Recently, my good friend got a new car. It seems as though he buys cars every other week, but his latest purchase is particularly special and unique. To him, it wasn’t just another Fox-body Mustang, it was the car he had on a poster in his room growing up, right down to the same color.
Of course, he couldn’t help but tell me that his all-original 1984 SVO Mustang with less than 30,000 actual miles was one of 30-something made in that color and that he is the car’s second owner, after handing the original owner $6,000.
His latest purchase got me thinking about what “poster cars” I had on my walls growing up. I keep hearing that millennials like the ‘80s, which is true. But unlike my friend who is slightly older, the Fox body is still a bit before my time, and I have only gotten into the ’80s cars relatively recently.
So, which late-90s, early-2000s cars peak my interest? Only two register, the Hummer H1 and the Lamborghini Diablo. A quick search of ClassicCars.com determined the Pick of the Day, a 2001 Hummer H1.
Listed by a private seller in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the Hummer is powered by a 6.5 Turbo diesel, and the seller states that the VIN indicates the vehicle has the “new” AM General engine block. Early versions of the H1 had an issue with engine blocks cracking, but in 2001 AM General re-engineered the block to fix that issue, and the engine within this Hummer has been verified to be the updated and refined version.
The H1 recently was serviced with new front and rear brakes and all of its fluids changed and both batteries replaced, according to the listing.
Back in my day, when you thought of the Hummer H1, which is the civilian version of the military Humvee workhorse, a few things came to mind: Arnold Schwarzenegger, when the former body-builder looked like a badass behind the wheel of a Hummer (pre-political career and all); the TV series “Entourage” because it was all the rage and so was the yellow H2 from the show; “Pimp My Ride,” the MTV TV series that is possibly responsible for making “donk” a popular thing; and memories of that time when everyone was slapping a set of chrome 30-inch dub spinner rims on every car, truck or SUV imaginable.
As a result of these pop-culture trends, we saw a lot of overdone and over-the-top Hummer builds.
This one, however, keeps it classy with a one-off, hand fabricated, Ferrari Daytona-style interior complimented by Ferrari Tour de France Blue matte paint. It comes with a Momo steering wheel, carbon fiber Automeeter gauges, and a custom sound system capable of handling your CDs, DVDs, and MP3 players. Passengers in the back seat can enjoy the video entertainment setup, and the Hummer comes with Bluetooth.
For convenience, the Hummer has a backup camera and parking sensors in the front and rear.
And if ever needed the H1 to perform in off-road situations, it features a Predator brush bar, Predator “search and rescue” roof rack and rock rails, Rigid Industries LED light bars and a Warn winch.
The listing notes that the H1 sits on “Rod Hall Racing Suspension with coil springs and remote reservoir shocks.” Other features include the Predator direct-flow hood scoop, Predator muffler system, and according to the listing, “Predator stage 4 performance upgrades” that have been fitted to the turbo-diesel engine
The seller offers the Hummer for $95,000, noting that around $90,000 in work has been done to it along with countless hours of labor to make the H1 look and drive perfectly, and without any mysterious rattles, noises or vibrations.
“It’s a tremendous head turner everywhere it goes, including car shows,” the seller said, adding that “if you don’t like the attention, don’t buy it.”
To see this vehicle listing on ClassicCars.com, see Pick of the Day