Posted on 01/01/2003 6:43:23 AM PST by rhema
Less than a week before returning to life as a private motorist, Gov. Jesse Ventura showed off his new ride Tuesday.
In an age of gigantic cars, it's super-sized. It thirsts for petrol and looks like it could crush Geos and Corollas without spilling your coffee. It was last seen chasing Saddam in Kuwait.
It's a Hummer.
"I live in Minnesota — I don't want to get stuck," Ventura explained in showing off his copper-colored, 2003 model Hummer in his parking spot at the Capitol. He slid in the driver's seat and cranked up Led Zeppelin on the 10-speaker sound system.
"It'll knock your socks off," he said, instinctively miming the last guitar lick of "Dazed and Confused."
Ventura leaves office when his successor, Tim Pawlenty, takes the oath of office on Monday. As governor, Ventura, a car guy who has been partial to Porsches in the past, has not had to worry about transportation. State troopers drove him on official business in a Lincoln Navigator, which he once said he had reinforced "for running over reporters."
The Hummer could run over a lot of reporters.
It is the well-appointed version of the military Humvee, a squatty-body vehicle that came to prominence against the backdrop of burning oil rigs in the Gulf War. Steve Allen, product manager at Wally McCarthy's Hummer in Roseville, the only dealer in the state, said the dealership has sold about 200 since the Hummer came out in July — including one to Minnesota's First Driver.
Ventura purchased the H2, which is the smaller of two Hummer models offered to the public. Priced in the mid-$50s, the H2 is competitive with high-end sport-utility vehicles like the Navigator, Allen said. Ventura said if he had sought a second term and had been elected, Minnesotans would know the Hummer intimately.
"If I'd ran again, this would be the state vehicle," he said.
The big car and the governor with the big persona seem a perfect match. Ventura proudly showed off the six-CD changer, the OnStar communications and navigation service and the passenger-side mirror that automatically focuses on the rear tire when the car is in reverse, for help with parallel parking.
Ventura's pal, Arnold Schwarzenegger, is a pioneer of civilian Hummer use, and was seen on the streets of St. Paul in his Hummer in 1996, when he filmed a movie here. Ventura said Schwarzenegger now owns several.
But the Hummer won't be the new wheels in the governor's garage for long.
Ventura, who already owns one newer Porsche sports car, said he is accepting delivery next spring of a new Porsche Carrera. By that time, Ventura should be launched into his new life, which may include a cable-television talk show, speechmaking and various other entertainment opportunities.
And if they want him to give an after-dinner speech up on the tundra or out in the desert, he's got the car for it.
"If I'd ran again, this would be the state vehicle," he said.
Assuming he could have gotten reelected. Of course you know what happens when you assume.
No kidding! I really love the "real" Hummer, if for no other reason than the "cool stuff" factor!
Inboard disk brakes, 4 wheel independant suspension, built in compressor for inflating/deflating the run-flat tires on-the-fly as needed for extra traction, reduction gear in the hubs, all sorts of 4WD modes, how (with a snorkle kit) you can completely submerge the thing, and keep on driving (although you will get wet... Not sure you'd want a nice interior if you'll be doing that lol!). Just all sorts of really cool stuff! Plus it's even bigger, heavier, and wider than the H2. And it's got a diesel! I wonder if you can buy the intake and fuel kit that the military uses, allowing you to use just about anything that can burn as fuel... Diesel, kerosene, jet fuel?
Yup, I really want one, but seeing as how they sell for double what I paid for my house, I doubt I'll ever see one anywhere but on a dealer's lot :-(
Mark
I thought the same thing. And a sitting governor playing the air guitar to Led Zeplin? What a moron.
I just saw one of those over at the body shop where I got my car repaired. It was brand new and someone had taken a Key and scratched it up good.
So Jesse's got a Hummer.
How about a new slogan to WWJD?
What Would Jesse Drive? (With apologies to our Christian bretheren in arms.)
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