Troy Davis of White River Township is pictured next to his Hummer H2 in June 2003.
Daily Journal Archives
News from around Johnson County as reported on June 20 in the pages of the Daily Journal and the Franklin Evening Star from the last 112 years.
On this day in 2003, the main story on the front page of the Daily Journal was about how Hummer H2s were on the streets of Johnson County.
“Shaquille O’Neal drives one. Arnold Schwarzenegger reportedly owns six. And now central Indiana residents have started traveling in vehicles that were once restricted to military use,” the story began.
Hummers had grown in popularity over the previous year, mainly because of a new model, the H2, that was made to attract civilizations with a cheaper price tag than the original military-styled H1.
But the price wasn’t the only factor making the larger-than-life SUVs attractive to wealthy buyers. A unique look and the chance to drive a vehicle that wasn’t commonly seen on roadways had drivers buying in to the Hummer name.
The original Hummer design had been available to civilians since 1992, but only for those with deep pockets and taste for the extravagant could afford the $100,000 vehicles.
But when a slightly smaller, more stylized version of the Hummer was released in July 2002, for half the price of the original, more buyers started to take notice.
GM sold over 19,000 H2 models in 2002, and over 14,000 were sold nationwide as of May 31, 2003. Of those sold nationwide, 360 had been sold in central Indiana, said Rob Sylvester, assistant product manager at Lockhart Automotive in Greenwood, one of the only dealers in the area to sell Hummers.
Troy Davis, a White River Township contractor, said he bought his H2 because it was a new and different vehicle. But he said the attention he received while driving it sometimes became a “sore thumb.”
“You can’t go anywhere without someone wanting to look at it,” Davis said.
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Other memorable Johnson County stories from this day
1994
Bargersville was considering adding a town court.
1984
A heart attack patient died, and six others were injured when a car collided with an ambulance in Greenwood.
1964
Franklin Police planned to immediately enforce a standing curfew in efforts to stem a wave of juvenile crimes.
