Driving Hummers On Tokyo Streets Takes Planning
2007年10月30日15:16
Sadayoshi Ishi驾驶自己的悍马(Hummer)车时，总是非常小心。他车内装有电子地图，开阔的街道在图上标为绿色，较危险的狭窄街道标为粉色。两个后视镜上安装有潜望镜一样的监控器，随时提醒他前方存在的障碍物。
When Sadayoshi Ishi drives his Hummer, he takes precautions. He has installed a navigation system that shows wide-open streets in green and more-dangerous narrow streets in pink on a computerized map inside the truck. Periscope-like monitors on each side-view mirror alert him to obstacles.
Ishi并非在沙漠战区躲避地雷。这位48岁的日本漫画家驾车在东京街道上逡巡，道路如丛林般密集狭窄，让他这辆2.1米宽的越野车举步维艰。“我每次开车，都要吓出一身冷汗。” Ishi说道。现在，他每周只动一次悍马车──去打高尔夫，而且走一条固定线路。
Mr. Ishi isn't dodging land mines in a desert war zone. The 48-year-old Japanese cartoonist is trying to navigate Tokyo's urban jungle of streets too narrow for his 2.1-meter-wide vehicle. 'I broke out in a sweat every time I drove it,' says Mr. Ishi. He now drives his Hummer just once a week -- to golf games -- on a predetermined route.
Ishi是日本越来越多的悍马爱好者之一，花10万美元以上购买了军用样式的悍马H1。他们在报导伊拉克战争的电视新闻中频频看到悍马的身影，被这个庞然大物深深吸引，决心克服在日本开悍马的种种困难，自己也买上一辆。
Mr. Ishi is one of a growing number of Japanese who are spending more than $100,000 for the military-style H1 Hummer. Mesmerized by the mammoth trucks shown in TV news coverage of the war in Iraq, they are determined to overcome the special problems of driving in Japan.
悍马是美国军方“高机动性多用途轮式汽车”(High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle，简称Humvee)的民用版本，由A.M. General Corp.公司制造。这家位于美国印第安那州South Bend市的公司于1992年开始向民用市场推出数量有限的悍马车。1999年，通用汽车公司(General Motors Corp.)买下“悍马”商标的使用权，以12.5万美元以上的价格销售A.M. General制造的悍马H1。民用版的H1和Humvee几乎一模一样，只增加了空调和音响等设备，删减了机关枪和榴弹发射器支架等配置。
The Hummer is the civilian version of the U.S. military's High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, or Humvee, made by A.M. General Corp. The South Bend, Indiana, company started selling a limited number of Hummers to civilians in 1992. In 1999, General Motors Corp. bought the license to use the Hummer brand and market the A.M. General-made Hummer as the $125,000-plus H1. The civilian H1 is almost exactly the same as the Humvee, except for a few added features like air conditioning and a stereo system, and a few that are subtracted, such as fittings for attaching machine guns and grenade launchers.
悍马在美国市场很受欢迎，但随着汽油价格的飙升，消费者更倾向于体型较小、更为节油的品牌，因此市场需求出现萎缩。2006年，通用汽车公司停止在全球销售 H1，开始力推更实用的H2型。H2于2002年投放市场，同样由A.M. General公司制造，起价5.6万美元。与H1相比，H2的个头稍小，驾驶更为平稳，内饰更豪华。2006年，通用汽车开始生产自己的悍马H3，这是 H2的缩小版，大小跟切诺基吉普(Jeep Cherokee)差不多，借助的是悍马的品牌和外观，底价为3万美元。
The vehicle was trendy in the U.S., but as gas prices soared and consumer tastes shifted to smaller, more fuel-efficient brands, demand waned. Last year, GM stopped selling the H1 world-wide and began pushing the more practical H2 model. Launched in 2002 and also made by A.M. General, the H2 starts at $56,000 and has a slimmer body, smoother ride and more lavish interiors than the H1. In 2006 GM itself began manufacturing the H3, a scaled-down version of the H2 about the size of a Jeep Cherokee that capitalizes on the Hummer name and appearance and has a base price of $30,000.
2006年，日本的汽车销售商卖出约1,400辆悍马，是2005年销量的四倍、2006年法拉利汽车(Ferraris)销量的三倍。一些日本人──2006年约有100人──选择向美国汽车销售商直接定购。
Last year, car dealers in Japan sold about 1,400 Hummers, four times the number sold in 2005 and triple the number of Ferraris sold in 2006. Some Japanese -- about 100 last year -- buy their Hummers directly from dealers in the U.S.
在2006 年通用汽车公司52,000台悍马越野车的销量中，日本仅占一小部份，但这是一个增长速度惊人的市场。美国汽车一般难以引起日本消费者的兴趣，只有几款针对特定市场的汽车除外，如船状的卡迪拉克(Cadillac)轿车和经典的雪佛兰(Corvette)汽车等。通用汽车作为美国在日本市场的最大品牌， 2006年只卖出不到10,000辆汽车。
Japan makes up just a small part of GM's 52,000 Hummer-brand SUVs sold last year, but it is a surprising growth area. American cars have typically not wowed consumers in Japan, except for a few niche models like the boat-like Cadillac sedans and classic Corvettes. GM, the largest U.S. brand here, sold fewer than 10,000 vehicles last year.
正在举行的东京汽车展(Tokyo Motor Show)上，通用汽车展示了一款只在日本市场投放的悍马H3，方向盘位于右侧，因为日本人靠马路左侧开车。
At the Tokyo Motor Show going on now, GM is showcasing a new Japan-only version of the H3 with the steering wheel on the right since Japanese drive on the left side of the road.
悍马吸引的是那些“喜欢大车，觉得这样才叫真正开车”的驾车者。《American Edge》杂志总编Shiro Horie说道。《American Edge》是日本新发行的一款杂志，专门介绍美国汽车。
The Hummer appeals to drivers who are 'looking for something big and mean that looks like you've got real wheels,' says Shiro Horie, editor in chief of American Edge magazine, a new Japanese publication dedicated to American cars.
出于一种叛逆精神，Iwao Makino在2002年买下一辆皇家蓝色的悍马H1。他在伊拉克战争的新闻报导中看到悍马车，听说它能渡过1.5米的深水，从飞机上垂直下落4.5米而毫发无损。33岁的Makino经营着一家销售电脑系统的小公司，他知道美国的悍马车主经常在恶劣路况下驾驶该车，但在日本，出于环境保护的考虑，政府禁止汽车离开道路驾驶。“我只能等东京遭受台风等巨灾袭击，这样我才能开着悍马去救人。” Makino说道。
It was a rebellious spirit that motivated Iwao Makino to buy a royal blue H1 Hummer in 2002. He had seen it on news footage of the war in Iraq and heard it could wade through 1 1/2 meters of water and survive a 4 1/2-meter drop from an airplane. The 33-year-old owner of a small business that sells computer systems knew that driving on rough terrain is a common practice among Hummer owners in the U.S. But he found that off-roading is banned in most parts of Japan for environmental reasons. 'I'm just waiting for a typhoon or big disaster to hit Tokyo so I can use my Hummer to rescue people,' says Mr. Makino. His biggest thrill now is dodging retailers' street signs when driving to the grocery store and taking his dogs to the park.
美国的H1车友只在停车入库和穿过狭窄道路时有点困难，但这些问题在日本更为严重，小型车占据日本市场三分之一的天下。
While U.S. H1 drivers also have problems squeezing into parking garages and driving on narrow roads, such problems are much worse in Japan, where minicars make up a third of the car market.
Makino 和Ish这样的悍马爱好者经常去日本悍马车主俱乐部(Hummer Owners' Club of Japan)交流驾驶经验，这是一个旨在协助H1车主保养爱车的组织，日本最早的悍马车主之一Tsuyoshi Ishitobi是其中一位创办人，他在1995年买了一辆消防红色的悍马。
Passionate owners like Messrs. Makino and Ishi exchange driving tips at the Hummer Owners' Club of Japan, a support group designed to help H1 owners care for their cars. The club was co-founded by Tsuyoshi Ishitobi, one of Japan's early converts, who bought a fire-engine red Hummer in 1995.
刚买悍马的那段日子里，在一家技术公司任助理经理的 Ishitobi曾花大量时间测量所在社区的街道宽度。由于自家房子没地方停放，东京的大多数街道又很狭窄，Ishitobi只能把悍马放在离家一个半小时车程的一个车库里，周末开一辆铃木(Suzuki)小车去那里和爱车见面。
In the early days, the 51-year-old assistant manager at a technology firm spent his time measuring the width of the streets in his neighborhood. Because there is no place to park his Hummer at his house and most of the streets in Tokyo are so narrow, Mr. Ishitobi keeps his Hummer in a garage an hour-and-a-half away. He uses a tiny Suzuki miniwagon to get there on weekends.
“我的生活方式完全改变了，”51岁的Ishitobi说道。业余时间里，他在郊外车库教新买悍马的人如何保养爱车，如何在狭窄的道路行驶，帮他们安装复杂的车载设备，如高解析度视频监控器等，利用卫星定位系统(GPS)实时显示道路的宽度。
'My lifestyle completely changed,' Mr. Ishitobi says. In his spare time, he coaches new drivers who come out to his suburban garage on how to care for their Hummers and navigate narrow roads. He helps them install complex machinery, such as high-resolution video monitors that instantly display the width of streets on a GPS screen.
停车是H1车主的老大难问题，因为H1约有两米高，无法进入东京的大多数停车库。38岁的Shuichi Asai是一家服装厂的高级管理人员，他把妻子打理的花园改造成一个大车库，停放自己的浅褐色H1。他妻子提出抗议，为安抚她的情绪，Asai又给她买了一辆海蓝色的H1。Asai说，妻子一直很喜欢他的悍马，却从没想到会得到这么一份昂贵的大礼。
Parking is big concern among H1 owners because the H1, at around two meters tall, won't fit into most Tokyo parking garages. Shuichi Asai, a 38-year-old apparel-industry executive, tore up his wife's garden to build a carport large enough to park his beige H1. When his wife protested, he appeased her by buying her an ocean-blue H1 of her own. He says she had always liked his Hummer but never expected such an expensive gift.
在日本，要加满悍马H1那120公升的大油箱，大约要花115美元，在美国则约需90美元。此外，日本还有一项环保法律，要求开H1这类大排量汽车的车主每年交纳1,000美元税费。还有一个问题是：通用汽车公司于2006年停止销售H1，因此H1的零部件如今很难找到。
It costs about $115 to fill up the 120-liter gas tank of an H1 in Japan, compared with about $90 in the U.S. In addition, Japan has an environmental law that requires owners of gas guzzlers like the H1 to pay a $1,000 tax annually. Another problem: Since GM stopped selling the H1 last year, spare parts are hard to find.
悍马俱乐部会员从美国密苏里州Chesterfield市的Lynch Hummer公司定购悬挂轴球和接头等H1零部件，Lynch Hummer是美国最大的H1汽车销售商。该俱乐部的60名会员每年约要花88,000美元购买零部件，几乎每天都要给Lynch Hummer打电话。
Hummer club members order H1 parts like suspension balls and joints in bulk from Lynch Hummer in Chesterfield, Missouri, the largest H1 dealer in the U.S. Together, the 60 members spend about $88,000 a year on parts and call Lynch Hummer almost daily.
随着悍马H2和H3在日本的销量不断增加，H1车主逐渐感到，自己的车子不再那么鹤立鸡群了。Yoshiaki Matsubara是悍马俱乐部的会员，买了五辆悍马H1。他拥有一家餐馆和一个汽车博物馆，平时戴一顶有骷髅图案的帽子。他说，以前自己开悍马时，路边的孩子都追着车跑，向他挥手示意，但最近却已变得无动于衷。
As the H2 and H3 models proliferate in Japan, one looming concern for H1 owners is that their vehicles won't stand out as much. Yoshiaki Matsubara, a Hummer club member who owns a restaurant and car museum and wears a hat decorated with a skull and crossbones, owns five H1 Hummers and says that until recently, children ran after the car and waved to him as he drove by.
“我不再像以前那么风光了。”这位老板叹着气说。
'I don't get as much attention as I used to,' says the entrepreneur with a sigh.
Amy Chozick
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