23 Jan 03
Rolling open the shutter doors at Newport Imports reveals an American car fan's paradise; a Dodge Viper, several Ford Mustangs and huge pick-ups and SUVs packed tightly into the industrial space. It's little wonder they're looking for bigger premises given the size of the vehicles they stock. Despite the lure of the Mustangs and Viper, there's only one vehicle here that I'm interested in - the Hummer H2.
Even if you know nothing about Hummer you'll have seen one in any footage of the US armed forces, the original H1 being the big-wheeled battle chariot for the world's largest military. Unlike its relative, the H2 was never meant to have armour plating or guns hanging off it. It was just meant to look like it was. A civilian 'SUV' model conceived for those wanting all the tough-nut appeal of the original, with a few more creature comforts.
Longer, taller and nearly as wide as the H1, the H2 will clamber over, or simply drive through, practically anything. While its size intimidates initially, it's not that difficult to slot through traffic, its height negating the disadvantage of sitting on the wrong side (it's LHD only). Hummer hams up the military link suggesting the H2 looks as if it will happily 'drop and do twenty'. They're not wrong: it's in-your-face butch, but if you can get it to do 20 - mpg that is, not push-ups - you'll be doing very well indeed..
