Getting a Hummer isn’t all that hard. Getting one with a stick like today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe H3 on the other hand is a rare opportunity. Let’s see if this one’s price blows it for us.
Even though I like to consider myself a patriot, you know, U.S.A. all the way! and all that—I have to admit that Independence Day is not my favorite national holiday. That would be halloween. Yes I know that isn’t really a holiday, but still, you get the idea.
Similar apathy was demonstrated in the response to yesterday’s 4th of July themed 1944 Dodge WC-52 truck. It was a rusted non-runner that most of you felt was too far gone for any sort of Lieutenant Dan-esque redemptive effort. At $3,500, it was also seen as overpriced, earning a 61 percent Crack Pipe vote and the wonder of where our military budget is being spent if not in maintaining old army trucks such as this.
Hey, have you ever come across something unexpected and offhandedly special? You know, like a four-leaf clover in a field full of cow pies? Or maybe a long forgotten twenty crumpled up in an old coat pocket? That’s a pretty nice feeling, right?
I think we’ll all be experiencing that sense of serendipity with today’s 2006 Hummer H3. That’s because it’s a truck that rocks a happy discovery—a fairly rare five-speed manual transmission.
This is, of course, the baby Hummer, the only one not to be developed by AM General, and the one intended to offer more reasonable fuel economy over the single digit in-town consumption of the H1 and H2. These were based on the GMT 355 platform that underpinned the Chevy Colorado and GMC Camyon pickup trucks, and that was designed primarily by GM’s partner in Asia, Isuzu.
The H3's upright five-door body sits on the GMT355's stout ladder frame with and independent suspension set up in front and a leaf-sprung live axle in back. Overall, the intention was to mimic the machismo of the larger Hummer models, if not quite their capabilities.
That’s not to say the H3 can’t handle itself off the beaten path. The truck sports an electronically controlled full-time AWD system and offers more than nine inches of ground clearance for getting through the rough stuff.
The dealer-posted ad for the truck promotes the fact that it’s a row-yer-own, but fails to note what engine is attached to the Aisin AR5 that makes it all worth while. Fortunately, we don’t need to set Sherlock Holmes on the case as the H3 only offered with one engine in 2006—the 3460cc L52 Vortec straight five. This was rated from the factory at 220 horsepower and 225 lb-ft of torque and featured a sort of funky exhaust note. The fiver could be mated to either a four-speed automatic, or if you were a wild card, to the five-speed manual like in this one.
Along with the desirable transmission, this truck comes with 186,000 miles on the clock. Those don’t seem to show on either exterior or interior however, as both seem to be in surprisingly decent shape.
That exterior is Birch White (meh) and wraps around a beige and black cloth interior. Seemingly missing here are the back-of-seats nets and the fold-down cup holder in the center of the back bench. Other than that and a somewhat old school stereo that has most of its station selector buttons rubbed off, it’s all pretty tidy and appreciably clean.
The ad claims the H3 ‘runs and drives perfect and is in excellent condition.’ The title is clean and with the stick this should prove a more engaging than your average Hummer. On that note though, has anyone ever had an average Hummer?
The more important question of the moment is whether this one is engaging enough to drop $6,400 on. What do you think, could this rare H3 be worth that $6,400 dealer asking? Or, is this a Hummer that even manual manipulation can’t redeem?
You decide!
Detroit, MI Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Kent Goolsby for the hookup.
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