A Hummer H1 Overland Expedition Camper

This is a 1994 AM General Hummer H1 that has been extensively modified into a highly-capable overland expedition vehicle with an aluminum drop-in camper cabin on the back. It can now accommodate four, and it has a toilet, shower, A/C system, and more.

The roof of the camper cabin is fitted with a solar system that feeds power into a Goal Zero lithium portable power station. The forward section is used for storage, and it currently holds a spare tire and a locking case. It’s now being sold out of Dripping Springs, Texas on Bring a Trailer.

Fast Facts – A Hummer H1 Overland Camper

• The Hummer H1’s lineage is directly traced to the military’s High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV or “Humvee”). Designed by AM General in the early 1980s for the U.S. military, the Humvee was intended to be a rugged, all-terrain vehicle. Its popularity and effectiveness in military campaigns, notably the Gulf War, paved the way for a civilian version.
• In 1992, AM General started selling a civilian version of the Humvee, called the Hummer H1. This decision was partially influenced by the interest of actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who, after seeing the military vehicle in action, pushed for a street-legal version to be made available to the public.
• The Hummer H1 retained much of the ruggedness of its military counterpart. It offered high ground clearance, portal axles, independent front and rear suspension, deep water fording ability, and centralized tire inflation system. These features help make the H1 a formidable off-road vehicle, though its relatively high purchase price and running costs meant that it was never a big seller.
• The 1994 Hummer H1 you see here has four doors and seating for four. It’s been fitted with a aluminum drop-in camper cabin that has sleeping berths for four as well as a toilet, shower, A/C system, solar panels, and a built-in Goal Zero lithium portable power station.

The AM General Hummer H1

The AM General Hummer H1 was essentially the civilian version of the US military’s High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) nicknamed the “Humvee.” The Humvee was never intended for civilian use, it had been designed from the outside solely as a more capable replacement for the earlier M151 Jeep.

The Humvee first saw service in Operation Just Cause, the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989 to oust General Manuel Noriega. The first major conflict that the vehicle was used in was the Gulf War of 1991. This was was covered extensively on both cable news channels and regular nightly new programs, and for many it was their first time seeing the Humvee in action.

Due to the Humvee’s regular appearances on television and in newspapers the interest in a civilian version began to mount, a major proponent of which was actor Arnold Schwarzenegger. After the Gulf War was over, AM General created a modified version of the vehicle and called it the Hummer. It would later be retroactively renamed the Hummer H1 to differentiate it from the Hummer H2 which first appeared in 2002.

The Hummer went on sale in 1992, it was powered by a 6.2 liter GM Diesel V8 which was mated to a 3-speed automatic transmission. The chassis, major body panels, driveline, brakes, and suspension were all largely identical to the military version, including the inboard brakes, portal gears, and independent front and rear suspension.

A number of different engine and transmission options would be offered in the Hummer H1 over the course of its production run, all of them were diesels except one, the 5.7 liter L05 gasoline V8 TBI. The H1 would remain in production from 1992 until 2006, though the military Humvee version still remains in production today.

The H1 was joined by the H2 and H3 in the early 2000s, both of these were large SUVs with no link to the military Humvee. The Hummer brand was very nearly sold to Chinese company Tengzhong in 2009 however the sale never went through. The Hummer brand was then shutdown in 2010 and all production  ceased.

This could very well have been the end for the Hummer, but in 2020 it made a comeback, now as an all-new electric vehicle called the GMC Hummer EV, production began in late 2021.

The Hummer H1 Overland Camper Shown Here

The vehicle you see here is a 1994 Hummer H1, the four-door, four-seat variant, that’s now been modified with an aluminum drop-in camper cabin on the back.

Due to the large physical size of the H1 the camper is actually larger than you might think at first, the vehicle is over 7 feet wide and 15 feet long, so the camper is more spacious than many might expect.

Inside the camper you’ll find sleeping berths for up to four people, a double bed up top and two single beds below on either side. Inside the living quarters there is a Laveo DryFlush toilet, a Dometic refrigerator, a LifeSaver water filtration system, a Zero Breeze portable air conditioning unit, and a Goal Zero Yeti 3000 lithium portable power station.

The vehicle now rides on aftermarket 17″ wheels with 40″ Pro Comp tires and the original central tire inflation system is still in place. A Warn winch is installed up front, along with an intake snorkel, and on the roof you’ll find a solar system, a spare wheel, and a storage case.

This Hummer camper is now being offered for sale out of Dripping Springs, Texas on Bring a Trailer. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can visit the listing here.

Images courtesy of Bring a Trailer