I’ll try to keep this short! Lol! For a couple years I’ve been thinking about getting a 4wd SUV as a spare vehicle and to tow behind RV and to take to Utah & Colorado to explore with the family.
I had considered buying a new Bronco as my sister & brother in law bought one and they will probably do these trips with us. But I was not ready to spend $68K. I’d looked at used Jeeps & 4Runners, and all were still expensive and more than I wanted to spend for spare vehicle. I’d always liked the H3, and after doing some research and seeing what they were selling for, I thought this might work? They only made them for 5 years, before GM felt the pressure to close Hummer. The base came with a 5 cylinder and I did not want that. I wanted an Alpha (5.3 V8) & the Adventure package, which gave you 4-10 gears, 33 inch tires, steal front diff housing & electric locker. Also being built by GM the power & drivetrain are still around and not terribly expensive if needing repair or replacing. They only made the H3 for 5 years, and not allot each year. They only offered the V8 in it 2008-10. Less then half were Alpha’s and even less Alphas had the Adventure package. Needle in the haystack.
After searching on & off, finding a few but they did not pan out. I finally found one. It was this 2009 H3 Championship Edition in San Antonio Texas. Yes Texas! What am I thinking! I had not heard of the Championship before? The owner only had it for a little over a year (oh boy what’s wrong with it??) He said it was perfect, but he had a Bronco on order and it was coming in. He’d only put 200-300 miles on it since he bought it, as he works out of state most of the year. (Sure you do!!!) But he then tells me “Do you want the original owners info, as he can tell you everything about it.” Next thing I know I’m talking with the original owner in Austin TX who is in his 70’s, he’s owned 4-5 H3’s and this Championship Edition was special ordered. He tells me about every improvement, upgrade & tricks done to this H3 (named Homer) he built up the 4L60 trans, added extra trans cooler, improved the transfer case, special program in the ECU for the trans, full cat back Magnaflow exhaust system. Bilstien 5100 shocks, all new bump stops. Tells me only Royal Purple oil has been in the engine. Only GM PS and diff fluids etc..Tells me there’s a bunch of parts that go with Homer like spare throttle body, brand new valve body, tuner for the ECU and a bunch more misc stuff. And the H3 has a red binder with every piece of history & service done to it. (Ok so now I’m convinced I’m flying to Texas and buying this thing. He assures me it will have no issues driving to San Diego.
So what is the Championship Edition (CE)? It’s a tribute to Rod & Chad Hall. In 2008 Rod & Chad Hall each drove H3’s in the Score series. In 2008 Rod won the Score stock SUV class championship, and Chad won the Baja 1000. And this was to be Rod’s last full time year racing. So GM decided to make only 500 Championship Editions to celebrate Rod & Chad’s accomplishments. One of the race H3 was painted silver in 08 and Hummer never made a silver H3. So the CE was going to be silver. The 5.3 V8’s were called Alpha’s, and these 500 CE’s were also going to get the 5.3 V8, but not called Alphas or getting Alpha badging. They also came with the Adventure package and for the first time in 2009 they made them with front & rear electric lockers. The CE came with a black decal on the hood to reduce glare like Rod & Chad had. It came with fender flares (I’m not a fan of) rock sliders, painted to match grill, black front grill guard, red brake calipers to duplicate racing brakes, and special valved shocks painted red. All CE’s interiors were to be more base models with cloth seats, and the wheels were base silver. But you could upgrade the interior to the luxury package and you could get chrome wheels if special ordered. Because this Championship Edition was special ordered the owner added the luxury leather package, sunroof, chrome wheels etc..
So after a few months of waiting for the current owner to get the title from the bank & DMV and his work schedule to get him back home to San Antonio. The first week of June I’m on a plane and I flying to Texas to drive this thing home. I get picked up at the airport at 3:30, we stop by the bank, fill up the H3 with gas and head to the owners house. We sign papers, go through the whole cargo area of parts, things the current owner bought, but never installed. Then I stop by Harbor Freight to buy some tools in case I need them and a gas can just in case! Stopped by the grocery store to get some water & snacks, and I’m on my way home by 6:30! 19.5 hours of driving and 1250 miles I made it home. The only sketchy thing was the tires. It had Michelin HT tires and the sidewalls were showing some checking. I called the original owner and he thought they were 6 years old?? I could not find the date codes. First thing I did when home was get new tires. Those Michelins were 2013! Lol! 10 years old! I’m really glad I did not know. Both Bill 1st owner & Mike 2nd owner are super nice people and we have stayed in contact. Mike will be working on a 3 year contract in New Mexico starting later this year and we might meet up and take his Bronco & the H3 out for a weekend ride. I’ve called Bill and continue to ask questions as needed. He’s asked me to continue sharing what I do with and where we take Homer.
Well after this very long short story, here’s Homer! 1 of 500 ever made because of the Hall family and Score Baja racing.
The paint is in great shape, except for the tops of the snorkels and two of the plastic fenders, as the clear has faded & got cloudy. Typical GM paint on the plastics.
Special ordered Leather & luxury interior.
The front & rear differential lockers
The “Red Binder”
Chevy 5.3 V8.
Since Hummer would not consider this an Alpha, they would not badge it as one on the steering wheel, head rests or rear tailgate badge. But they did make a special “Alpha like” badge for the rear tailgate that says V8.
This is pretty cool. It was said that many but not all, Hummer H3’s built had a special factory sticker stuck in a door jamb somewhere, depending on where the factory worker chose to put it, if they chose to put it on. Mine is actually on the drivers door above the latch.
Originally when I got the H3 it had the chrome solid spoke wheel. I liked the more common twin spoke wheel, and found a set of 5 original GM USA made wheels with flawless chrome finish. I got all 5 for $250, with original center caps. Big score! This picture shows the solid spoke wheel and Texas plates. I wish I could have kept the Texas plates!!!
I have a list of things I need or want to do. As seen I put 285 (33) Cooper AT3 tires on it. It will fit 315 (35’s) stock but I decided to stick with the stock size, for milage and the trans tune. I want to adjust the torsion bars about 1.5 inches to level the front. Because it pretty much sat for close to a year, and then I drove it 1250 miles, I think the rear main seal or rear part of the oil pan is leaking a bit. So that’s getting fixed! I’ll pull the fenders and snorkels off and get them repainted. I might pull the silver color “bash plate” below the grill & bumper and paint it a darker color. I’ve seen a few that way and it looks good. I need to get the tow bar mounts that bolt in place of the big tow hooks so we can tow behind the RV.
I had considered buying a new Bronco as my sister & brother in law bought one and they will probably do these trips with us. But I was not ready to spend $68K. I’d looked at used Jeeps & 4Runners, and all were still expensive and more than I wanted to spend for spare vehicle. I’d always liked the H3, and after doing some research and seeing what they were selling for, I thought this might work? They only made them for 5 years, before GM felt the pressure to close Hummer. The base came with a 5 cylinder and I did not want that. I wanted an Alpha (5.3 V8) & the Adventure package, which gave you 4-10 gears, 33 inch tires, steal front diff housing & electric locker. Also being built by GM the power & drivetrain are still around and not terribly expensive if needing repair or replacing. They only made the H3 for 5 years, and not allot each year. They only offered the V8 in it 2008-10. Less then half were Alpha’s and even less Alphas had the Adventure package. Needle in the haystack.
After searching on & off, finding a few but they did not pan out. I finally found one. It was this 2009 H3 Championship Edition in San Antonio Texas. Yes Texas! What am I thinking! I had not heard of the Championship before? The owner only had it for a little over a year (oh boy what’s wrong with it??) He said it was perfect, but he had a Bronco on order and it was coming in. He’d only put 200-300 miles on it since he bought it, as he works out of state most of the year. (Sure you do!!!) But he then tells me “Do you want the original owners info, as he can tell you everything about it.” Next thing I know I’m talking with the original owner in Austin TX who is in his 70’s, he’s owned 4-5 H3’s and this Championship Edition was special ordered. He tells me about every improvement, upgrade & tricks done to this H3 (named Homer) he built up the 4L60 trans, added extra trans cooler, improved the transfer case, special program in the ECU for the trans, full cat back Magnaflow exhaust system. Bilstien 5100 shocks, all new bump stops. Tells me only Royal Purple oil has been in the engine. Only GM PS and diff fluids etc..Tells me there’s a bunch of parts that go with Homer like spare throttle body, brand new valve body, tuner for the ECU and a bunch more misc stuff. And the H3 has a red binder with every piece of history & service done to it. (Ok so now I’m convinced I’m flying to Texas and buying this thing. He assures me it will have no issues driving to San Diego.
So what is the Championship Edition (CE)? It’s a tribute to Rod & Chad Hall. In 2008 Rod & Chad Hall each drove H3’s in the Score series. In 2008 Rod won the Score stock SUV class championship, and Chad won the Baja 1000. And this was to be Rod’s last full time year racing. So GM decided to make only 500 Championship Editions to celebrate Rod & Chad’s accomplishments. One of the race H3 was painted silver in 08 and Hummer never made a silver H3. So the CE was going to be silver. The 5.3 V8’s were called Alpha’s, and these 500 CE’s were also going to get the 5.3 V8, but not called Alphas or getting Alpha badging. They also came with the Adventure package and for the first time in 2009 they made them with front & rear electric lockers. The CE came with a black decal on the hood to reduce glare like Rod & Chad had. It came with fender flares (I’m not a fan of) rock sliders, painted to match grill, black front grill guard, red brake calipers to duplicate racing brakes, and special valved shocks painted red. All CE’s interiors were to be more base models with cloth seats, and the wheels were base silver. But you could upgrade the interior to the luxury package and you could get chrome wheels if special ordered. Because this Championship Edition was special ordered the owner added the luxury leather package, sunroof, chrome wheels etc..
So after a few months of waiting for the current owner to get the title from the bank & DMV and his work schedule to get him back home to San Antonio. The first week of June I’m on a plane and I flying to Texas to drive this thing home. I get picked up at the airport at 3:30, we stop by the bank, fill up the H3 with gas and head to the owners house. We sign papers, go through the whole cargo area of parts, things the current owner bought, but never installed. Then I stop by Harbor Freight to buy some tools in case I need them and a gas can just in case! Stopped by the grocery store to get some water & snacks, and I’m on my way home by 6:30! 19.5 hours of driving and 1250 miles I made it home. The only sketchy thing was the tires. It had Michelin HT tires and the sidewalls were showing some checking. I called the original owner and he thought they were 6 years old?? I could not find the date codes. First thing I did when home was get new tires. Those Michelins were 2013! Lol! 10 years old! I’m really glad I did not know. Both Bill 1st owner & Mike 2nd owner are super nice people and we have stayed in contact. Mike will be working on a 3 year contract in New Mexico starting later this year and we might meet up and take his Bronco & the H3 out for a weekend ride. I’ve called Bill and continue to ask questions as needed. He’s asked me to continue sharing what I do with and where we take Homer.
Well after this very long short story, here’s Homer! 1 of 500 ever made because of the Hall family and Score Baja racing.
The paint is in great shape, except for the tops of the snorkels and two of the plastic fenders, as the clear has faded & got cloudy. Typical GM paint on the plastics.
Special ordered Leather & luxury interior.
The front & rear differential lockers
The “Red Binder”
Chevy 5.3 V8.
Since Hummer would not consider this an Alpha, they would not badge it as one on the steering wheel, head rests or rear tailgate badge. But they did make a special “Alpha like” badge for the rear tailgate that says V8.
This is pretty cool. It was said that many but not all, Hummer H3’s built had a special factory sticker stuck in a door jamb somewhere, depending on where the factory worker chose to put it, if they chose to put it on. Mine is actually on the drivers door above the latch.
Originally when I got the H3 it had the chrome solid spoke wheel. I liked the more common twin spoke wheel, and found a set of 5 original GM USA made wheels with flawless chrome finish. I got all 5 for $250, with original center caps. Big score! This picture shows the solid spoke wheel and Texas plates. I wish I could have kept the Texas plates!!!
I have a list of things I need or want to do. As seen I put 285 (33) Cooper AT3 tires on it. It will fit 315 (35’s) stock but I decided to stick with the stock size, for milage and the trans tune. I want to adjust the torsion bars about 1.5 inches to level the front. Because it pretty much sat for close to a year, and then I drove it 1250 miles, I think the rear main seal or rear part of the oil pan is leaking a bit. So that’s getting fixed! I’ll pull the fenders and snorkels off and get them repainted. I might pull the silver color “bash plate” below the grill & bumper and paint it a darker color. I’ve seen a few that way and it looks good. I need to get the tow bar mounts that bolt in place of the big tow hooks so we can tow behind the RV.
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