All language subtitles for Jeff.Dunhams.The.Cars.That.Drove.Us.S01E06.Hummer.1080p.DISC.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-RAWR_track3_[eng]

Hi everybody,
Jeff Dunham and Walter.

It's a beautiful day
at Dunham Family Motors.

I think it's so-so.

Do you have something
sad and tired sitting

in your driveway?
- Yeah, my idiot son-in-law.

Most vehicles are designed

to get you from point A
to point B.

This vehicle was designed
with a mission.

To be the ultimate
light tactical military vehicle.

It just looks wild.

It did its job so well,
somebody said,

"Hey, let's add cupholders,
air conditioning, and a stereo."

Because nothing says
daily driver

like full combat readiness.

This is the story
of two vehicles

with the same DNA, twins.

But when they came down
the production line,

one got shipped off to war,

while the other
got all the cushy stuff.

- How about this?
- Look at the behemoth

in our collection here.

The 2006 Hummer Alpha,
zero down.

Yeah, and it's extra clean.
You know what that means?

- Yeah, we finally washed one.
- Nope.

Throughout time,
humanity has been obsessed

with getting places using
anything but their own two feet.

We've tried
all kinds of things,

until finally, the greatest
invention of all time,

the automobile.
- Ooh-hoo-hoo.

Moron!

These are--
"The Cars That Drove Us."

In the history
of the U.S. military,

only two vehicles have marched

from the battlefield
to the driveway,

the Jeep and the Humvee.

They really capture
the imagination

of the American people.

As it turns out,
we needed one

to pave the way for the other.

The Hummer was
kind of the new Jeep,

except upgraded,
you know, bigger, stronger.

But to understand
how we ended up lucky enough

to squeeze a military machine
into a two-car garage,

we have to go
all the way back to 1939.

As the threat of impending
conflict approached...

There was a realization

from our army that they needed
a vehicle that was capable

of operating
in the off-road environment.

And so the U.S.
Army put out a call.

U.S. automakers,
American Bantam...

- Yes sir!
- Willys.

- Affirmative.
- ...and Ford...

- Right away.
- ...answered.

They came out with the GPW.
The pronunciation of it

would eventually morph
into Jeep.

Jeeps were deployed
to every corner of the globe,

ready to spring into action.

The American Jeep was
absolutely revolutionary.

The Jeep became famous
during the Second

and after the Second World War.

The Jeep
symbolized victory,

and soon the symbol
of grit and determination...

became an image of pop culture
from movies and television...

That packs an awful wallop.

...to comics and toys.

A recoilless rifle
that really shoots.

But before long,
playtime was over,

and the Jeep returned to combat.

In the jungles of Vietnam,
with all of the rivers,

with the swamps,
it had limitations.

They needed something better.

And so it was determined
that success could be achieved

by harnessing the mighty
military power of...

a checklist.

The military went out
to a variety of manufacturers

and said, "Here are
the specs we want."

Something that can climb
at a certain angle,

certain level
of ground clearance,

carry a certain payload,
go a certain speed.

All these specs.

And like they'd done
with the Jeep,

in February of '79, the Army
put out a call to companies

who were willing to take
on this extensive checklist.

Teledyne, Chrysler Defense,
and AM General would pit

their prototypes
against each other at...

The Army's Aberdeen
Proving Ground.

But one company
had a small disadvantage.

We weren't a huge organization.

We were not a General Motors.

But what they did have was...

A real energized,
hardworking core team.

The sole focus of AM General
Engineering was the Humvee.

We were looking at it
as a must-win contract.

No pressure.

Now, about that checklist...

The Humvee
specification required

low-altitude
parachute extraction.

- Hmm?
- I'm gonna
need you to explain.

A military cargo plane would
open up their cargo door,

deploy a chute, and drop it
on the ground from like 20 feet

going 100 miles an hour.

So how do you do?

We broke our frames.
We actually...

...we had to strengthen
the chassis of the Humvee

to be able to withstand that.

Check one.

But the chassis didn't just
need to survive

being shoved out of an airplane.

It also had to politely
endure the constant pounding

from mounted weapon systems.

That strength of the chassis
went up and held a weapons ring

so that they could operate
a machine gun 360 degrees,

a tow missile, or other weapons.

We've actually mounted
a 105 howitzer on a Humvee.

Check two.

The government specification
required 16 inches

of ground clearance.

16 inches?
So how'd they do it?

We took a seating position
of a soldier and put his feet

right at the bottom
of the frame rail.

So that means
the tunnel comes up

considerably high,
about hip-high.

That's because that's where
the drivetrain goes through,

which gives it this unique
additional clearance.

Check.

You combine that
with the wheel hub,

it gives the Humvee tremendous
off-road capability.

The vehicle has to be able to
enter five feet of salt water.

As if that
weren't enough,

it also had to be
shut off underwater,

sit there for an entire hour...

...then restart.

And drive out without having

any detrimental effect
on the vehicle.

Wait, does General Motors
make an engine

that can go fully underwater?

We had to add a snorkel
to the engine

so that it could breathe.
- Check, check, check.

After years of development,
countless tweaks,

and more
than a few chassis later,

the three prototypes rolled
into Aberdeen Proving Grounds

to go head-to-head in testing.

2
The year was 1982.
Olivia Newton-John

was single-handedly
making the FCC sweat

with her cheeky
double entendres.

♪ Let's get physical, physical ♪

And testing
of the top three prototypes

of the U.S. military's newest

high mobility multipurpose
wheeled vehicle

was about to begin.

While AM General
was busy cracking chassis

and flooding engines,
Chrysler Defense

and Teledyne were hard at work
on their prototypes as well.

Teledyne Continental,
they were basing

their prototype off of that
Lamborghini Cheetah design.

While Chrysler Defense's
design was based

on their existing
expanded mobility truck.

The Army took those prototypes,

to Aberdeen Proving Grounds
in Maryland.

The test and evaluation

commands most
comprehensive facility.

The vehicles were put
through over 600,000 miles

of abuse in every miserable
condition imaginable.

Just 24 hours a day
through all kinds of terrain

and various environments.

With each team
nobly battling it out.

Competing for
a billion-dollar-plus contract

to provide the Humvee
for the Army, Marines,

and Air Force.

Ultimately, one was chosen.

And that was the one that was
designed by AM General.

And it was the ultimate
military vehicle.

Selected for production

by the U.S. Armed Forces
in March of 1983.

When we won the contract,
it was like, "Wow."

We actually had a party.

And rumor has it,
AM General partied

into the P.M. that night.

Because Dave and the gang

now had over a billion
reasons to party.

It was one of the largest
defense contracts ever.

This was kind of the beginning
of the Hummer phenomenon.

The word became, "Oh, my God,
now we got to do this."

When AM General began
cranking out its battle wagon

for the military,
it answered to two names.

Hummer or Humvee.

Ultimately, Humvee
became the name

that stuck, standard-issue
and mission-ready.

And the Humvee's mission?
Do everything.

We created over
15 different variants.

The Humvee was a huge step
forward from the Jeep.

It's more powerful.

It's got greater
ground clearance.

It could go through
60 inches of water.

It could go up a grade of 60%.

The Humvee absolutely took it
to the next level.

For the next decade,
the Humvee would exist

exclusively during peacetimes,
but that would all change...

on December 20th of 1989.

And for the first time,

the Humvee was heading
into combat.

When we invaded Panama to get
rid of Emmanuel Noriega...

Drug agents
arrested him on the spot.

The Humvee,
it performed exactly

how they had hoped it would.

It-- whether it was
in an urban environment

or in a jungle environment.

It became the second Jeep,
so to speak, except upgraded.

You know, bigger,
stronger, and everything.

Let's hope so,
because its next task...

was a doozy.

The car all of a sudden
became really world famous,

because of the Iraqi war.

This was a war that was being
televised in the United States.

You could see these Humvees
going across the desert.

Big machine guns on top,
and then the left

and then the right,
you know, armored windows,

armored this, armored that.

Soon, the course
of the Humvee's fate would be

forever changed, not
on the battlefields of Iraq,

but rather...

In the executive
conference room,

we had a fellow from marketing
came in and said,

"We just got a phone call
from a celebrity."

2
By 1990,
the Humvee was a critical part

of the armed
services operations.

It could be seen transporting
service members down the streets

of many American cities
from Maine to Oregon,

specifically Astoria, Oregon.

Welcome to Astoria.

Astoria had become
a popular filming location.

And on one fateful day...

This is
your new kindergarten teacher.

Those two worlds collided.

So we were filming
"Kindergarten Cop,"

and we were driving on a freeway
to get to the location.

It was early in the morning,
and then all of a sudden,

and I looked over
to the other side,

and there I saw
a bunch of Hummers.

It was like a lot of them,
one after the next coming.

And I looked at that and I said,
"This car looks so cool."

I mean, it was unbelievable.

The Austrian
in Astoria was in awe.

Hey, snap out of it!

And immediately
fell in love with it

and then contacted
AM General directly.

I was so impressed by the cars,

I got to look into
if those cars are available.

But there was one
small hitch.

It's not legal.

They said,
"No, you cannot really own one."

Because for that, we would need
permission from the Pentagon

and from-- the list was
going on and on and on.

Apparently, civilians can't just

buy military equipment.

He can't drive it on the road.
It's illegal.

But Schwarzenegger was
never one to shy away

from aggressive negotiations.

And so...

I was the chairman
of the President's Council

on Physical Fitness.

I said, "You know,
I know Dick Cheney,

I know Colin Powell."

Let me just get into it.
And I got the permission.

They felt kind of like, "There
was no secret military stuff

there that we should be
concerned about."

So I basically bought one.

The Pentagon may have
rubber-stamped the sale,

but that doesn't mean
the Department of Transportation

would let the rubber
hit the road.

Of course,
it wasn't street-legal.

We had to build the vehicle
for him to meet

Federal Motor
Vehicle Safety Standards.

It was a completely
new electrical system,

all new lighting,
all new sensors, adding ABS.

You need to have the interior
done in a padded way,

because if you have an accident,
you hurt yourself.

So it's safe, so it is legal.

We had to develop doors
because the Humvee doors

were cloth,
and there's a requirement

for side-impact.

What I like about
the Humvee is you don't

have to do a [bleep] thing

about building it up and making
it ballsier because it has

the biggest wheels on it.

It has the interior
that's tough.

It has the windshield wipers
that are tough.

Everything is rugged
about this car.

The military version
is very stark inside.

Arnold Schwarzenegger
doesn't want it stark inside.

He wants a nice car.

So they made it
a little bit nicer inside,

a little bit more usable.

Including putting
an air conditioning there,

which was not in there,

and a heater
and stuff like that.

Of course,
it needs power windows

and power door locks
and heated seats,

a whole new interior.

I then took it back to Hummer,

The AM General,
and I said, "Now here is

what the civilian Hummer
could look like,

so it is street legal."

So it became
kind of like a concept car.

One day at work,
our CEO comes on and said,

"One year from today,
we're going into production

"on a commercial Hummer.

It's gonna be
available to the public."

The plan was
for AM General to make...

The military Humvee--

...as well as...

The civilian H1 Hummer.

I would regularly
visit the factory, test drive

the various trucks
that they built.

He would bring them to Aspen.

I would drive them
without snow chains.

Up the mountains, there was
deep snow, and it just climbed

up to the top of that mountain.

On the shoulders
of the collaboration

with AM General and Arnold.

They made a few changes.

Then they built
the first Hummer.

And I got not only the first
Hummer, the concept car,

but they also now built

the first Hummer
off the assembly line.

All the workers were there,
and they gave me the key

to the Hummer.
That was a day of celebration.

Everyone was very happy,
and I was very happy.

And so what do you call
the first civilian Humvee built

specifically for the biggest
action star in the world?

Oh, he's the Terminator,
the tough guy,

and this is a tough vehicle.

It was love at first drive,

and Arnold wanted to share
that feeling with the world.

He helped convince AM General

that millions of people
will buy a real off-road car.

The biggest movie star
in the world had just launched

a free ad campaign.

I would use this car
to drive up to a movie premiere,

and then all of a sudden
people saw this car,

and paparazzi
would be photographing it,

and all of a sudden the picture
was out there in the media.

Oh, and speaking
of ad campaigns...

When you've got a real thirst,

nothing can keep you
from the ice-cold citrus taste

of Mellow Yellow.

Mellow Yellow
bought ten vehicles,

and that was the first vehicles
we ever built commercially.

And they were rough.

Me and the Hummer took
a little shortcut.

When I first heard
that AM General was planning

a civilian Hummer, my thought
about it was it was ridiculous.

Until I actually saw it.

The H1 very much looked
like the military version.

A wolf in a field of sheep.

And it very much operated like
the military version.

Climb the steepest hills

and conquer
the toughest terrain.

The Hummer is a military truck.

You can get out of any
situation with the Hummer

in the desert or in the snow.

Especially with unique
features like the...

Central tire inflation system.

You have automatically
inflating or deflating

of the tires from inside to have
more grip to get out of any

kind of a situation.

Go through 30 inches of water,
blast through snow.

Just like with the big deltoids,
with the calves,

the abs sticking out
and all of this stuff.

And it just,
you turn on the engine...

You know, it was

ballsy-sounding.
It was just perfect.

2
Thanks to Arnold's backing,
the H1 had no problem

drawing attention, just not
the kind that ends in a sale,

which left AM General's
marketing team

asking the question...

Who is the H1 Hummer customer?

A Hummer is not for everyone.

- In one word...
- Rich people.

OK, two words.

Add options
and the price climbs

to an eye-popping $91,218.

Which adjusts to $176,000 today.

But even if you were sold
on the price,

good luck finding one
at your local dealership.

In fact, there were only
two ways to buy a Hummer.

Fly to South Bend, Indiana
and take their driving course,

or order one from the Neiman
Marcus Christmas catalog

and fly to South Bend, Indiana
and take their driving course.

Either way, two Hummers made

the perfect his-and-her
holiday gifts.

And it was successful enough.

I mean, at the end,
they didn't sell,

you know, a million
of these cars.

which was
what you really want.

To do that, the Hummer
needed to court a new customer.

And in 1998,
that slightly tamed beast

took center stage
at the Detroit Auto Show.

The buzz was loud enough
to reach the ears

of a high-ranking executive
who made a phone call.

I got a call from Jack Smith,

who was the CEO
of GM at that time.

He says, "Mike, you've been
to the Detroit Auto Show

and seen the reaction
to the Hummer?"

And I go, "Yeah, I have, it's
a-- it's pretty amazing, Jack.

I think there's something
to this brand."

We came up with this idea

that we wanted to buy
the brand from AM General.

General Motors
was all in on the Hummer.

We would design and provide
all parts and engineering,

and in return, we would pay
AM General a manufacturing fee.

General Motors came out
with the H2.

The Hummer
was gonna be a daddy.

Make it smaller,
more user-friendly,

with a nice interior,
but authentic Hummer,

and we could sell a lot of them.

As for the man who had
already sold lots of Hummers,

Arnold agreed to make
about six appearances for Hummer

to launch the H2.

Good to see you.

Became just a huge hit.

I like very much to buy
these Hummers.

And with the H2
hogging the spotlight,

it was time for the civilian
H1 to take a bow.

They thought, if this car is
gonna come to an end,

let's go out
with a blaze of glory.

They decided to come up
with something called

the Hummer Alpha.

They put in the bigger
6.6 liter Duramax engine,

stronger transmission.
It was just bigger and badder.

The beginning of the end
and the last of its kind.

The H2 was now all alone
in the product line,

which didn't
sit right with Mike.

I sold GM on the idea
that we had to do an H3.

And then someone
sold someone

on the H3 marketing campaign

where a robot
impregnates a monster.

Genius.

Well, be it Mike or the robot,

the H3 was conceived

and then in 2006
was delivered right on time.

The H3...

...which was an even
smaller version.

With H1, H2, and H3,
we got a franchise.

A franchise
that would prove short-lived,

undone by a sudden spike
in gas prices,

and the minor inconvenience
of a global financial meltdown.

And eventually, General Motors
just decided to sunset it.

The sun didn't rise again
for the Hummer brand until 2021,

when...

It's been resurrected.

The new all-electric Humvee.

Who would have thought?

The electric Hummer,
it was fantastic.

Because before H1 Hummer
birth the H2, H3, or the EV...

...the Hummer sprang forth
from the military might

of the United States Army's
most trusted workhorse.

It could do things
like no other vehicle.

And there's still nothing
better than the Humvee

when it comes
to the light tactical vehicle

for military requirement.

It was, like,
absolutely phenomenal.

But the Humvee
had another role,

to inspire millions
of Americans.

I love this thing
for all the right reasons.

Rugged, battle-proven,
versatile,

mission-ready, and reliable,

just like the proud
men and women

who've served our country
while driving it.

Let's see what's up here.

Whoo-hoo!
That's it, right there.

That's how you do it.

Wow!

So, thank you, Hummer,
for the adventure.

Thank you, Humvee.
For your service.

And God bless the USA.

Oh!
And I almost forgot...

Thanks, Arnold.

Let's have some fun now.

I kill you!