The Hummer H1 is a civilian adaptation of the biggest stars of the first Persian Gulf War in the beginning of the 1990s, the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV), or Humvee. But it never would have been a thing had it not been for the Governator himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Legend has it that on the set of Kindergarten Cop, a convoy of Humvees drove by and Arnie was hooked. He immediately reached out to AM General, the manufacturer of the military beast, and begged and pleaded for them to create a civilian version. 

Who says no to the Austrian Oak? Not AM General.

And so they went to produce the Hummer from 1992-2006. They were referred to just as Hummers until General Motors bought the naming rights in 1999 and started calling them Hummer H1s in anticipation of their launch of the H2 in the early 2000s. 

Throughout its production run, AM General made 153,000 total H1s, although Alphas like this example are much, much more rare, with this being 1 of only 729 produced from September 2005 to May 2006. Sadly, due to new emissions laws for diesel vehicles, the Hummer was discontinued after the 2006 model year, although the military version persisted. 

The H1 models are, as you can imagine, insanely capable off-road vehicles. They can ford 30 inches of water, have a stock ground clearance of 16 inches and sport ridiculous approach and departure angles of 72 and 37.5 degrees. Additionally, many H1s (like this one) are equipped with a Central Tire Inflation System (CTIS), which enables the driver to increase or decrease the tire air pressure at the push of a button, since lower tire pressures help off-road.

And then there was the H1 “Alpha.” In 2005 for the 2006 model year, AM General reworked the H1 to make it even better. That included using GM’s more powerful Duramax Diesel engine and pairing it with a heavy duty 5-speed Allison transmission. They also gave it a more powerful steering gear, quieter axle differentials, redesigned geared hubs to use quieter helical gears, and a new reworked fuel supply and filtration system. Finally, they reinforced the chassis with special high-strength steel in the frame. This was the biggest, heaviest, most powerful and durable H1 that a civilian could buy. The Alpha. 

Doug DeMuro will tell you all about it.