Hey, Remember When the Hummer H2 Seemed Big? Not So Much Anymore.

Driving around recently, mind wandering, my eyes fell on a Hummer H2 passing by in the opposite lane. Attention-grabbing to this day, it was hard to miss. But as it rumbled across my field of vision, one thing struck me about it that I couldn’t shake: When did the H2 start feeling normal-size?

The H2 isn’t small, not even by today’s standards. But 20 or so years after its controversial debut, when everything around it has grown, it doesn’t quite have the same impact. True, even in its heyday, there were passenger vehicles bigger than the H2 , but they were much fewer and farther between, and the Hummer certainly had an undeniably huge presence. Today, that presence is—dare I say—diminished.

Of course, the behemoth spirit of the Hummer lives on in the current GMC Hummer EV, which is still superlative in the space it takes up (illustrated visuals here). But I’m not talking about a Hummer-to-Hummer, apples-to-apples comparison. You expect a Hummer to be, well, a Hummer. This is more about how big other vehicles have become.

It’s Not You, Everything Else Is Bigger

The H2 measured 189.8 inches long, 81.2 inches wide, and 77.8 inches tall. It had a wheelbase of 122.8 inches. Put another way, about 15.8 feet long, 6.8 feet wide, and 6.5 feet tall—so, taller than what you’re claiming on your dating profile. (But it's still shorter than one (1) Alex Leanse!)

Here’s a chart comparing the H2’s measurements to what you might come across while driving around on our roads in 2026. You may even be driving one of them.

That’s absurd! (Overall length is the one real eye-popping stat here.)

And to think, our own Frank Markus had this to say in a review of the 2008 H2: “Its immense height bars it from many parking garages, and its Sherman-Tank girth renders it practically unusable in the tight confines of the mini-mall and grocery store parking lots in my neighborhood. I still can't believe I navigated as much holiday-shopping traffic as I did without ever swapping insurance cards.”

Markus was pondering what, exactly, the point of the H2 was, and could include this anecdote because, honestly, there were precious few production vehicles for sale at the time that were as big. The H2’s size was a novelty back then, and most important, escapable. It was one of one; buying something that huge and uniquely styled didn’t happen by accident.

Now, though? Not so much. The cars I listed above are just a handful of the behemoths folks can buy right now, measurements be damned. The Ford F-150 is consistently the bestselling vehicle in America, so it’s quite plain the buying public at best enjoys driving huge trucks and SUVs and at worst has accepted being forced to live with them.

Will They Ever Stop Growing?

Bigger isn’t always better (see widely reported data of increased pedestrian and cyclist risks due to larger cars), and it’s kind of wild to think about what we used to consider big versus what’s normal now. Truthfully? I didn’t think I’d ever see any cars get more colossal than the H2, but here we are. Did it sneak up on you, too?

What’s the dimensional ceiling for all of this, anyway? When will big finally be too big? Until the vehicle physically strains against the boundaries set by the passenger vehicle class? Does anyone really need to drive something so big? Because they seem to want to buy them.

I don’t know what our roads will look like in another 20 years, but I’m hoping the explosive growth in vehicle size is a trend that shrinks considerably. I’m tired of trying to see around massive trucks and SUVs. I’m also tired of performing thousand-point turns just to get out of normal parking lots when I test one. If they bring the Honda Fit back just for it to be the size of a RAV4, I’m gonna scream. If you need me, I’ll be over here looking at pictures of Honda Actys.