The Hummer H3: A Small SUV with Big Off-Road Cred and a Troubled History

The Hummer H3 was one of the last vehicles produced by General Motors before the brand's demise. It was introduced in 2005 as a more fuel-efficient alternative to its predecessor, the Hummer H2. The H3 was designed to be a smaller, more agile version of the H2, with a more compact body and a lower starting price point.

One of the key features that set the H3 apart from other small SUVs was its off-road capability. With an aggressive approach angle and great ground clearance, the H3 was well-suited for tackling rough terrain. Additionally, it came with a range of optional features, including locking differentials and body armor, which further enhanced its off-road capabilities.

The H3 shared a frame with the Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon, two other small SUVs produced by General Motors. This meant that sourcing parts for repairs was relatively easy, as many of the same components were used across multiple models. The H3 also came in both automatic and manual transmission configurations, making it more accessible to a wider range of buyers.

Despite its rugged off-road credentials, the H3 was marketed primarily as a civilian vehicle, with a starting price of around $29,000. This made it an attractive option for people who wanted an SUV that looked cool and had no intention of taking it off-road. As a result, most H3s sold were equipped with automatic transmissions and were more geared towards urban driving.

However, when gas prices skyrocketed in 2008, the market shifted significantly. Jeep's four-door Wrangler Unlimited became the top seller in its class, as buyers sought more affordable and practical options for their daily commutes. The Hummer brand was unable to adapt quickly enough to this shift, and sales of the H3 plummeted.

In a final attempt to revitalize the brand, General Motors introduced the H3T, a small pickup version of the H3. However, despite its appeal to some enthusiasts, it proved to be too little, too late. The Hummer brand was unable to recover from the economic downturn and high gas prices, and it was ultimately discontinued.

Many people have come to view the H3 as an orphaned vehicle, with limited resale value and a reputation for being difficult to repair. However, I believe that the H3 has a certain charm and character that is worth appreciating. Its rugged off-road capabilities and distinctive design make it a unique vehicle in its class.

Driving the H3 is a strange experience, unlike most other SUVs on the market. The truck-like underpinnings give it a larger-than-life presence, while its low roofline and giant pillars create a sense of enclosure that can be disorienting at times. However, this same design also makes it feel more substantial and secure than many other SUVs.

The interior of the H3 is another area where it stands out from its competitors. Gone are the days of cheap plastic interior trim; instead, the H3 boasts a surprisingly civilized cabin with well-laid-out buttons and cloth seats that have an interesting military-style material. The luxury-trimmed interior is even nicer, with contrasting leather stitching and a giant sunroof.

Overall, the Hummer H3 is a fascinating vehicle that offers a unique blend of off-road capability and on-road practicality. While its history has been marred by controversy and financial struggles, I believe that it remains an interesting and worthwhile purchase for anyone looking to add some excitement to their daily commute.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enah you clicked on this video but wait don't just read the title and scroll down to the comment section to say how stupid I am just yet hear me out on this one seriously you'll be shocked now I didn't buy this but I sort of egged on my dealer buddy Bob at euro-asia not a link to buy this thing where it's currently available for sale because I really hadn't paid attention to the h3 since it came out over a decade ago and it always dismissed it as another ridiculous knockoff of the mighty Hummer military vehicle I realized that they're looking at this one at auction last week that I was totally wrong and I'm never wrong ever but first let's get through all the negative points people bring up with the h3 and that conversation always starts with the styling so yeah it's kind of ridiculous but compared to the plastic fantastic Hummer h2 this thing is much more conservative it's like the designers at Hummer listened to everyone that was pointing and laughing at the h2 and sound back the extra plastic crap by about 80% personally I'm a fan of the look of the h3 as it's not a blobby four-door SUV like everything else that's being made then and mostly since but even with 80% less plastic crap there's still quite a bit the next thing people complain about is the terrible performance and I really don't understand this one much either yeah the zero to 60 is about 11 seconds but so is the 2007 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited but I guess people complained about how slow those were too I guess still the Jeep and the h3 were built with off-roading in mind not merging onto a highway and I can't help but like the idea of a simple inline five-cylinder engine under the hood of this Hummer like a throwback to the simpler jeeps of olden times that everybody loves and Jeep decided to quit making because that's what audio manufacturers do to further add to this Hummers off-road credit has great approach in departure angles it has great ground clearance it also has optional body armor in locking differentials and these giant door knockers mounted to its frame at all yes the h3 shared a frame with the chevy colorado and GMC canyon whereas most small and midsize SUVs are just car like unibody they even offered them with a manual transmission and in later years a 5.3 litre v8 but not surprisingly most people bought them because they thought they looked cool and had no intentions of taking them off road and the $29,000 starting price certainly opened the door to a lot of people who never dreamed of owning a Hummer before so yeah most of the ACE 3s you find are the cheaper less equipped automatic models like this one and like this one they usually get pimped but they're still pretty darn good in this configuration and since it's an orphan there are pretty darn good car value as well currently there are a hundred and fifty eight of these on autotrader.com for sale right now for less than $10,000 but only ten of those have a manual transmission since it shares most of his mechanical parts with the Chevy Colorado I imagine sourcing parts for repairs isn't too hard either oh it's way too cold it's way too cold get it off the rock now the biggest improvement the h3 had over the h2 is the interior as General Motors finally quit sourcing their interior plastics from fisher-price and actually spent more than 30 seconds thinking about the fit and finish the buttons are well laid out as well and the cloth seats have an interesting militaria schmess like material and it has a giant sunroof the luxury trimmed interior is even nicer looking with contrasting leather stitched seats this new civilized interior would have made it much easier to justify buying an h3 as a family vehicle and tons of people did just that actually driving this thing is really weird compared to most normal SUVs as the truck underpinnings definitely make it feel bigger than it is and it has a low roofline with these giant pillars that could hide a prius behind them and it makes the visibility kind of a joke but it's fun you feel like you're in a little tank they made every part of this car as masculine as they could like the gear selector and all the switches and they even made the steering wheel extra thick and girthy and I can't wait until somebody uses that phrase out of context in a mashup video so this thing really is kind of cool and initially sales for the h3 were pretty good as there wasn't any other 4-door SUVs this interesting for the price with some off-road cred General Motors banking arm GMAC was also still in full swing taking iffy credit buyers and zero money down and long payment terms to get people into these trucks that probably had no business buying them then 2008 happened and gas shot up to $5 a gallon and the economy tanked and nobody wanted a gas-guzzling SUV especially a smaller one like this one with no third row seating or towing capacity well actually that's not quite right because some people did but by then jeep was making the four-door wrangler unlimited and that's what everybody bought and to this day remains the king of affordable 4-door off-roaders sales of the h3 in 2008 were half of 2007 sales and 2009 sales were half of 2008 and Hummers parent company General Motors began circling the drain fast Hummers final Hail Mary pass was the introduction of the h3 T a small pickup version of the h3 which people have been begging Jeep to make a version of for the last ten years but sadly it wasn't enough to save the Hummer brand I remember hearing about this back in the day but I can't find any data to back it up that the h3 was also one of the most commonly repossessed vehicles at the time as people couldn't afford to keep them in the economic downturn in high gas prices with GM's bankruptcy in 2009 the Hummer brand couldn't find a buyer and was ultimately discontinued many people said good riddance but after spending a few days with this h3 I kind of think it's a shame if General Motors had kept going and the economy didn't go to hell Hummer may have continued to innovate and learn from its massive mistake with the h2 and we would have more than one option of affordable american-made off-roaders and if you still think I'm an idiot for thinking this way and the h3 is just each to light or Diet h2 or even the nasty crystal h2 hit the like button and as always thank you for watching I'm Steve Rogers Captain America he jumps us like thatah you clicked on this video but wait don't just read the title and scroll down to the comment section to say how stupid I am just yet hear me out on this one seriously you'll be shocked now I didn't buy this but I sort of egged on my dealer buddy Bob at euro-asia not a link to buy this thing where it's currently available for sale because I really hadn't paid attention to the h3 since it came out over a decade ago and it always dismissed it as another ridiculous knockoff of the mighty Hummer military vehicle I realized that they're looking at this one at auction last week that I was totally wrong and I'm never wrong ever but first let's get through all the negative points people bring up with the h3 and that conversation always starts with the styling so yeah it's kind of ridiculous but compared to the plastic fantastic Hummer h2 this thing is much more conservative it's like the designers at Hummer listened to everyone that was pointing and laughing at the h2 and sound back the extra plastic crap by about 80% personally I'm a fan of the look of the h3 as it's not a blobby four-door SUV like everything else that's being made then and mostly since but even with 80% less plastic crap there's still quite a bit the next thing people complain about is the terrible performance and I really don't understand this one much either yeah the zero to 60 is about 11 seconds but so is the 2007 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited but I guess people complained about how slow those were too I guess still the Jeep and the h3 were built with off-roading in mind not merging onto a highway and I can't help but like the idea of a simple inline five-cylinder engine under the hood of this Hummer like a throwback to the simpler jeeps of olden times that everybody loves and Jeep decided to quit making because that's what audio manufacturers do to further add to this Hummers off-road credit has great approach in departure angles it has great ground clearance it also has optional body armor in locking differentials and these giant door knockers mounted to its frame at all yes the h3 shared a frame with the chevy colorado and GMC canyon whereas most small and midsize SUVs are just car like unibody they even offered them with a manual transmission and in later years a 5.3 litre v8 but not surprisingly most people bought them because they thought they looked cool and had no intentions of taking them off road and the $29,000 starting price certainly opened the door to a lot of people who never dreamed of owning a Hummer before so yeah most of the ACE 3s you find are the cheaper less equipped automatic models like this one and like this one they usually get pimped but they're still pretty darn good in this configuration and since it's an orphan there are pretty darn good car value as well currently there are a hundred and fifty eight of these on autotrader.com for sale right now for less than $10,000 but only ten of those have a manual transmission since it shares most of his mechanical parts with the Chevy Colorado I imagine sourcing parts for repairs isn't too hard either oh it's way too cold it's way too cold get it off the rock now the biggest improvement the h3 had over the h2 is the interior as General Motors finally quit sourcing their interior plastics from fisher-price and actually spent more than 30 seconds thinking about the fit and finish the buttons are well laid out as well and the cloth seats have an interesting militaria schmess like material and it has a giant sunroof the luxury trimmed interior is even nicer looking with contrasting leather stitched seats this new civilized interior would have made it much easier to justify buying an h3 as a family vehicle and tons of people did just that actually driving this thing is really weird compared to most normal SUVs as the truck underpinnings definitely make it feel bigger than it is and it has a low roofline with these giant pillars that could hide a prius behind them and it makes the visibility kind of a joke but it's fun you feel like you're in a little tank they made every part of this car as masculine as they could like the gear selector and all the switches and they even made the steering wheel extra thick and girthy and I can't wait until somebody uses that phrase out of context in a mashup video so this thing really is kind of cool and initially sales for the h3 were pretty good as there wasn't any other 4-door SUVs this interesting for the price with some off-road cred General Motors banking arm GMAC was also still in full swing taking iffy credit buyers and zero money down and long payment terms to get people into these trucks that probably had no business buying them then 2008 happened and gas shot up to $5 a gallon and the economy tanked and nobody wanted a gas-guzzling SUV especially a smaller one like this one with no third row seating or towing capacity well actually that's not quite right because some people did but by then jeep was making the four-door wrangler unlimited and that's what everybody bought and to this day remains the king of affordable 4-door off-roaders sales of the h3 in 2008 were half of 2007 sales and 2009 sales were half of 2008 and Hummers parent company General Motors began circling the drain fast Hummers final Hail Mary pass was the introduction of the h3 T a small pickup version of the h3 which people have been begging Jeep to make a version of for the last ten years but sadly it wasn't enough to save the Hummer brand I remember hearing about this back in the day but I can't find any data to back it up that the h3 was also one of the most commonly repossessed vehicles at the time as people couldn't afford to keep them in the economic downturn in high gas prices with GM's bankruptcy in 2009 the Hummer brand couldn't find a buyer and was ultimately discontinued many people said good riddance but after spending a few days with this h3 I kind of think it's a shame if General Motors had kept going and the economy didn't go to hell Hummer may have continued to innovate and learn from its massive mistake with the h2 and we would have more than one option of affordable american-made off-roaders and if you still think I'm an idiot for thinking this way and the h3 is just each to light or Diet h2 or even the nasty crystal h2 hit the like button and as always thank you for watching I'm Steve Rogers Captain America he jumps us like thatah you clicked on this video but wait don't just read the title and scroll down to the comment section to say how stupid I am just yet hear me out on this one seriously you'll be shocked now I didn't buy this but I sort of egged on my dealer buddy Bob at euro-asia not a link to buy this thing where it's currently available for sale because I really hadn't paid attention to the h3 since it came out over a decade ago and it always dismissed it as another ridiculous knockoff of the mighty Hummer military vehicle I realized that they're looking at this one at auction last week that I was totally wrong and I'm never wrong ever but first let's get through all the negative points people bring up with the h3 and that conversation always starts with the styling so yeah it's kind of ridiculous but compared to the plastic fantastic Hummer h2 this thing is much more conservative it's like the designers at Hummer listened to everyone that was pointing and laughing at the h2 and sound back the extra plastic crap by about 80% personally I'm a fan of the look of the h3 as it's not a blobby four-door SUV like everything else that's being made then and mostly since but even with 80% less plastic crap there's still quite a bit the next thing people complain about is the terrible performance and I really don't understand this one much either yeah the zero to 60 is about 11 seconds but so is the 2007 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited but I guess people complained about how slow those were too I guess still the Jeep and the h3 were built with off-roading in mind not merging onto a highway and I can't help but like the idea of a simple inline five-cylinder engine under the hood of this Hummer like a throwback to the simpler jeeps of olden times that everybody loves and Jeep decided to quit making because that's what audio manufacturers do to further add to this Hummers off-road credit has great approach in departure angles it has great ground clearance it also has optional body armor in locking differentials and these giant door knockers mounted to its frame at all yes the h3 shared a frame with the chevy colorado and GMC canyon whereas most small and midsize SUVs are just car like unibody they even offered them with a manual transmission and in later years a 5.3 litre v8 but not surprisingly most people bought them because they thought they looked cool and had no intentions of taking them off road and the $29,000 starting price certainly opened the door to a lot of people who never dreamed of owning a Hummer before so yeah most of the ACE 3s you find are the cheaper less equipped automatic models like this one and like this one they usually get pimped but they're still pretty darn good in this configuration and since it's an orphan there are pretty darn good car value as well currently there are a hundred and fifty eight of these on autotrader.com for sale right now for less than $10,000 but only ten of those have a manual transmission since it shares most of his mechanical parts with the Chevy Colorado I imagine sourcing parts for repairs isn't too hard either oh it's way too cold it's way too cold get it off the rock now the biggest improvement the h3 had over the h2 is the interior as General Motors finally quit sourcing their interior plastics from fisher-price and actually spent more than 30 seconds thinking about the fit and finish the buttons are well laid out as well and the cloth seats have an interesting militaria schmess like material and it has a giant sunroof the luxury trimmed interior is even nicer looking with contrasting leather stitched seats this new civilized interior would have made it much easier to justify buying an h3 as a family vehicle and tons of people did just that actually driving this thing is really weird compared to most normal SUVs as the truck underpinnings definitely make it feel bigger than it is and it has a low roofline with these giant pillars that could hide a prius behind them and it makes the visibility kind of a joke but it's fun you feel like you're in a little tank they made every part of this car as masculine as they could like the gear selector and all the switches and they even made the steering wheel extra thick and girthy and I can't wait until somebody uses that phrase out of context in a mashup video so this thing really is kind of cool and initially sales for the h3 were pretty good as there wasn't any other 4-door SUVs this interesting for the price with some off-road cred General Motors banking arm GMAC was also still in full swing taking iffy credit buyers and zero money down and long payment terms to get people into these trucks that probably had no business buying them then 2008 happened and gas shot up to $5 a gallon and the economy tanked and nobody wanted a gas-guzzling SUV especially a smaller one like this one with no third row seating or towing capacity well actually that's not quite right because some people did but by then jeep was making the four-door wrangler unlimited and that's what everybody bought and to this day remains the king of affordable 4-door off-roaders sales of the h3 in 2008 were half of 2007 sales and 2009 sales were half of 2008 and Hummers parent company General Motors began circling the drain fast Hummers final Hail Mary pass was the introduction of the h3 T a small pickup version of the h3 which people have been begging Jeep to make a version of for the last ten years but sadly it wasn't enough to save the Hummer brand I remember hearing about this back in the day but I can't find any data to back it up that the h3 was also one of the most commonly repossessed vehicles at the time as people couldn't afford to keep them in the economic downturn in high gas prices with GM's bankruptcy in 2009 the Hummer brand couldn't find a buyer and was ultimately discontinued many people said good riddance but after spending a few days with this h3 I kind of think it's a shame if General Motors had kept going and the economy didn't go to hell Hummer may have continued to innovate and learn from its massive mistake with the h2 and we would have more than one option of affordable american-made off-roaders and if you still think I'm an idiot for thinking this way and the h3 is just each to light or Diet h2 or even the nasty crystal h2 hit the like button and as always thank you for watching I'm Steve Rogers Captain America he jumps us like that\n"