- Tupac Shakur’s personal Hummer H1 heads to auction this month.
- He bought the H1 just weeks before his death in September 1996.
- It features a cream leather interior, roof spotlights and a front winch.
By the mid 1990s, rap had fully embraced excess. Bigger chains, bigger entourages, bigger houses and, of course, much bigger cars. And nothing embodied that moment better than the Hummer H1, a military machine dropped into a civilian world, and perfectly suited to one of the most famous rappers of all time.
This H1 is Tupac Shakur’s personal 1996 Hummer, and it’s heading to auction in Scottsdale, AZ, this month. It was bought new by Tupac just weeks before he was shot to death in Las Vegas, and almost 30 years later still has barely more than 10,000 miles (16,000 km) on the clock.
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Also nearly untouched since Tupac’s ownership is the opulent interior, which is finished in a so-1990s combo of beige leather and lacquered wood trim. It’s the kind of thing you’d expect to see in a Jaguar XJ, but this is no country club limo.
Bonhams
Underneath the glitz it’s still the same basic Humvee military monster truck that was used by the US Army.
Lazy diesel
So unlike the luxury SUVs modern hip-hop stars drive, with their powerful petrol V8 engines, Tupac’s H1 came with a massive 6.5-liter diesel. Despite its huge capacity the engine was rated at just 205 hp (208 PS), but it also delivers 440 lb-ft (597 Nm) from just 1,800 rpm.
This SUV’s modern electric descendant, the GMC Hummer EV, can rip to 60 mph (97 kmh) in just over 3 seconds, but the 1990s H1 needed between five and six times longer to hit the same marker, according to period figures.
Bonham’s auction house, which is selling the Hummer on January 23, doesn’t list a guide price, but it could command strong money. On the other hand it might not: we covered a previous sale of this truck in 2016 when the hammer dropped at almost $340,000, but the winning bidder defaulted on the payment.
Now it’s back, and the market will decide what this piece of hip-hop history is really worth. The current listing is available to view over here.