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Hummer Rams Into Oba Of Benin’s Palace Wall, Gets Destroyed, But Not The Wall (VIDEO)
Yesterday, passers-by and motorists were left bewildered at the scene of a crash in Benin City – the Edo state capital.
The crash involved a Hummer 2 SUV that rammed into the wall of the palace of the Oba of Benin.
The shock expressed by the passers-by and motorists was not necessarily on account of the crash. Instead, it was due to the fact that the impact on the wall by the Hummer left no damage to the ancient palace wall. Instead, the Hummer was severely damaged.
The earthen (mud) wall of the Palace of the Oba of Benin is one of the remaining relics of the old Benin Kingdom. The Oba Palace – together with the ancient moats – is one of the numerous tourists’ attractions in the ancient city.
View along a street in the royal quarter of Benin City, 1897. Photograph: The British Museum/Trustees of the British Museum
Watch the video of the destroyed Hummer below.
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Hummer 2’s Poor Ruggedness
Interestingly, the monstrous Hummer 2 does not have a reputation as a tough or rugged SUV.
Introduced in 2002, the Hummer 2 was designed to inherit the reputation of the successful Hummer 1. The H1 was known for it’s military-grade ruggedness and off-road capability.
However, unlike the H1, which was first and foremost a military unit built to be dropped out of helicopters and jump over sand dunes during Operation Desert Storm, the H2 had more in common with a GM pick-up truck than an actual Humvee.
It is built with so much plastic (fiberglass), that you rapidly realize that it was built to look cool on the road, and nothing more. Auto industry watchers opined that the H1 is a reminder of America’s onetime obsession with bloated SUVs and an example of cars that can’t back up their tough looks.
The GM-built Hummer H2 was actually marketed as a serious offroader back in the day. It was fitted with a slightly more “sophisticated” four-wheel-drive system than conventional Chevy trucks. It also has an all-new ABS system developed by Bosch.
GM banked on the fact that most large SUV buyers wouldn’t take part in actual extreme offroading. Rather, they would still appreciate the idea of having something more capable and considerably larger than a conventional utility vehicle, all while maintaining the fashion statement momentum the original H1 had created.
The Palace of the Oba of Benin is located near the popular King’s Square (Ring Road).
