It is well known that California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has had a very public change of heart when it comes to seeking out a greener lifestyle. Heck, he's gone from owning the very first civilian AM General HMMWV to talking up green environmental initiatives and start-ups like Tesla. He's even taken delivery of one of the company's Roadsters.

Fitting in the car, however, is apparently proving to be a bit of a challenge for the bodybuilder/actor formerly known as Conan, so word is that he's trying to return it to Tesla. What he might have slotted in the garage in the space of that Tesla? If TMZ's paparazzi video footage at the link is to be believed, the answer is a TorRed Dodge Challenger with all the trimmings. A little lighter on the green credentials, sure, but it's not black, it's not hard to get into, and it makes all the right noises for the man character who said the best things in life are "to crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women."

[Source: TMZ]

In an oddly compelling little piece of timing, two new American companies are working on taxi designs just after Checker Motors, the most famous of all bespoke taxicab companies, has filed for bankruptcy. We've seen the Standard Taxi before, but it has apparently been restyled a bit after cab owners complained about the initial concept's dowdy appearance. It's a slight improvement by the looks of things, though we certainly wouldn't call the machine attractive.

It's what's under the skin that counts, though, and the Standard Taxi looks to implement a number of features that should improve the lives of both its driver and passengers. Like the MetroKing concept that we looked at a couple of months back, this vehicle is based on running gear from General Motors and features a low load floor and easy wheelchair access along with easily replaceable body panels. Production of the Standard Taxi is scheduled for 2010 at AM General's assembly plant in Mishawaka, Indiana.

[Source: Auto Express]

Rejoice GM, somebody wants HUMMER! In fact, AM General, the company that created the original mil-spec HMMWV for American troops back in 1983 is rumored to be in the mix of bidders, joining forces with China's Hunan Changfeng Motor Co. Despite earlier reports, Changfeng has remained interested in the brand since GM first put HUMMER up on the auction block, but had desired a bidding partner. It appears that it found one shortly after touring the automaker's facilities a few months back.

This is an intriguing move, especially since it was AM General that first launched the HUMMER marque in America before selling marketing rights for the brand to General Motors in 1999. Despite the presence of a Chinese partner, rumors indicate that HUMMER would remain an American brand that's marketed predominately towards the United States. It's an interesting footnote, though possibly completely unrelated, that news of HUMMER's impending sale rise and fall in unison with global fuel prices. In any case, this announcement seems to reaffirm GM's stated goal of selling the off-road brand by 2009.

[Source: Gasgoo via Hummer Guy]

While General Motors looks over a stack of offers for its HUMMER brand, the fate of AM General hangs in the balance. The military contractor developed and built the original Humvee until the rights to the HUMMER name were bought by GM, who then contracted AM General to continue building the H1 (until it was discontinued) and then the Chevy Tahoe-based H2. (The Chevy Colorado-based H3, meanwhile, is built entirely by GM at its Shreveport, Louisiana plant.) With the future of its General Motors contracts uncertain, AM General has announced a new deal of another kind.

Starting in 2010, the Indiana-based company will begin producing a new series of wheelchair-accessible transit vehicles for the Vehicle Production Group, LLC. Although, as VPG points out, the usual development gestation period for such vehicles is two to three years, VPG and AM General intend to get the ramp-equipped para-transit vehicle to market in less than 24 months. Over 3,500 units have already been ordered, leading VPG to project that annual production will well exceed that number, while AM General intends to use the same workforce it currently employs for the new project. As for what the para-transit vehicle will look like, no one knows, but there was word of AM General developing a new version of the Standard Taxi (see above) with a low ride height and large doors that appears as if it could easily accommodate wheel chairs.

[Source: Detroit News]

It sure ain't pretty, though beauty, in this case, is likely in the eye of the beholder. A few years back, a new take on the taxi was provided by Standard Taxi, a company based in Troy, Michigan. The design for the purpose-built people hauler uses GM running gear and is able to haul four passengers in relative comfort. We hadn't heard a peep from the company until today when we learned that Standard is now working on negotiations with AM General to build the vehicle in its plant in Mishawaka, Indiana, where AM General builds the Hummer H2 SUV and SUT. So far, no announcements have been made regarding whether or not the plant would continue working full-time in the face of lagging Hummer sales, though we imagine that plenty of excess capacity is available. According to AM General, the deal would in no way impact the assembly of military Hummer models.

We can't say whether a production version of the Standard Taxi would feature the pushrod 4.3-liter V6 that the concept had underhood, though there are plenty of options from the GM parts-bin from which to pilfer. A Standard Taxi equipped with GM's 2-Mode hybrid system could prove to be extremely well-suited for taxi duty in some of the world's toughest environments.

[Source: Hummer Guy]

TPI Composites has built a Hummer for the Army that is made of composite materials. The Hummer loses 900 pounds of metal body panels and parts, which are then replaced with parts fabricated of fiberglass, balsa wood, foam, and carbon, with resin as a bonding agent.

That 900 pounds is then put back in the vehicle in the form of extra armor where the truck most needs it: in areas that will protect it from roadside bombs. The composite truck has some quirks -- like a body that feels like sandpaper, and the fact that the fenders bend and some other panels are pliable. Yet even though it weighs the same as a traditional Humvee, the point is that it's better built to withstand the threat that kills more soldiers than any other.

AM General and the Army spent 18 months doing R&D on the vehicle. No tests have been carried out yet and the Army hasn't committed to buying any. But if substituting metal for composites and additional armor is shown to save lives, then the vehicle -- which costs more than a standard Humvee -- could make a lot of friends in dangerous places.

[Source: Gizmodo]

It turns out that the spy shots of what we thought was an AM General prototype for the next-gen Humvee was anything but. After seeing the pics appear on the web, AM General contacted World Car Fans with an explanation of what we were looking at. The vehicle shot by Brenda Priddy & Co. was in fact the Evolutionary Concept Vehicle II (EVC II), which AM General's been exhibiting in public at U.S. Army events since last year. It doesn't seem to be an official next-gen prototype of anything, but just a concept vehicle the company uses to generate interest.

We also thought that the Pentagon's project for the next-gen Humvee was called the Future Tactical Truck System (FTTS). While that program does exist, the one to replace the current Humvee is called the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV). AM General is working on a JLTV prototype for the program in conjunction with General Dynamics, but has yet to show it in public.

Despite it not being the real deal, the vehicle in the spy shots is still a bad ass truck that would like right at home on a battlefield, but we'll have to wait a while longer before we find out what the military will choose as its next whip.

[Source: World Car Fans]

click above image for more views of the AM General Humvee Prototype

Though normally hiding in bushes and waiting for the next-gen Mustang or Corvette Blue Devil to pass by, Brenda Priddy and pals sometimes spy things not meant for public consumption. They recently photographed a new AM General HUMVEE prototype that will be competing for the military's Future Tactical Truck System (FTTS) contract, which will produce the replacement for the current Humvee, of which some 140,000 are still in active service. Though prototypes from Lockheed Martin and other military contractors will also be submitted, this is AM General's bid to keep the Humvee in the game.

Follow the jump for more details and Priddy's own analysis of the vehicle that's aided by her consult with some military experts, and check out the high-res pics in our gallery below.

[Photos: Brenda Priddy & Co.]

It's been called HMMWV, the High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, Humvee for short, or HUMMER for civilian use, but it's been twenty years since DoD chassis M998 was put into service, and the Pentagon wants something new.

The Humvee slowly found its way into the civilian market when celebrities like Arnold Schwarzenegger began purchasing them for personal use, and the brand was bought from AM General by General Motors in 1999. GM recently took the Hummer H1 off the civilian market, replaced by the more modern and (comparatively speaking) more efficient and roadworthy H2. Now the Pentagon wants part of the action again with a new Humvee 30-40% lighter, more fuel efficient and with better armor to protect our troops.

AM General and GM are not currently competing for the DoD tender, but Navistar International (with the CXT) and aerospace giant Lockheed Martin are in the running.

The Humvee originally gained its fame on CNN during the first Iraq war, several years after it was put into service. Since then, new technologies – including vitals like drivetrain and lightweight/high-strength construction materials – have been developed that could prove useful on the battlefield.

[Source: Edmunds Straightline]

General Motors announced yesterday that the Hummer H1 will be discontinued sometime next month. About 12,000 have been sold to the public since the civilian version first went on sale in 1992.

Back then the Hummer was sold by AM General, the original developer and producer of the military version called the Humvee. To this day AM General produces both the military and civilian versions of the Hummer in its Mishawaka, Indiana plant, though it sold the marketing rights for the civilian version to GM in 1999. Since then it's also been contracted to produce the smaller Hummer H2 for General Motors.

AM General will not dismiss any of its workforce because of GM's decision to cancel the H1, but will most likely switch those workers over to production of the military version. The market for the military version seems to be pretty bullish right now, anyway.

[Source: USA Today]