The US Department of Defense has organized an online auction for the sale of decommissioned HMMWV military off-road vehicles, also known as Humvee or Hummer (designation for the civilian version). For the first time in the SUV's 30-year history, civilians were eligible to purchase a military HMMWV.
At the disposal of the department was about 4000 HMMWV in cargo and passenger versions, which will be decommissioned. Some of these cars will be handed over to various law enforcement agencies, and the rest of the vehicles of the Ministry of Defense will be auctioned off at auctions on the Internet.
The auction of the first 25 vehicles attracted a record number of people - about 110,000 people participated in it, which is a record for the sale of decommissioned military equipment in the United States. For the first batch of HMMWV, the agency managed to earn $744,000.
The average winning bet has reached $30,000, but there have been exceptions. The cheapest lot was a 1989 four-door passenger Humvee, sold for $21,000, while the most expensive was a 1994 HMMWV-based pickup truck, which sold for $41,000. The minimum bid was $10,000.
It is noteworthy that none of the decommissioned military Humvees has access to public roads - you can only drive cars off-road, but this circumstance does not deter potential buyers.
Representatives of the company AM General, engaged in the production of army Hummers, argue that the machine is not suitable for civilian use. Moreover, the company does not intend to sell them components for HMMWV military versions.
The military Humvee was created in the early 1980s specifically for a competition announced by the US Department of Defense, which also included the Lamborghini Cheetah SUV, the civilian version of which (LM002) subsequently appeared on the open market.
The abbreviation HMMWV stands for High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle. At the heart of the design of the SUV is a spar frame. The power plants are a 6.2-liter naturally aspirated diesel (160 hp and 447 Nm) and a 6.5-liter turbodiesel (195 hp and 581 Nm). The motors are paired with three- and four-speed automatics.
The car is equipped with an independent spring suspension, cross-axle differentials of the Torsen type, planetary wheel reduction gears, as well as ventilated disc brakes on all wheels.
A civilian version of the HMMWV called the Hummer appeared in the early 1990s, when AM General received many orders from celebrities who wanted to own such a car.
Note that the US Department of Defense is preparing another batch of military Humvees for auction. The next auction will take place on January 7th at GovPlanet.com (registration required to view listings).
The first-ever sale of decommissioned army Hummers in the United States attracted a record number of people
