Sales of 4x4s are plummeting but this hasn’t stopped a German tuner unveiling a modified Hummer H3 – with Golf GTI-beating performance.

Geiger – which modifies most American cars – has taken the Hummer H3’s 5.3-litre V8 engine and fitted a supercharger, increasing outputs from 300bhp and 320lb/ft of pulling power to 423bhp and 502lb/ft.

The result is 0-62mph in 7 seconds and a top speed of 148mph – beating the Golf’s 7.2 seconds and 146mph.

With this performance and a weight of more than 2-tons, Geiger has fitted the Hummer H3 with uprated 380mm disc brakes, a new suspension and a set of 22-inch alloy wheels.

On top of the mechanical adjustments, the Geiger Hummer also gets a bright white paintjob with blue and red stripes on the bonnet and blacked-out windows.

Hummer was established with the H1 in 1992 when AM General decided it would build road-going versions of its ultra-tough High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (Humvee).

The Humvee was launched in 1984, but came to prominence in the first Gulf War as the US forces transport method of choice.

The H2 and H3 followed the H1 into production with the right-hand drive Hummer H3 arriving in the UK in October 2007.

In the UK we only get the 3.6-litre Hummer H3 – which will hit 62mph in 13.1 seconds and run out of steam at just 99mph – nearly 50mph slower than the Geiger H3. 

But while it doesn’t offer the on-road performance to go with the brutal looks, the Hummer has been a hit with modifiers – particularly limo companies which have stretched them while an artist hit the headlines last year when he fitted a H3 with wagon wheels.

Celebrity Hummer owners have included David Beckham, Arnold Schwarzenegger and boxing promoter Frank Warren.

Check out this video of a remote control Hummer: