does not. His song "Don't Sleep," featuring the lyrics "My Hummer roll up / Evacuating strapped soldiers / Inside strategy / Manifestin' military styles," will appear on the posthumous album "Pac's Life" 10 years later. His Hummer H1 has appeared on eBay, for sale, since his death.

November 1996: Early reports of custom-made Hummer limos appear.

December 1999: GM buys the rights to market and distribute the Hummer from AM General.

2002: Beginning in 1996, a series of tax laws combine to create large tax credits for certain Hummer buyers. By 2002, the New York Times reports that, thanks to changes in the tax code during the Bush administration, an eligible buyer can deduct $34,912 of the $48,800 base price of the Hummer.

2002: By now the Hummer rules hip-hop. The video for 50 Cent's "Wanksta" consists of shots of the rapper and his girl driving around in a fleet of Hummers, heaping scorn on smaller vehicles and lesser men. It includes the lyrics "We say you a wanksta / And you need to stop frontin' / Go to the dealership / But you never cop nothin'"

2002: The New York Times reports that GM will require Hummer dealerships to redesign their showrooms to resemble military barracks. The showrooms will have "plenty of brushed steel and exposed bolts inside. A prototype in Milwaukee, Bergstrom Hummer, sports a 35-foot-high 'H' out front."

July 2002: The Hummer H2, a smaller and friendlier Hummer based on the Chevy Tahoe, goes on sale in dealerships. Its base price is $48,800, and it gets 10 to 16 miles per gallon. Even so, the H2 uses more energy in its manufacture and for fuel in its first 24,000 miles on the road than the Toyota Prius does in its entire lifetime.

Next page: The rise of Hummer hate