Before the civilian “Hummer,” there was the M998 Series High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV, pronounced “HumVee”). This particular 1985 HMMWV served the Marines for some time before entering civilian service. Currently located in Lompoc, California this early Humvee awaits an opening bid of $49,900 here on eBay.
Though not guaranteed bomb-proof, the HMMWV features full-time four-wheel drive, four-wheel independent suspension, steep approach and departure angles, and 16 inches of ground clearance (thanks to humvee.com for some details). If ever see one of these in your neighborhood, you may notice that they barely fit in one lane. The elevated air intake and exhaust exit are part of the “deep-water fording” package… fun for the whole family.
While the exterior maintains its original Marine Corps paint, the interior has been refurbished with new instruments and a liberal application of truck bed-liner tinted an appropriate shade of Olive Drab. A conventional ignition key has been added and the headlights, taillights, turn signals and side markers replaced. The sturdy captain’s chairs look down-right comfortable, and the seller says this combat vehicle “drives and rides great.”
Look at that elbow room! The large center tunnel protects the mechanical bits and adds considerable strength, providing a sturdy back-bone for this rugged multi-purpose vehicle. While the Humvee came in many configurations, this “slant-back” body style may be one of the most useful for civilians. In certain traffic situations you may wish there was a machine gun on top, but it’s probably best that there is not. Who is ready to give thanks by dropping 50 Large on this vehicular veteran?
My wife would love it. She is a truck connoisseuse. However; my wallet would not. Expensive to buy and even worse to keep.
I’ll almost guarantee most boulevard 4 wheelers of today would lose a kidney driving one of these for more than a week and it would never see off road duty as intended. Would be cool as a hunting vehicle.
Years ago I saw at a ham radio meet a Humvee that had never been owned by the military–it was instead an AM General prototype used by the radio/telecomm companies (I want to say Motorola and Rockwell Collins) to experiment with radio and other communications placements inside the vehicle. The guy (one of those serious military collectors as well as a ham radio guy) had managed to acquire it with a slightly different radio set-up, legal for him to own and operate without infringing on military communications.
As you can imagine, the owner said “this will do anything you want–except pass gas stations!”
That guy later showed up at that hamfest maybe a decade later looking to sell an ex-military Unimog……..
Once made several river crossings in one of these in Honduras. I was in the passenger seat. The driver said as long as the water never got above the air cleaner intake (which stuck way up out of the hood) we would be fine. Water was running through the cab up to the bottom of the seats. No problem. Try that in your Ford Explorer.
Now that’s a hummer😉
You should go to this site. Likely save you a lot of money. Selling these same surplus vehicles for a lot less.
http://www.govplanet.com
It’s an M1026. The sister to it is the M1025. The only difference is really the winch. Had an MP Battalion full of them. Of course the Army version doesn’t have the deep water kit.
I was just going to say the same thing, we also kept the spare tire on the rear hatch and made a “shelf” on the back for extra water/fuel cans. I drove one just like it for 4 years. Easy to work on and would go through damn near anything.
The odd thing I remember about it… When the M998 was first introduced, we were told that if the person driving a Humvee totaled it, they would take $40K out of our pay (I assume in installments). I figured I would have to extend my enlistment by about 20 years! Hasn’t gone down in 30 years, has it? And some folks think a Corvette is a good investment…
1990 to 1995 M998 are around to buy with clean title for $8-12.000. Less on http://www.govplanet.com. Slant backs nothing uncommon these days. this one is a 1985, that could fetch a lot less. The Early HMMWV had a lot of issues.
BTW the headline is wrong. You say:
‘Ex-Marine 1985 HMMWV “Humvee” H1 Slant Back’
There are HMMWV , which are the military trucks and there are H1 ,which are the civilian version. Might wanna fix that , it looks silly to those who know.
Not enough chrome to do the beer and ice cream runs this will probably end up doing.
Still like the little old 1/4 ton jeeps better. Especially running through the woods.
$50,000? There are sure places can pick these up for way lower. Wow!!!!
I would love to have one, but I was warned not to get one, by someone who maintained them. He told me “Just say No”. I did have the privilege to drive an H1, it wanted to smush something. Bad. They do take up more than their fair share of the road
As a vet we had the old jeeps, mules and my unit had the Gama Goats which are a blast to drive. When I retired 2 years ago I decided to get a Hummer to drive, I put some jewelry on it (chrome ) to spruce it up a bit and it is a real head turner, always have people completing this ride.
Wouldn’t trade it for anything, love it.
Well that’s not a HMMWV, good thing it isn’t.
BTW what are the two handles on the hood for?
The handles on the hood are for sling loading under a helicopter. Seeing one of these under a Chinook is quite a sight!
I know ,that they are for sling load on a HMMWV, but the toy hummer above has Chromed Plastic handles on the hood… I’m not quite sure what they would be for. That’s what I was asking about.
HMMWV under a Chinook
You need to drive one! I’m selling mine For $18000.. 1991 m998 17600miles. Drives Awesome, built to last, 6.2 diesel , th400 Trans, extra set of tires on rims. You can own this!
@Chris – Please consider listing it here on the site: https://barnfinds.com/sell/ Thanks!
No thank you, I rather drive my own
The us government has replaced the HMMWV. All HMMWV will be getting ride of very cheap. The 6.2l is very under powder and it on has 3l80 (400 turbo with no park) 50k is way over priced you can soon get a 1152 with 6500 with 4l80e
HMMWV are here to stay for a long time. Probably until 2040
Waiting for someone to post a link to the videos of the Army Airborne units in germany during a training mission where the parachutes/rigging failed and several of these dropped from the sky KER-PLATT,,, great video but someone got in a lot of trouble for that SNAFU.
Cool toys, but what kind of mileage do they get??? Like 5 mpg?? That gets old quick, and this is WAY over priced. Hard to pick out MilSalvage stuff,, you could get lucky and get some senior officers cream puff,, or a piece of junk a bunch of knuckle dragging mouth breathers beat to a pulp, So bid low and adjust expectations. If its nice, bonus, but if not you are into it cheap.
As they say “Embrace the Suck”