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Humdinger

The HX is the smallest Hummer concept yet and is aimed squarely at younger buyers to the company when the covers are pulled off at the North American International Auto Show later this week in Detroit. There's no mistaking the HX as anything but a Hummer, but the shorter and more compact HX is a two-door with ideas of bringing in youthful buyers.

The two-door HX has removable roof panels, as well as rear quarter panels that let it turn into a full convertible, and buyers can also reconfigure the interior by removing the rear seats to make it into a pick-up truck. On top of that, the doors can also be taken off to give the feel of a beach buggy and the wheelarches can also be taken off to give more wheel clearance for extreme off-roading.

The interior is simple and takes inspiration from aircraft design, shown in the lightweight construction and materials used for the seat frames. Many of the interior's components have been drilled to make them lighter and Hummer describes the HX as a 'four-wheeled backpack', though luxury is still catered for with an MP3 player-ready stereo.

The HX concept took only six months to go from first idea to Detroit-ready show car. Hummer has kept all of the usual design cues of its love-it-or-loathe-it styling, but the HX's smaller dimensions are also intended to show even Hummer is considering a new direction for SUVs.

Even so, the HX has not let go of its off-road roots and uses 35-inch tyres for superb off-road ability. There's also a sophisticated four-wheel drive system and suspension that adapts to the terrain automatically to maintain traction.

Power comes from a 3.6-litre V6 petrol engine that can also run on E85 bio-ethanol fuel. It produces 304bhp and is mated to a six-speed automatic gearbox. There's no word from Hummer about performance or economy figures, and nor has it mentioned any possible on-sale date for a production model, though Hummer has confirmed that it's looking to build a smaller model to tackle the Land Rover Freelander.

Alisdair Suttie

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