Mention the name Geiger to a physicist and you’re likely to hear about the man who discovered the atomic nucleus and the meter that bears his name. To automotive tuning fanatics, the name refers to the aftermarket firm that turns lethargic HUMMERs into tarmac-chomping beasts. But we’re not so sure the two are that far removed.

Geiger’s latest project is another riff on the relatively (and only by comparison) “small” H3, tinkering with the truck’s reactor core to pump up its radioactivity. The stock H3 comes with a 3.7-liter inline-five producing a paltry 239 horsepower and 241 little torques, though it is available with a 5.3-liter V8 which still only manage 300hp and 320 lb-ft of twist. Along comes Geiger to fit a supercharger to said eight-cylinder, boosting output to 423 megatons horsepower and 502 lb-ft of torque. So equipped, the 5000-pound Geiger’d Hummer can reach 60 miles-per-hour in an admirable 7 seconds. 380mm discs gripped by six-pot calipers bring it all back to a halt, surrounded by 22-inch wheels bearing 305/40 Continental rubber. The interior, decked out in carbon fiber, is a matter of taste, but we love how Geiger revives classic racing livery: After their custom H2 popped up in a baby-blue and orange Gulf scheme, this H3 brings back the iconic striped white Martini livery popularized by Lancias on the rally circuit and Porsches on the track. Check it out for yourself in the gallery below.

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Check out 10 of this year’s most outrageous, extravagant and, simply put, cool autos to look for in the coming year, from green car to supercar and beyond!

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Many people find Hummer vehicles as being too big, too thirsty and too damaging from an environmental point of view - and they’re all probably right. However, if there’s one positive thing that can be said about Hummer’s off-road models that has to be their communicative and distinct styling which sets them apart from anything else you see on the road. Even better when the color of choice is a matte-black like the one on this heavily customized H2 show car that is scheduled to be featured in both DUB and Truckin’ Magazines in 2009.
Aside from the cool paint job, the blacked-out H2 also features an array of accessories such as flat black 24-inch alloy wheels, a STRUT body kit, chipped engine, upgraded suspension and even a ‘grenade’ like shifter.

The overall cost of the custom work performed on the H2 is said to be valued in excess of $60,000 - and that does not include the price of the vehicle itself of course.

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These ain’t the best of times for a brand like Hummer but the General is doing its best to keep as many people interested as possible. For next month’s Las Vegas SEMA show Hummer has prepared a threesome of H3 concepts outfitted with a raft of performance and appearance accessories. While none of these H3s is targeted for production, Hummer says that they incorporate original and aftermarket components that are available on the market today. Continued

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General Motors will be sending letters to more than 944,000 owners worldwide, 857,735 of which are located in the U.S., due to voluntary recall that affects 16 cars and SUVs from 2006 to 2008. The huge recall involves vehicles fitted with a heated washer fluid system that could short circuit causing other electrical features to malfunction and lead to smoke or even fire. According to GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson, up until now, there have been three reported fires related to the problem. GM said that its dealers will install a wire harness with an in-line fuse free of charge. See the affected models after the jump. Continued

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Has Hummer had its day? Sales of the all-American company’s models have slumped by nearly one-third, as US buyers lose their appetites for super sized cars. And bosses at owner GM have now officially confirmed Hummer’s future hangs in the balance.

In a statement, GM said it was “considering anything from a complete revamp of the product line-up to a sale of the brand”.

Hummer sales in the States dropped by 29 per cent by the end of April, compared to the same period last year. Ironically, it is doing quite well in the UK and Europe, with around 300 cars finding homes – a rise of 34 per cent. But it’s not only the Hummer that’s out of favour in America. There has been a dip in demand for larger cars across the board, prompting GM to announce the closure of four plants that build pick-ups, SUVs and trucks.

The shift has even seen the Ford F-150 pick-up lose its top spot in the US charts. It’s been the best seller every month since 1981, but was overtaken in May by the Honda Civic.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger and David Beckham are the emblems of the end of an American economic era. Each owns at least one Hummer, the giant SUV designed around the army’s Humvee personal troop transporter.

But the Hummer has fallen out of favour and was last week put on the block by General Motors. It is little wonder. Who would want to buy a beast that does nine miles to the gallon and costs more than $100 - £50 at the pump is a small fortune to Americans - to fill up?

GM also closed four SUV assembly plants as it put Hummer up for sale. But these drastic moves by GM are more significant than they at first seem.

The desire to own big, thirsty motor vehicles with V6 and V8 engines, capable of transporting families over vast tracts of asphalt-covered prairie and mountain range, was a defining tenet of the American economic model of the past century.

Building roads and making cars to drive on them was a central plank of the New Deal, the economic plan devised by President Roosevelt to drag the country out of the Great Depression.

A network of state parkways was conceived and built in the 1930s and 1940s by Robert Moses, the father of American urbanism. His blueprint for a society dominated by the car spread until, by the 1960s, the entire nation was covered by a web of interstate highways. This was the American Dream.

But today, with oil above $130 a barrel and stories on the news every night about commuters who cannot afford to commute and hauliers who cannot afford to haul, the dream is over. David Cole, director of the Centre for Automotive Research in Detroit, believes that America is on the threshold of a new technological era and in the next five to 10 years advances in bio-fuels - using material such as algae, sewage and waste - will enable Americans to drive big cars at a fraction of the environmental and economic cost.

GM has invested heavily in two companies who claim that their bio-engineering and genetic modification methods can produce alternatives to petrol costing about $1 a gallon. But a bold government move may also be required. Cole, who fears that the oil price will take a tumble, is calling it to set a $50 floor for the price of a barrel of crude. If oil becomes too cheap, he believes, the impetus to invest in new technology will be lost.

It may be that Arnie and Becks will be able to keep driving their dinosaurs, but with bio-fuel in the tank instead of petrol.

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