When you think of a Hummer, you think of raw, brash, unsophisticated American muscle, writes Nick Fone.

But if that’s what you are really in the market for, then the firm’s latest offering – the 244hp petrol H3 – might be a bit of a disappointment.

The real “Humvee” – the H1 – may conjure up visions of an unshakeable, sunglasses-clad Arnold Schwarzenegger or gun-toting US-soldiers making mayhem in Mogadishu but the H3 has already been tagged as “the hairdresser’s Hummer”.

So, before we set off from Farmers Weekly Towers for a good motorway run and some serious off-roading on the North Yorkshire moors, we asked some of our colleagues at sister-magazine Hairdresser’s Journal what they made of it.

And, of course, they all loved it. With its shiny chrome trim and Tonka-toy looks, it makes the ultimate pavement-hopper for car-mad coiffeurs.

With a snow-filled Saturday ahead of us after the Hurworth hunt, we needed a vehicle that would perform off-road while providing a warm, luxurious environment for coffee and Battenberg cake.

The H3 did just that, but in a typically American way. Among the sleek Defenders (not an adjective usually levelled at Land Rovers) and assorted Japanese motors, the Hummer really was the fat kid at the party.

Its designers have gone out of their way to make this look and feel like a monster truck. Chunky plastic wheel-arch extensions and petite windows give that big-from-a-long-way-off look.

Nestled in the warm embrace of its leather-clad seats and peering out through letterbox openings, driver and passengers are treated to that safe, secure armoured-car feeling that perhaps the US-troops in Somalia didn’t experience.

Chasing hounds and horses across the green (and somewhat soggy) pastures of North Yorkshire’s finest farmland, the Hummer was not always the quickest to reach its target. We never got stuck, but slick road-tyres and a long time-delay for the diff-lock to kick in meant, embarrassingly, we were overtaken by a plucky off-roading Audi TT sports coupe. Oh, the shame of it…

So, is this really a car for farming? If you don’t mind getting noticed and your wallet can stand up to 16mpg fuel bills, then it’s great and relatively well-priced. It’s good fun and, once the diesel arrives next spring, it will look an altogether more promising prospect.

Hummer H3

• Engine 3.7-litre, 5-cyl petrol
  
• Power 244hp
  
• Gearbox 4-speed auto, electronically switched high and low
  
• Drivetrain Full-time 4wd and rear diff-lock
  
• Fuel Consumption 15.9mpg (19.5mpg claimed combined)
  
• Price £32,995