Under the supervision of HUMMER design studio director Carl Zipfel, each young designer was assigned to either the wheelbase, approach and departure angles or stance – three core HUMMER proportions – and otherwise given liberty to design away. Though all three came up with their own visions, the won you see above was chosen by the suits to be transformed into an actual concept to be shown at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show.

“HUMMER appeals to young people globally and served as a perfect first assignment for our newest talent,” said Ed Welburn, vice president of global design and product planning. “Today’s graduates from top design schools are ready to hit the ground running. The HUMMER design challenge gave our newest designers an opportunity to sprint.”

The task presented numerous challenges to the new designers. While sketching and sculpting together in the HUMMER studio, these recent graduates drew upon the creative energy of each other, further improving their individual designs, as well as that of the final concept.

“We drew inspiration from one another,” said Kang. “As you’re designing and sketching you try to absorb what the other designer is doing and try to make it better.”

“While we took inspiration from the HUMMER heritage and DNA, we each wanted to evolve it in a new way,” said Jablonski. “We agreed it should be contemporary, compact and definitely open air. It came out great.”

After three months of sketching and sculpting theme work for the new HUMMER concept, each designer had the opportunity to present scale clay models to Bob Lutz, GM vice chairman and Ed Welburn, who chose which design would ultimately become the HX concept. In its final concept form, the E-85 FlexFuel capable HUMMER HX embodies the off road spirit of HUMMER in a fully customizable package.

The HX offers an open-air driving experience via a pair of removable roof panels above the driver and front passenger and a modular, removable rear roof assembly enabling a quick conversion from closed vehicle to open vehicle SUT. It also features a slant back assembly with removable doors and fender flairs.

“Working as a team, you realize it’s more than one person influencing the vehicle,” said Rojas. “You can see the inspiration from each of our designs in the final concept vehicle. We’re all proud to have the chance to see our sketches become reality.”

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Both use a troop seat kit for troop transport operations. The cargo/troop carrier can also be configured in a four man crew configuration. The vehicles can climb 60% slopes and traverse a side slope of up to 40% fully loaded. The vehicles can ford hard bottom water crossing up to 30 inches without a deep water fording kit and up to 60 inches with the kit.

Fully-loaded M998, M998A1, M1038, and M1038A1 cargo/troop carriers will climb road grades as steep as 60% (31°) and traverse a side slope of up to 40% (22°). The vehicle fords hard bottom water crossing up to 30 inches (76 centimeters) without a deepwater fording kit and 60 inches (152 centimeters) with the kit. The M1038, M1038A1 are equipped with the self-recovery winch which can also be used to recover like systems. The M998A1 and M1038A1 models have the latest modifications applied to the vehicles. The only difference between the M998 and M998A1 cargo/troop carriers and the M1038 and M1038A1 cargo/troop carriers is that the M998 and M998A1 do not have winches and the M1038 and M1038A1 do.

The M998 is the baseline vehicle for the M998 series of 1 1/4-ton trucks, which are known as the HMMWV vehicles. The HMMWV vehicles include 11 variants. They are: M998 Cargo/Troop Carrier; M1038 Cargo/Troop Carrier, with winch; M1043 Armament Carrier; M1044 Armament Carrier, with winch; M1045 TOW Carrier; M1046 TOW Carrier, with winch; M997 Ambulance, basic armor 4-Litter; M1035 Ambulance, 2-Litter; M1037 Shelter Carrier; M1042 Shelter Carrier, with winch; M1097 Heavy HMMWV. All HMMWVS are designed for use over all types of roads, in all weather conditions and are extremely effective in the most difficult terrain. The HMMWVS high power-to-weight ratio, four wheeled drive and high ground clearance combine to give it outstanding cross-country mobility.

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One of the best features that everyone will be looking forward to is the rear-vision camera system that will display video from a camera out to the back of the vehicle on a 3.5 inch display, which will easily slide out of the side of the rearview mirror. Some of the other features it will include is a heated windsheild wiper system and rear-seat DVD entertainment system with headrest-mounted screens and wireless headphones.

All these premium bits add up to a premium price tag, with the SUV starting at $66,030 and the SUT at $65,575. That’s a pretty big jump over the $54,255 base price of a standard H2 SUV, though even those can be optioned up with packages to hit $60k pretty easily. We’ll likely see the “Victory Red” at the Chicago Auto Show, and it will be arriving in dealerships sometime in February.

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Considering that the top on an H1 wagon took a unionized four man team two hours (with one fifteen-minute break) to open or close, this might be the better idea of the two. Designed and built by ASC, the “Infinivu” sunroof that gives this H3 concept its name is a one-touch piece that spans the entire length of the vehicle.

Other than the top, this is just an H3 decorated with a bunch of black chrome accessories that you also can’t buy through GM performance parts. This vehicle debuted at the SEMA show in Las Vegas back in November, but we can’t figure out why it’s parading the auto show circuit, as GM has no real production expectations for this piece.

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It seems the HUMMER brand is still an attractive option for those seeking the image of an urban warrior. As sales of other truck-based SUVs have fallen in line with the H2’s, the H3 appears resistant to this correction, most likely because it’s seen as a more responsible choice than its big brother, yet still a HUMMER. Of course, lots of vehicles tread lightly on the earth compared to the H2, but the H3 is no Escape Hybrid. It’s still a vehicle that weighs 4,700 lbs. and gets an EPA estimated 15/20 mpg.

GM, however, seems perfectly content to enjoy the H3’s resilience while it lasts, though for HUMMER’s sake it better have an even more responsible alternative in the works if the brand hopes to carry its momentum forward.

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Between October 1 and December 31, 2006, when an active member of the fire and rescue community – volunteer or career firefighter or emergency response personnel associated with a fire association – purchases or leases a new HUMMER H3, the vehicle will include the HUMMER First Responder package at no additional cost.

The HUMMER First Responder package includes the purchaser’s choice of either an emergency signal package from Whelen Engineering Inc. (whelen.com) or Federal Signal (federalsignal.com) valued at up to $2,500, or a black wraparound brushguard and lower grille-mounted off-road lights.

According to the U.S. Fire Administration, 95 percent of the nation’s volunteer firefighters are in rural departments where the go-anywhere capability of the H3 combined with its size and efficiency makes the H3 the ideal emergency response vehicle.

An example of the HUMMER H3 equipped with the First Responder package will be first shown to the emergency response community in the GM display at the Fire-Rescue International 2006 show, September 15-16, 2006, in Dallas.

Roughly the same length as a midsize family sedan, H3 delivers HUMMER’s best-in-class all-terrain capability, like the ability to ford two feet of water or climb a 16-inch obstacle. And with a responsive 242-horsepower Vortec inline five-cylinder engine, turning radius comparable to a compact sedan and fuel economy ratings as high as 20 miles per gallon, the H3 comfortably navigates city traffic making it just as refined on-road, as it is capable off-road.

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The new price goes into effect immediately, and consumers still get the first three months of service included, with subsequent months costing $12.95 per month.

HUMMER won’t be participating in the price cut, according to GM, but offering up XM is something of a lucrative activity for the General, apparently the automaker gets a cut of subscription fees, as well as some extra cash each time its OnStar employees handle XM-related service calls.

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So without further adieu, Forbes best pickups for 2006:

• Best Midsize Pickup: Dodge Dakota and Mitsubishi Raider
• Best Pickup For Off-Roading: Dodge Ram Power Wagon
• Best Pickup For Pulling Stumps: Ford F-Series Super Duty
• Most Fuel-Efficient Pickup: Ford Ranger and Mazda B-Series
• Most Sinister Pickup: Ford Harley-Davidson F-150 (pictured above)
• Most Upscale Pickup: Cadillac Escalade EXT
• Raciest Pickup: Dodge Ram SRT-10
• Safest Pickup: Nissan Titan and Toyota Tundra

In a side note, Forbes excluded from consideration the pickup-like variations of Hummer’s SUVs, despite their off-roading capabilities, because they don’t have much in the way of cargo capacity in their beds.

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