Most car fans are probably not very familiar with American AM General, but their products must be familiar to everyone. The domineering Hummer (HUMMER) is their main model. In addition, the Humvee (High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle) they designed specially for the US military was once regarded as a god-like existence among off-road vehicle fans. The civilian version of the Hummer H1 was developed based on Humvee. Its new car sold for more than 150,000 US dollars, and its performance in the movie “Brave to Kill the Island” left a deep impression on many car fans. impression.
If you didn’t serve in the U.S. military, your chances of being exposed to Humvee are slim to none. But now there is some great news for military fans, the online auction site IronPlanet has signed a contract with the US government to dispose of the military’s surplus of obsolete equipment. Since the U.S. military plans to replace the Humvee with the new JLTV produced by Oshkosh, this means that ordinary car fans can have the opportunity to own a fallen hero. It seems that the dream of buying fighter jets on Xbao is about to come true, so excited!
Prior to this, scrapped Humvees had also appeared on eBay in the form of parts, but this time the government clearly hopes that the retired Humvees will come to ordinary people’s homes. To date, the U.S. military has retired nearly 2,500 Humvees. Since last summer, IronPlanet began to provide Standard Form 97 to complete the vehicle transaction. Such a document makes it possible for Humvee buyers to complete the registration, but IronPlanet does not guarantee this. The level of tolerance is completely different. If consumers are interested in Humvee, it is best to consult the relevant local government agencies before making a purchase.
In addition, you need to re-examine your expectations of Humvee before buying, because its driving experience is completely different from any car you have ever driven. Even under the guise of an H1 body, the Humvee isn’t friendly for everyday road driving — it’s not even the average person’s daily driving needs. If it can’t replace the Jeep Wrangler to shuttle around the city, I’m afraid many people will give up the idea of buying it, right? However, if you just want to use it as a big toy for climbing and wading in the wild, then Humvee can definitely occupy an important place in your arsenal.
We tested this 1987 M998 at the Outback Motorsports Complex in Laurinburg, North Carolina, which has more than 600 hectares of off-road land, which is a paradise for Humvee. This early version of the M998 is equipped with GM’s 6.2-liter V-8 engine (the later engine displacement is 6.5 liters), and the green camouflage on the body has a strong Cold War style, which is very similar to the desert yellow paint of the US military today. s difference. From the body painting, we can still see the story at that time, which should be the reason why many car fans love old cars. This M998 uses a metal hard top and is equipped with LED headlights, and the price is only 18,250 US dollars (about 120,000 yuan)!
The 6.2-liter naturally aspirated diesel engine it is equipped with has a maximum power of 150 horsepower and a peak output torque of 339 Nm. The transmission system adopts full-time four-wheel drive, and the Wrangler MT tire size from Goodyear reaches 37 inches! It weighs 2.45 tons and looks like a small anti-tank vehicle. It is equipped with a torque-sensing differential, which cannot be fully locked, but the driver can use the brakes to trick the differential into a differential lock-like effect under certain conditions. After installing the wading kit, this Humvee can easily handle water depths exceeding 1.5 meters.
There are many pools in the Outback that are deep enough to test the Humvee’s wading ability, and the Humvee’s easy performance can even be compared with small boats. For most off-road vehicles, when wading, they often worry about the damage to the chassis caused by obstacles under the water. However, AM General took this problem into consideration at the beginning of the design, and Humvee adopted portal axles, which greatly improved the ground clearance of the vehicle. At the same time, its bottom is relatively flat, which can avoid damage to the chassis by road obstacles to the greatest extent.
Regardless of the interior, this M998 has a very good performance in this off-road field. Of course, this performance should not surprise us too much. It has a super-large tire size and a super-long independent suspension, and its noise control is much better than we thought. On complex roads, due to the twisting of the body, the friction between the hard roof and the top of the windshield produces noise, but the owner can choose to remove the roof and doors, so that you get a four-door convertible off-road vehicle, which instantly becomes more powerful than a Wrangler. It should also be cool and cool, and you can take your loved ones to the wild to watch the stars together.
The Outback’s test surfaces included sand, mud, and jungle-like muddy swamps. Humvee does not flinch in all terrains, but instead brings out its terrifying off-road performance. Its body width exceeds 2.1 meters, which fully guarantees the stability of the vehicle on bad roads, and it can even drive on more than 40% side slopes. However, this design sacrifices its flexibility.
We took a short test drive on paved roads, and as expected, the Humvee is completely unsuitable for daily commuting driving. Its 0-80km/h acceleration time has reached 24 seconds, and its top speed is only 112km/h (it takes great courage to reach such a speed). When the speed is close to 90km/h, the vibration generated by the body will force you to reduce the speed, otherwise the old V-8 engine will break free from the cabin.
Due to the unexpectedly complicated service conditions in the military, these Humvees often suffer from various mechanical failures. An active-duty US military officer was puzzled by our purchase of a Humvee, thinking we might as well just buy a 25-year-old SUV. Indeed, if you don’t have some maintenance experience, this Humvee will definitely make you very angry. We can easily find other large-displacement old SUVs, but those vehicles will not have portal axles and such a cool chassis design. For off-road fans, isn’t the most important thing is to have fun?
