The United States military is auctioning off surplus Humvees to the public for the first time ever--4,000 of them, to be exact.
As first reported by the Army Times, bidding for the vehicles started at $10,000 in the last few weeks as the military sells off the Humvees for off-road use. The Defense Logistics Agency has been putting them up for bid through IronPlanet's GovPlanet.com.
The sale is a result of lifted restrictions since the Humvees previously would have been scrapped when no longer needed by the military.
"We definitely see lots of interest, and we're certainly excited to have the opportunity to sell these," Randy Berry, IronPlanet's senior vice president for operations and services, told the Army Times. "These items have been scrapped up to now ... so it's a win for the taxpayers and everybody involved here."
Around 4,000 Humvees will be examined for defects and then sold at auction as long as they don't have "military characteristics," such as being armored.
"We know that there are thousands going through the screening process now, and some will be claimed by states and local governments, and anything not claimed will go through for public sale, through our marketplace," Berry said. "We expect to have a steady stream of those available over time."
Standing for "High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle," the Humvee replaced the original Jeep in military service in the mid-1980s, the New York Daily News reported.
The group of vehicles to be sold after much departmental and legal haggling date from the Reagan administration up to President Clinton's first term in office.
Weighing 2 to 3 tons, Humvees are powered by engines ranging from a 6.2-liter V-8 diesel to a 6.5-liter V-8 turbo-diesel that are paired with a three- or four-speed automatic transmission.
The great Humvee auction is opposed by manufacturer AM General, which objects to the sale of military Humvees to the general public. The South Bend, Ind.-based company "opposes any use of these military vehicles by individuals or entities outside of the military context for which the vehicles are designed."
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