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Mil-Spec 006 Hummer H1 born into the darkness

Mil-Spec Automotive is up to build number six of its Hummer H1s, this one a customer commission for someone with the last name "Bane." This marks the halfway point in the Launch Edition series of 12 models that will run through to next year. Per customer request, the template started with Build 002, also a four-door slantback, but deviates in a few functional ways. That starts with the four-door slantback variant, but this one gets a much larger rear window. The Bold Body and Tire Package stretches horizontal footprint by eight inches, the bodywork by seven inches. Fender flares hulk over 20-inch gun-black rims wearing 38-inch Nitto Grappler tires. Build 006 shuns the executive interior package on Build 002, putting its cushiness on the outside with the Air-Ride Package. That installs eight-way adjustable shocks all around and automatic ride height adjustment. Sounds like the buyer could need it, since the newest unit also gets the 12K Package that ups GVWR to 12,000 pounds, with beefier axles, springs and braking. A 6.6-liter Duramax diesel sits beneath the $1,299 functional hood scoop, the oil-burner's output rated at 500 horsepower and 1,000 pound-feet of torque. And no road trip to Sonora or Medellin would be complete without a 12,000-pound Warn winch, lavish front brush guard and heavy duty rear step bumper, aluminum snorkel, 60-inch overhead light bar, and Paracord interior door handles. We'd think a locking front axle would be a given on this kind of rig, but apparently this H1 makes do with an ARB air locker on the rear. The brief for the design was "simple yet dramatic." Job done, we'd say, with Build 006 terrorizing the ground like black thunder. The price gets attention just as well: $295,039. This kind of drama doesn't come cheap. Featured Gallery Mil-Spec 006 Hummer H1 View 13 Photos News Source: Mil-Spec Automotive Hummer Truck Luxury Off-Road Vehicles Special and Limited Editions hummer h1

Luxury carmakers make way more than just cars

Whether it's as simple as Ferrari offering model cars or as opulent as Bugatti with an $84,000-belt buckle, practically every automaker does more than just sell cars to keep their brands visible. The profits from these ventures might not be enough to keep the lights on, but in such a competitive industry, any extra cash is welcome. For the automakers that get licensing just right, there is a ton of profit to be made. According to a recent story examining the practice by The New York Times, Ferrari makes around $2.6 billion from merchandising each year, and General Motors tops that at $3.5 billion. Beyond just a profit center, merchandising can also protect an automaker's name. Take Hummer for example. The GM division shut down years ago, but it has continued to produce licensed cologne on sale around the world. "Because we still have the active fragrance, we're protecting the brand if we ever decide to bring it back," Gene Reamer, a GM licensing senior manager, told the Times. The whole piece is a fascinating look into this often ignored, but quite lucrative facet of the auto business. Read it for yourself, here. Related Video: News Source: The New York TimesImage Credit: Luca Bruno / AP Photo Design/Style Earnings/Financials Marketing/Advertising Read This Ferrari GM Hummer branding

Best and Worst GM Cars

Oh yes, because we just love receiving angry letters from devoted Pontiac Grand Am enthusiasts, we have decided to go there. Based on a heated group Slack conversation, the topic came up about the best and worst GM cars. First of all time, and then those currently on sale, and then just mostly a rambling discussion of Oldsmobiles our parents and grandparents owned (or engineered). Eventually, three of us made the video above. Like it? Maybe we can make more. Many awesome GM cars are definitely going unmentioned here, so please let us know your bests and worsts in the comments below. Mostly, it's important to note that this post largely exists as a vehicle for delivering the above video that dives far deeper into GM's greatest hits and biggest flops, specifically those from the 1980s and 1990s. What you'll find below is a collection of our editors identifying a best current and best-of-all-time choice, plus a worst current and worst-of-all-time choice. Comprehensive it is not, but again, comments. -Senior Editor James Riswick Best Current GM Vehicle Chevrolet Corvette We were flying by the seats of our pants a bit in this first outing and my notes were similarly extemporaneous. When it came time to tie it all together on camera, I failed spectacularly. Thank the maker for text, because this gives me the opportunity to perhaps slightly better explain my convoluted reasoning. I chose the C8 Corvette because it's simply overwhelmingly good, and it's merely the baseline from which this generation of Corvette will be expanded.  While the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing (more on that in a minute) is an amazing snapshot of GM's current performance standing and its little sibling so enraptured me that I went out and bought one, their existence is fleeting. Corvette will live on; forced-induction Cadillac sport sedans, not so much. So while all three are amazing machines when viewed in a vacuum, the Corvette stands above them as both a reflection of GM's current performance credentials and a signpost of what is to come. So, given the choice between the C8 and the 5V-Blackwing right now, I'd choose the C8. In 10 years, when the Blackwing is no longer in production and Corvette is in its 9th generation? Well, that might be a different story. Now, just pretend I said something even remotely that coherent when we get to the part of the video where I try to make an argument for the 5-V Blackwing as best GM car I've ever driven. Or just laugh at me while I ramble incoherently.