About 6 months ago i decided to treat myself to a new toy, more of a daily driver then the xfire, but not a vehicle that i was going to worry about someone dinging it in the parking lot.

Like the Xfire, i was on the hunt for something unique.

I remember going to the toronto autoshow when i was a kid in 98, and the one vehicle that always stood out was the Hummer, (whey weren’t called H1's back then) the one they had there was a Red wagon. The cockpit was like a fighterjet, 100's of switches, gauges, and buttons they were massive vehicles back in the day 7 1/2ft wide, 8000lbs, awesome in a box! You ask any car fanatic kid, and they had a thing for the Hummer. I even remember the promo video they had playing on a tv showing it plowing through a field of snow with all the powder going all over the place, looked like a avalanche on flat ground.

Well fast fwd to last august.. After a but of shopping around. I happen to find localy one that even myself couldn’t imagine finding.

A 2002 10th anniversary H1 wagon. 1 of only 65 made. I love it!!!

Driving this is completely the opposite of the xfire.lol. You can drive like a old man take your time turning, taking off, and overall just going with the flow of things, the ride is still rough and you really do feel the road, 0-60 is around 17 seconds.
Parking lots are fun though, nowadays with these new stupidly engineered layouts with curbs everywhere, you just go over them; they virtually disappear. A nice plus for me

There were a few maintance things i had to catch up on when i got it, changing all the fluids in the 4 geared hubs, diffs, transmission, transfer case, a oil change with synthetic, dual oil filter, a new performance fluidampr harmonic balancer (#1 failure of the 6.5L), undercoating for the winter, fixing a small leak in the CTIS lines, replacing the pitman and idler arm (a common wear item on the H1) and overall putting it into tip top shape; it is all set to go and hopefully enjoy it for years to come. Replacement parts are actualy pretty cheap, much less then you would think it would be. Because alot of the military parts are common between the 2, the cost savings of mass production is passed down to the owners that want to work on it themselves

Am i insane.. Maybe, but all i know is i still have a smile on my face every morning on my way to work in the winter; just like with the xfire in the summer

 

I wanted a vehicle that i could make my own accessories for; last fall i started building some interior racks for it.
One thing about the H1 is that alot of the accessories are big $$$, but dont really have much rocket science behind them. A set of baskets (driver and passenger rear wheel well racks and a center passenger rack) retails for over $1100. LOL i dont think so.
9ft roof racks list around 4500$ LOL! not in my lifetime!

I love to fab stuff up, so some of the things on my list are a full length roof rack, rear ladder, and these interor baskets.

I had built myself from scratch a hydraulic tubing bender a year ago, so this was its first project.

Cost me about 100$ in material, and my time. They arnt fully finished but i plan to paint them black, and finish tig welding it up.

With winter in effect right now, even though its been mild, the projects have been slowly getting done. Im working on a removable winch bracket that goes from the front to the back, and i scored a sweet deal on a 10,000lb superwinch.

I also spent some time designing up a roof rack that intergrates a upper lightbar that will hold 8 "modified" 7" HID spots
Cant wait for spring to come!

 

I cannot believe no one has add to this! Awesome ride and a great find! I too have taken a liking to the hummer. I was looking at getting an h3 this past fall but I moved and have no use for the 4wd any more. I like your pipe bender too was that a log splitter prior?

 

BAD *** hummer, do you mind saying what it cost? I am ultra curious and have not priced them out recently. If you would rather keep it to yourself, I do not want to be rude...

 

Nice urban assault vehicle you got there.

 

Hey John, up here in Canada you get a free Hummer with every Hyundai sold !

 

Glad you bought a real HUMMER and not one of those sissy H2 or H3 piece of #&@$! Looks great!

 

I just found one online and it's 65K. Too much for me.

2002 Hummer H1 Anniversary TurboDiesel Wagon for Sale - 1112363 - duPontREGISTRY.com

 

Anthony, I am with you, that is crazy, and the 'call for miles' thing is ridiculous.

Hell of a car, and if your age listed is accurate, you are either a very lucky kid or a very hard worker...

 

Thanks for all the great comments. I was afraid that after a week passing by with no comments, people thought i was just showing off. But im just a diehard car guy, and loves interesting vehicles. Next on my list is... Delorian, Citroen DS, original Fiat 500, 60's Beetle. LOL in time i suppose. Im already known as the Jay Lenno of our town. Well my friends mom says that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmk41

I cannot believe no one has add to this! Awesome ride and a great find! I too have taken a liking to the hummer. I was looking at getting an h3 this past fall but I moved and have no use for the 4wd any more. I like your pipe bender too was that a log splitter prior?

When buying the H1, the online community comes with it aswell, and some of the guys out there have some pretty wild H2's and H3's and go places with them that i wouldnt even attempt with my H1. I would need a helicopter to get myself unstuck.LOL.

The tubing bender was a ground up fab. I got the ideal about 4 years ago from a similar design that used a manual/air assited ram that harbour freight makes. But it took like 5 mins to full actuate and bend some tubing. The electric hydraulic setup does a 180deg bend in 25 seconds. The dies i didnt make, they come from a company in florida called Protools. I have 3 so far. 3/4", 1", and 1-1/2" 240 deg dies.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BoilerUpXFire

BAD *** hummer, do you mind saying what it cost? I am ultra curious and have not priced them out recently. If you would rather keep it to yourself, I do not want to be rude...

No prob, i ended up paying just a tad under $50k for it. I had to make a choice between buying a new regular diesel truck in the 45-55k range, or what ive always wanted since i was a kid. Choice was kinda easy. Plus one wouldnt depreciate once i got behind the drivers seat.
I do wish though that it had the Cummins diesel in it. Alot of the guys on the H1 forum are doing conversions and puttin out over 600hp, 700ft/lbs of torque and getting 20+mpg in this 9000lb vehicle. Fun FUN!

Quote:

Originally Posted by frankeyser

Glad you bought a real HUMMER and not one of those sissy H2 or H3 piece of #&@$! Looks great!

LOL The H2 and H3 do have one benefit over the H1.. They are more practical, and easer on the wallet. But i am living with the sacrifices so far, thank god i drive so little every week that a tank lasts me a month.


Yep its accurate. And yes i try to work hard, i work full time as a engineer; just graduated about 2 years go. And in my spare time; if any i do aluminum welding and the odd custom lift/rig things for the marine buisness. Pops keeps me busy with that. And no, my parents didnt put a dime in the purchase of the H1. It was actualy a fun time convincing them to allow me to spend my money on that. LOL its like driving a 7-1/2ft wide atv down the road.

 

Good for you brother, keep on truckin'