Hummer
The Hummer H1 came to market as the civilian version of the Humvee military transport. It was big, brash, and powered by a 5.7 petrol engine or a variety of 6.5-liter diesel engines. It arrived in 1992 as a result of campaigning from then soon-to-be California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger after he fell in love with the military version during Operation Desert Storm. Like the Toyota Prius, it became a political statement, but both vehicles were on opposing sides of the fence.
The Prius arrived in 1997 and is still with us, while the H1 ended up on the wrong side of history. The H1 became the poster boy for American excess and arrogance, but Hummer tried to move forward with the smaller H2 and H3 models. However, a small Hummer is still big and thirsty, and there wasn t enough appetite to keep the brand afloat. With rising gas prices, the risk-versus-reward ratio just wasn t there for enough customers.
It was love at first sight.
Everyone loves an underdog, especially if the said underdog is rocking a V8 under the hood, a flamin bird on top, and features in one of the best car movies of all time. We re obviously talking about the Pontiac Trans Am. introduced on February 23, 1967, the Firebird range of cars shared a platform with the better known Chevrolet Camaro and was first released with a weedy 3.8-liter six-cylinder engine in base trim and a number of V8 options. Finally in 1969, Pontiac decided to give it some horns when it released the high-performance Trans Am that soon became an American legend after featuring in the now cult classic film Smokey and The Bandit. To dig a little deeper into what makes these cars so great, another American Icon, Jay Leno, takes one for a spin.