D.I.Y. Hummers

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Now we know why the C hinese government discouraged Tenzhong from buying Hummer: Waste of money. Chinese can build Hummers themselves. For $650. The man in the picture is living proof.

Carnewschina has it that Qu Zhibo from Zhigong on the Chinese island of Hainan built his own Hummer. Maybe not as big as a real Hummer, but starting small and thinking big is the Chinese way. Says Carnewschina:

“Instead he built his Hummer himself, completely from scrap, with a small tractor engine that drives the rear wheels. Qu’s Hummer is 2 meters long and 1.5 meters high. The building process took three long years and 4000 yuan, that is 630 US dollar. Lotta time and a lotta money, but Qu got it.”

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Lorenzo Lorenzo on Dec 12, 2011

    Well, if he wants to go off-road, he'll have to increase the clearance. Bigger wheels ought to do it, and I notice he left plenty of room under the fenders to do just that. The low profile wheels he's got now were probably meant to test the vehicle in the twisties. A strong pulling tractor engine is also ideal, since it's off-road where the old saying "talk horsepower but drive torque" really comes into play.

    • Daveainchina Daveainchina on Dec 12, 2011

      I'm not sure I'd call the Chinese tractor motors strong. Think more like slightly larger riding lawnmower engines and you get the idea. Built in the 1940's

  • Cmoibenlepro Cmoibenlepro on Dec 12, 2011

    Funny, and then some people are afraid of Chinese.

  • Belfagor Belfagor on Dec 12, 2011

    btw, is it a hybrid?

  • Grzydj Grzydj on Dec 12, 2011

    Build quality appears to be about the same.

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