‘Hot’ Hummer roams Metro streets

Who is the owner of a brand new black Hummer-2 (H2) vehicle roaming the streets of Metro Manila without being stopped by police and Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) traffic aides?

What is mysterious about this vehicle, which carries “8” car plates reserved for members of Congress, is that its plates do not have the usual marking of the province that the member of Congress is supposed to represent. The plates may be fake and the vehicle could be a “hot” car.

The ownership of this vehicle could not be traced to the Land Transportation Office (LTO) because, instead of an  LTO-issued car plate, it has a 2007 California car plate 7P78127 on the rear. At the back, it has a small pickup-style bed.

The STAR crossed paths with the Hummer along Roxas Boulevard yesterday afternoon, while it was cruising with a woman passenger and a male driver seen from the outside since the windows are not tinted. Apparently seeing attempts to get a photo of this moving violation, a white Toyota Fortuner, apparently its back-up vehicle, cut the unmarked vehicle of The STAR.

What makes it difficult to trace the ownership of this H2 vehicle is the fact that it does not bear any conduction sticker. This means it was brought into the country from abroad. Worse, its undentified owner could have evaded payment of customs duties for the vehicle, which is classified as a sports utility truck (SUT), not as a sports utility vehicle (SUV).

H2 vehicles are the latest high-end vehicles to flood the Philippines. A local car afficionado told The STAR that H2 vehicles are being sold in the country through the so-called “gray market,” or these are dealers of imported cars not sold by local distributors. At Philippine prices, it could be at least P5 million each, inclusive of taxes and duties.

A website of car dealers in the United States, where H2 vehicles are manufactured by General Motors (GM), shows that an H2 can be bought at $56,000. 

From the Edmunds.com website, H2 is described as follows: “Despite its classification as a truck, the 2008 Hummer H2 SUT is basically an SUV with an outdoor bed-style rear section rather than a wagon-type hatchback. It seats five people and comes in one trim level. Generously equipped for off-road conditions, the H2 comes standard with 17-inch alloy wheels, all-terrain tires, a driver-selectable locking rear differential and underbody skid plates. Inside, the SUT includes dual-zone automatic climate control, auxiliary rear climate controls, leather upholstery, power front seats with driver memory, heated front and rear seats, a trip computer, remote ignition, OnStar and a Bose stereo system with in-dash six-CD changer, satellite radio and an auxiliary audio jack.

“Under the hood, a larger 6.2-liter V8 propels the H2 SUT through a new six-speed automatic transmission with manual shift control.

“Inspired by the massive military-derived Hummer H1 off-road ground pounder, the full-size Hummer H2 debuted five years ago as the go-to choice for the ‘look at me’ crowd. Constructed of various bits and pieces from GM’s full-size truck and SUV parts bin, the H2’s rough-around-the-edges attitude were as much a part of its charm as its all-conquering off-road capability.

“More recently, however, the H2’s popularity has suffered as a result of escalating fuel prices, an aging design, changing consumer tastes and its status as a favored target in the crosshairs of environmentalists and other social critics. In the beginning, driving a Hummer would produce a thumb’s up. Today it could very well elicit another finger entirely. From Hummer’s standpoint, there’s not much that can be done about fuel prices and consumer wants, but it does have the ability to make the H2 better, and that was the mission for the updated 2008 model.”