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The macho Hummer drives in
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The monster on wheels, Hummer comes to the city
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PHOTO: H.VIBHU
“A monster come to town, the beast is in Kochi,” said an excited voice over the phone. “Has the T Rex come back?” answered a playful voice.
“Yes, it’s the T Rex roaming the streets of Kochi.”
“Goodness me,” said the voice now rightly intrigued. “Tell me what is it and where?” the voice sounding urgent and tinged with fear, in response to the firm voice at the other end.
“Mom, the Hummer is here. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s vehicle in Terminator, the huge jeeps in the Iraq war.”
“O,” answered mummy relieved and then when the information sank in she said, “Ooooo. Vo! Let’s go then.”
So the curious family landed at Chirayath car showroom on the bypass to just take a look at the beloved beast.
Icon status
Hummer has icon status quite like Harley Davidson and its fans can see nothing beyond its girth. Laughed car dealer and owner of the showroom, Ebby George at the enthusiasm of the fans and said, “There has been such curiosity about the vehicle that it is amazing. A local TV channel was here to film it and of course there are plenty of enquiries.”
We stood next to the black behemoth, the H3 as Ebby explained about the vehicle, “Earlier the Hummers were left hand drive. These are right hand drive, manufactured in South Africa. This is the first official Hummer in Kerala. The Hummer H3 SUV is a vehicle from General Motors and introduced in 2006. It is the smallest of the Hummer models.”
Said car buff Sunil George, “The Humvee refers to military vehicles while the Hummer is the civilian model. Hummer, like the Harley Davidson bike, has a sort of cult following. They are made for multi-terrain and it has a guzzler of an engine. They are not bullet proof but have airlift hooks, even the civilian version. The tyre can be deflated by controls on the dashboard, and the vehicle can climb on boulders, go on rocky stream beds and in reverse go down mountain slopes.”
The latest on the Hummer’s guzzling engine is that Arnold Schwarzenegger who possesses four of them has converted one engine to run on bio-fuel so as to turn this lovable monster environment friendly.
But the fascination for the vehicle continues with many in Bollywood possessing one. And now in Kerala it is humming in the excitement.
PRIYADERSHINI S.
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