I'm not sure how many H1 "purists" there are in the world. There aren't a ton of civilian H1 owners, and part of being a "purist" in my book would be owning the original.

I have a problem seeing H2 as "only" a money-maker for GM that ignores Hummer's reputation. Of course GM wants Hummer to make them money. Why do you think they aquired the brand? Not to keep making $100,000+ H1 brutes only. It's kind of like Jeep. Yeah, Chrysler would actually like to make money so they do build Jeeps other than the Wrangler. H2 has many pieces on it that help it excel off road, so I reject the notion that Hummer's rep was completely ignored. What GM did was make an infinitely more refined Hummer at half the price. Saying that it is no longer "pure" is kind of like saying the C5 is a wanna-be Corvette because it isn't nearly as brutal as a late 60's L88 car.

 

There's a difference between Pure and brutal. Refinement doesn't make a vehicle any less pure. I only questioned the purity of the H2 because of it being based off a GM truck platform. If it had its own Hummer only platform, i wouldn't question the purity. I'll use your example of the C5 and give you an even better/closer example. Would you welcome a Corvette based off the camaro platform?

How about a 'baby corvette" (like the case with the H2) based off the camaro? Would a "purist" or corvette enthusiast accept that? I wouldn't.

How about an even cheaper Baby "baby corvette" based off an even lower vehicle, say off a sport compact? That's what the H3 will do. The whole brand is cheapened, watered down, and every lower-tier vehicle compromises the brand's original goal and performance capability (in this case Off-road). All this for the sake of profits and more sales.

You may or may not agree, and i respect your opinion. I personally think this has become a trend with Hummer, and it looks like it'll be a trend with Land Rover.

 

I don't know if you meant that to be sarcastic or not but...

The H2 is really nothing more than a Tahoe.

 

Using an existing GM truck platform helped keep costs down, yes. BUT there's pieces added that you can't get on Tahoes, like heavy duty skidplates, suspension pieces, etc. (I covered all this a while back the first time the H2's capabilities got called into question). H2 is a capable off-roader. I don't necessarily see it as being GM's fault that it has taken on the life of "bling-bling" or rich urban transporter.

Remember that the concept of a "baby" Corvette was kicked around on this very message board a while back! "Let's decontent it, put a powerful V6 in it, and sell it for $30,000. It'd be great!" Most of us find that idea to be rediculously offensive, but I don't know that it's exactly fair to apply the same logic to the Hummer brand. The H2 stays pretty true to the Hummer mission of the biggest and best off roading vehicles you can find on the market. I too am concerned that Hummer may be losing it's way with an even smaller H3, but I'm willing to wait it out and see what GM comes up with.

 

The car connection and a few other automotive news sites had articles on the Corvette name spawning a whole new division/brand. There was talk of it being taken out of the Chevy lineup, and there being multiple version of the corvette.

I'm glad it was nothing but rumors.

 

They are sold in Japan,Built in Venezuela(I never spell that right) so to help you for any other future info regaurding where it is sold now you know.(No they dont sell that many over sea's)

BTW just trying to be helpful.And if someone is wondering if Explorers are weak offroad.Anyone who has gone to SilverLake sand dunes (in Michigan) you know you can run your vehicle as light or hard as you want.Lets just say I seen a 2003 Explorer AIRBORN going over test hill this past weekend.Did he break something?No sir he kept on going over the remaining hills and drove it ALL day
Weird part was I seen a 4 door Tracker going insanely fast too