Despite it being nearly a decade newer and having higher production totals, the H3 is definitely a rarer species, at least in my neck of the woods.
In-Motion Outtake: Hummer H3 and Acura CL – Which Is Rarer?
– Posted on May 30, 2018
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Curbside Classics Archives
Wow, it has been awhile since I saw either one of them.
Both are a bit on the common side here in NYC. Hummer H2’s on the other hand not so much. Shame that GM let Hummer go………right now it would be in the top 10 selling suv’s or cuv’s . with this stupid craze for cuv’s.
I frequently wonder where all the Hummers went. I’m referring to all models in the range here. They were fairly commonly seen back in the day, but just a few years after they were derided for their fuel consumption and redneck reputation they all seemed to have disappeared from the roads. It’s like they were embarrassed into exile.
I just saw my first H1 in eons the other evening.
The H1 was always rare, I actually remember back to my childhood seeing one was just as rare an opportunity as seeing a Ferrari or Lamborghini. The H2 made Hummer a household name, but then it was just a Tahoe with some vaguely HMMWV styling cues.
In No. NJ I see CLs quite frequently, I rarely see an H3.
I may actually see more of the CL than the H3, or ANY Hummer for that matter. Its like they all caught some terminal illness and passed away before their time.
Well y’all need to come to my town in dusty and hot central California if you want to see where all the Hummers went!
I see them daily, often several a day. In fact I was admiring the chrome brushguard on one last night that perfectly imitates the grill.
H2 and H3 are common as Chevy Astro vans here. (Ubiquitous)
H1s are also about, I see them at least weekly. Included in that H1 total are a few of the recent military released ones that have somehow been road registered.
Many of the 2 and 3 models sport donkish rims and lots of bling. They are an aspiration car here.
Proof that yet again there is California, and then there is California.
There’s definitely a resurgence of H2 sighting here in the past few years. They mostly seemed to go into hiding for a while, but they’re back in full force again.
The H3 by far, Acura CLs are uncommon by Honda standards around here but nowhere near uncommon to the point of exclaiming “wait, what was that car?”. They seem a tad more common than Toyota Solaras.
The H3 I admittedly don’t like, it looks like a cheapened out H2, which in itself looks like a wimpy plastic tribute to the military H1, so maybe it’s my lack of paying attention, but I feel I can count on one hand how many I have actually seen in the wild in 13 years. And this was a H2 heavy market in their day, I saw them everywhere, usually yellow, silver or black in that order, I think there was a legitimate stigma that the H3 wasn’t a “real” Hummer by the target demographic.
The general counsel of my company drives an H3, so I see quite a lot of it, and every time I do, I’m reminded of my irrational desire for a 4 door version of its stable-mate, the first generation Chevy Colorado/GMC Canyon/Izuzu I-Series. It just looks so reasonable compared to the current colorado.
Until recently, I probably saw less of the CL, but there’s now a red one in good shape parked with a for sale sign right on my commute, so I see that CL daily as well too!
Hummer isn’t that old, where did they all go?
Same thing happened to all the similar vehicles like this – 2008 till about 2015 gas prices. No one wanted to pay to feed them. I can’t remember that last time i saw a Jeep Commander, for example.
A few years ago you could pick up any Hummers for a song. There are still a few on road around here due to the used market, but with the amount of driving people have for daily commutes, they are going away. Now the CL, they were always pretty rare in eastern PA – it’s fairly distinctive rear trunk, but the rest of the car was bland looking. The only reason i notice them is that a former girlfriend had one.
It’s interesting how the high gas prices of that era, ’08 to about what, ’13 or ’15 or something, didn’t seem to affect the cars people drive in my area at all.
I paid $4.69 a gallon at the peak back then.
But still all my neighbors kept driving their Silverados and Tahoes and such. People complained, but few bothered to trade in the ’02 Denali for a Prius. Given the general poverty of the area that’s surprising. But little cars don’t fit the ethos of the region.
Probably some truth to the idea that Hummers relocated around the country during that time, and a lot of them settled in here, where they are right at home.
Oh and I see Jeep Commanders all the time.
Both in Rhode Island and Erie, PA I’ve been seeing quite a few H3’s recently. In fact I saw an H3 SUT near TF Green Airport a few weeks ago. I also saw *two* H3 SUTs within a few miles of each other in CT, west of Hartford on I-84, last year.
The original CL is an occasional sight at best these days.
CC effect, when I was going to school today, sure enough, a Hummer H3 sitting on massive donk wheels went right past me on the road.
I see more H2s than H3s, of course, with the advent of low gas in the last few years, Hummers are making a comeback like never before. I liked them when I was 10, now that I’m 22, I just don’t get the appeal. A giant Tonka toy that wasn’t any better than the Tahoe it was based on.
This reminds me of the dorky chemist (“Squat Cobbler”) in Better Call Saul who decides to start selling narcotics. After his first big score, he buys himself a badly blinged-out, bright yellow H2. A streetwise associate described it as looking like “a bus for six-year-old pimps”.
I see both with more frequency then you would expect here in CT. On the Hummers I know a large portion of the H2 were exported during the recession other ones shifted around the country. Still see a lot when I travel to FL for instance.
I think the Hummers became way too politically incorrect for the west side of LA – I rarely see one anymore. Heath M. has solved the mystery as to where they went. But many old CLs still running around on third and fourth owners – one parked in front of my building in Santa Monica yesterday. A nasty dent in the trunk but otherwise still looking good.
One of my co-workers drives an H3 limo on occasion as a second job. The customers absolutely love it.
It’s unfortunate that Hummer couldn’t survive an economic downturn. It really fit the Jeep Wrangler target demographic perfectly in that, like the Wrangler, it did nothing particularly well, but portrayed a lifestyle image in spades.
As mentioned, Hummers would sell well when times were good. It’s worth noting that another, similar, now discontinued vehicle, the Toyota FJ Cruiser, is actually in high demand in the used market with one of the highest resale values.
You can take the roof and doors off of a Wrangler, that’s what it does well that no competitor has offered. Hummer looked kind of like a Jeep but they were functionally no more redeeming than a Tahoe or Trailblazer
Several years ago, maybe more, we were coming out of a restaurant in CT and I passed an H1 in the parking lot. I glanced inside and noticed 4 small seats, crammed up against each door, with a huge full center console, had to be 2 ft wide! Each back seat had a baby seat in it.
Out comes a young, hip mom and two toddlers. Mom proceeds to strap them in and put the bag of toddler supplies in the passenger seat. When she got in I realized that huge vehicle was full, to the brim!