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The GMC Hummer EV’s “Features Dude” Was a Pro Desert Racer

707 Views 3 Replies 2 Participants Last post by StillHummer, Jan 8, 2021

Oakwood

Discussion Starter · Jan 2, 2021

Some very cool information about one of the members of the Hummer EV team.

Mike Colville, GM’s senior manager of complex feature integration and leader of the team that created Crab Walk, was a professional racer for 8 years in Ultra4 endurance races.

GM engineer's home-built race cars inspire Hummer EV innovations

Mike Colville was a professional racer, now he's an engineer on the GMC Hummer EV, helping invent some of its best features by drawing on racing past.

www.freep.com

Mike Colville is a self-described "car junkie." He's built 12 cars by hand in his Michigan garage over the years.

But they aren't just any cars. These babies can fly across a desert floor at insanely high speeds, then they slow to a crawl, creeping over the top of a rocky mountain. Colville's cars have competed in Ultra4 endurance races where he was a professional racer for eight years.

"It was scary, fun, exhilarating and I'm proud," Colville, 42, said recently of the endurance off-road races where truck-like buggies race at speeds of more than 100 mph across open deserts and mountainous terrain. "There was nothing I liked better than driving in the dust. It brought that competitive spirit out in me."

Today, Colville is General Motors' senior manager of complex feature integration, or as he calls himself, "The features dude."

He is a driving force behind some of the most eye-popping features on the upcoming 2022 GMC Hummer electric sport pickup. For example, it will be able to move vertically to get out of tight spots when off-road doing what is dubbed a CrabWalk. That's a Colville influence.

The bevvy of unique features on the pickup will make it truly one-of-a-kind when it comes to market. Many of Colville's inspirations came from his own garage and the cars he built to withstand the wild and rugged racing of Ultra4.

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StillHummer

· #2 · Jan 5, 2021

Remember the name of this guy. It's going to come up a lot.

I've been very pleased with the team GM assembled. Obviously, having Al run the show is always a good choice. But to supplement him with people who live and breathe off-road is a terrific idea. Colville was the brains behind numerous off-road features, most notably Crabwalk...they left no stone unturned.

It'd be interesting to try and contact some personnel from the Hummer development team for a Q and A of sorts, similar to what Jalopnik used to do during vehicle reveals - they'd have people from the development teams online on their website commenting sections to answer questions in real time. Colville would be a great place to start.

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Oakwood

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jan 8, 2021

StillHummer said:
Remember the name of this guy. It's going to come up a lot.

I've been very pleased with the team GM assembled. Obviously, having Al run the show is always a good choice. But to supplement him with people who live and breathe off-road is a terrific idea. Colville was the brains behind numerous off-road features, most notably Crabwalk...they left no stone unturned.

It'd be interesting to try and contact some personnel from the Hummer development team for a Q and A of sorts, similar to what Jalopnik used to do during vehicle reveals - they'd have people from the development teams online on their website commenting sections to answer questions in real time. Colville would be a great place to start.

Hopefully our buddy @Aloppen could help us out with that! 😜

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