Indian
automobile scene about forty or fifty years ago was, what could be
termed as rather a narrow or restricted one. Essentially there were
just three car models, Premier Padmini, which was just an Indian
version of Fiat 1100, Ambassador or a Morris Oxford and a hand
assembled Standard Herald based on a model of UK's
Standard-Triumph. The cars were meant for families and official use
and their looks could hardly be called as glamorous or Macho. These
car models were no good for the Macho look, which Bollywood heroes
wanted to present. So they used Jeeps, also made in India, manly for
the army. In almost all films produced in 1970's and 1980's the hero
always would be seen driving a Jeep, when he came across a beautiful
damsel, so that their lover story could begin.
After
liberalization of the economy in early 1990's, the automobile sector
suddenly expended with domestic players investing in new models and
major international players coming in and bringing along with
limousines and compacts, the new Macho vehicle; the SUV. Ever since
then, it is the preferred vehicle for heroes in Bollywood films.
However,
in US, a big daddy of Macho vehicles was already in production.
Hummer was a brand of trucks and SUVs, first marketed in 1992 when
Amerian Motors began selling a civilian version of the M998 Humvee.
In 1998, General Motors (GM) purchased the brand name and marketed
three vehicles: the original Hummer pick up truck H1, based on the
Humvee; and two SUV models named as H2 and H3, based on smaller,
civilian-market GM platforms. In spite of the image, Hummers were
terrible vehicles to maintain and drive. They were significantly
bigger than other SUV's; which caused considerable problems in
parking, driving and fitting in a garage. They were also heavy,
weighing as much as 2700 Kg. Their large size also posed a serious
threat to smaller vehicles on the road. As far as fuel economy was
considered, the Hummers were the poorest. Added to this poor economy
was the fact that Hummers came with Gasolene Engines. A typical
Hummer H2 required for each 100 Km travel a monstrous quantity of 17
liters of Gasolene even on highways. In the city, it was even worst
with vehicles requiring 24 liters to travel 100 Km.
Hummer h3
Hummer
saga finally got over by 2010, but it was still loved by many
Bollywood heroes, who thought that they had a macho image and managed
to get a few imported and mostly kept as show pieces. Surprisingly,
Hummer also became popular in China to such an extent that In 2009, a
Chinese manufacturer, Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery
Company, announced that it would acquire Hummer, pending government
approvals, but later withdrew its bid.
It
however appears that Chinese love for Hummer type SUV's has in no way
diminished. Visitors to the recently concluded Beijing Automobile
show, were pleasantly surprised to see a giant of a vehicle sitting
in between the Ferrari and McLaren booths just like a rhino sitting
among gazelles. This giant SUV is a brainchild of a Chinese
automotive engineer, Tang Qingjie, who once worked in Detroit. Tang
is a native from Liaoning province of China and runs a business in US
named as U.S. Specialty Vehicles of Chino, Calif., where he makes
specialty vehicles as company name suggests.
Gen.Patton
Tang
says that he first noticed a Chinese appetite for big, militaristic
vehicles when his company began selling customized stretch limousines
to the Chinese market. One vehicle – a stretch sport-utility
vehicle – sold particularly well. Since this car was displayed at
last year’s auto show in Chengdu, Tang has managed to sell 18 units
to Chinese buyers at a price of around 3.6 million yuan, or
$575,800. Tang has named his creation, which bears a distinct Hummer
pedigree with its big tires and sharp right angles, as Gen. Patton,
the famous US general of world war II and after whom a US tank was
named.
Tang's
Gen. Patton is built on the chassis of a Ford 350 or Ford 450 truck,
weighs 4 tonnes and has a 6.8-liter V-10 engine. It looks like an
armored vehicle but doesn’t actually have armor. Tang explains:
“Men like speed, power, luxury – all of these things. Sports cars
focus on speed but not power or strength. Armored vehicles show power
and strength. But there’s not anything in the middle.” This
summarises his design philosophy for his vehicle.
1st
May 2014
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