AP: Officials, Hummer owners rally at vandalized dealership

[Atlant]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/08/24/state2009EDT0076.DTL

Officials, Hummer owners rally
at vandalized dealership

BRUCE HARING, Associated Press Writer

Council members, firefighters and Hummer fans rallied Sunday
morning outside a West Covina auto dealership that suffered an
estimated $1 million in damage during a vandalism and arson
attack.

About 25 members of a Southern California Hummer fan club, some
driving from as far away as San Diego, joined with public servants
outside Clippinger Chevrolet.

They briefly toured the area where fires gutted a parts warehouse
and destroyed 20 Hummer H2s, with another 20 Hummers and several
Chevrolet Tahoes significantly damaged by fire and spray-painting.

Three other dealers and at least four privately owned vehicles in
the area also were damaged early Friday during the spree.

<more>

[Democat]

1. Hummer fan club?

That sounds like Arnold's target market.

[BiggJawn]

2. They all sit around and say...

..."Oh, yeah, I gotta BIG Dick!" (even the women)

This was not a smart move, IMO, but then, there is not much the ELF does that I agree with. I know some folks think they're heros, but not me.

[Bandit]

27. Do you know for sure this was done by ELF?

I've heard speculation but no facts. Did they admit to it? What do you base your indictment on?

[Kbowe]

28. They will be burning their own vehicles if gasoline goes any higher.

See how many of these gas guzzlers are sold in 2004.

[maggrwaggr]

29. They sit around and see who's got the smallest dick

c'mon, what's a hummer for if not overcompensation?

[Scurrilous]

5. The biggest Hummer fans.......

....are gas station owners and operators.

A Hummer fan details his personal MPG figures:

Fuel & Fuel Systems/Mileage:
I note many questions about mpg with HUMMERS. Having put about 3,000 miles some months on turbo, non turbo, and gas engine HUMMERS my experience is:





Turbos:

10.5 mpg worst at 83 mile per hour
14.2 mpg best driving easy under 55 miles per hour easy stop and go

Non turbo:

10.00 mpg is worst at 78 miles per hour
13.2 mpg best

Gas:

3.8 mpg worst at 78 miles per hour
6.8 mpg best easy in town driving

http://www.humvee.net/hid/fuel/mpg.html

[midnight armadillo]

21. Another from that website:

What kind of fuel mileage does it get?

Who cares? Seriously, mileage can vary but usually falls between 12 and 15 mpg for the diesels and 8-10 mpg for the gas engine models. Prior to 1996 they were equipped with a 25-gallon fuel tank. Since 1996 they've also had a 17-gallon auxilliary tank.

It would seem to me that a military vehicle that is not necessarily going to be near a fuel depot would benefit from high mileage...or am I just talking out my rear end?

[Muddleoftheroad]

23. However

They also benefit from heavy armor, the ability to carry heavy equipment and such. But you have hit on a military maxim. Amateurs study tactic, professionals study logistics.

[realFedUp]

3. Maybe they thought they'd pick up a Hummer for a song

Some deep discounts on those right now I bet.

[htuttle]

4. How strange

Hummer owners keep assuring me that the really need a vehicle that big, and that there is no political statement/sub-context involved in owning one.

Yet they have quasi-political RALLIES? (and not rally races, like other vehicle owners).

Odd.

[leesa]

6. Funny thing though is that some of these huge gas guzzlers have less

available space for passengers and storage than my Prius has!

[FlaGranny]

9. Vehicles that BIG!!! You ain't seen nothing.

Day before yesterday my husband and I were out and I saw this "thing" and I said "what the hell is THAT?" Lo and behold, it was a S-T-R-E-T-C-H Hummer! It looked like it was 25 feet long. Now what could anyone want with a stretch Hummer?

[LeftHander]

7. Americans who love freedom should drive this....

30 Gallons Per mile....Flat Panel DVD,

[Best_man23]

10. Just a note

Ordinarily, we don't knock vehicles designed for commercial use.

I assume the post was sarcastic.

[LeftHander]

13. Yes it was quite sarcastic

The joke is to illustrate the use a commercial or military vechicle for a civilian purpose like commuting....something that a Hummer is clearly not designed for.

[Sushi_lover]

8. ClearChannel should do a rally there

A patriotic event.

Shed some tears for the deaths of those fine American vehicles.

21 gun salute. Testimonials. <sniff>

:nopity:

[yellowcanine]

11. When gas hits $2.50 a gallon this winter

the Hummer owners will be vandalizing their own vehicles to collect the insurance money.

[slackmaster]

12. You don't understand the kind of people who can afford Hummers

I mean REALLY afford them. To a wealthy American having the price of gasoline go up to $5 wouldn't mean jack shit.

Any Hummer owner that got hurt by gasoline at $2.50 is probably already in debt up to his or her eyeballs.

[LeftHander]

14. Exactly...like yacht sales at all time high

Yachts sales have boomed over the past two years and in general then yachts are getting bigger. Many companies no longer make sailboats under 35 ft....

Unlike in the 60's and 70's when many made boats for the middle class.

The point is that only the very rich are buying new boats (ones that you can cook and sleep in) and they want and can afford very large ones...

[BiggJawn]

25. The "middle class" bought BOATS????

When I was on the shore last week, I saw the following kinds of boats:

A few Zodiacs, mostly the orange ones that belong to the coasties.
Lots of wave-runners
Lots of 20' and shorter open-bow runabouts
lots of those 18' speedboats that look like a gansta shoe.
A coupla 35' speedboats (the big, loud, penis compensators)
35 foot and shorter sailboats.

AND....
32, 34, 37, 52 foot cabin cruisers, LOTS of them...

[FlashHarry]

16. I love the J.D. Power & Associates satisfaction survey...

...the Hummer was ranked dead last. The main complaint... drumroll, please... POOR GAS MILEAGE!

[yellowcanine]

17. Exactly - I would guess that many Hummers are bought on credit or leased

My hunch is that the truly wealthy that don't have to worry about the price of gasoline aren't driving Hummers, for the most part - except for neuveau rich idiots like Tom Clancy - they are more likely to be driving high end Benzes or Beemers. Have you looked closely at a Hummer - they don't even look comfortable (I've gotta admit I haven't ridden in one, so I am guessing here) - it appears to me that a F-150 Ford Crew Cab would be way more comfortable - and much better looking to boot. Even the gussied up consumer model Hummer still looks like a big square military vehicle - and just as difficult to park. I see people commuting in these things and it is hard to see how they won't lose their luster if the gas price continues to skyrocket.

[FlaGranny]

18. You are right, of course, about not worrying

about the price of gas, although, what I bet really gets to them is having to fill up the tank so often - inconvenient.

[Bozola]

15. Welfare Queens

It's not just a SUV, it's a tax break.

[GoldenOldie]

19. Hummer's vs Hummer's

Every time I see a Hummer(?) on the road, I see another another sucker behind the wheel.

Having worked in budgeting for the initial introduction of this vehicle into the military and follow-up budgeting to support the maintenance of it, I can laugh when I know that the drivers of these vehicles think they are getting some big macho military machine that gives them power. It is much like getting an action figure doll - Bush in a suit and feeling like it is life-like.

The reason the Hummer was developed was they needed a vehicle that could be dumped from a military cargo plane into uncertain terrains - hence wide wheel bases. These proud Hummer owners are not getting anything close to what is now being used in Iraq. They get what looks like the original Hummer and painted with fancy colors - toy action figures.

[BiggJawn]

26. Paint the name of your store on the side...

...park it out front a few days a week, and write the WHOLE cost of the damn thing off on taxes...

Corporate Welfare, alrighty...
Aren't there seminars to help "Entepreneurs" "Get a Hummer for FREE!" or something like that?

Ah, well, since I never met an Entepreneur who's had a day off in 45 years since they started their business, I guess we can let them suck the earth dry when they drive, right? <sarcasm>

[qb]

20. Save our Hummers!

[KamaAina]

22. A pro-Hummer rally? I'll bet Clinton wishes he'd thought of that!

Then again, we all know it was Clinton's mighty penis that torched those poor defenseless Hummers in the first place...

</sarcasm>

Edit: thought

[0007]

24. Jerry Falwell

owns a hummer was he at the rally?