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At first blush, it's hard to think of a brand of vehicle less appealing than a Hummer in the brave new world of three-dollar-a-gallon gasoline. Perhaps just in time, GM has introduced the new H3, the first environmentally respectable Hummer. It not only gets 19 mpg on the highway — for a Hummer that's something to write home about — but gives you all the Hummer attitude and style you could want for less than thirty grand. That's right a Hummer that doesn't cost more than your house and will actually fit in a normal parking space at the supermarket, besides. A brave new world, indeed.

Roughly the same length as a midsize family sedan, the H3 is capable of comfortably navigating city traffic and still delivers the Hummer's trademark crawling and climbing capability off road. The H3 also provides the refinement, comfort and convenience you would expect in a luxury sedan. And it looks like a Hummer. In fact, it looks so much like an H2 that people kept mistaking it for one — including me. When you're sitting in the driver's seat, it has the same immense feeling of the H2. Credit GM's designers for that, I guess, but they've worked some sort of optical trickery here, that's for sure.

The H3 is powered by the Vortec 3500 engine with dual overhead cams and variable valve timing. According to GM, the H3 is projected to reach peak fuel economy of up to 20 miles per gallon, although the official EPA rating is 16 city and 19 highway. It delivers 220 horsepower at 5600 rpm and 225 lb.-ft. of torque at 2800 rpm.

The H3 is the first Hummer to offer the choice of a manual or an automatic transmission — either a standard five-speed manual or an optional Hydra-Matic 4L60-E electronically controlled four-speed automatic. Our test vehicle had the automatic, which was just as well. Frankly, it's hard to think of a Hummer with a stick-shift. Flogging gears would certainly be out of keeping with the luxury-car feel of the H3.

A stick-shift transmission would also be out of sync with the performance and handling characteristics of the H3. It may have 220 horsepower on tap, but that's not enough. The H3 is decidedly slow off the mark and quickly runs out of breath at highway speeds. If you're cruising the freeway at 65 mph and want a sudden burst of speed, forget it. It just isn't there.

The luxurious ride of the H3 comes at a cost, too. The first day of the test, I had occasion to take a winding road out in the horse country northwest of Baltimore and the H3 was NOT happy about it. I couldn't exactly say it wallowed, but it did not afford a sense of security during hard cornering.

The distinct Hummer styling also exacts a price. Vision is poor, especially to the rear, and this makes lane changes on the freeway more exciting than they need to be. Of course, the curse of the auto writer may be a factor here. A week is hardly enough time to get used to a vehicle and the limited rearward vision might be one of those things a Hummer owner could learn to compensate for in time.

The really big news, though, is the bottom line. It is not often that the sticker price of a vehicle is less than I imagine it will be. I would have guessed the sticker on the H3 to be forty grand or so, and you can imagine my surprise when I learned it was only $31,465, delivered. Actually, the base price is only $28,935 (plus $565 in destination charges). Our test vehicle had a couple thousand dollars worth of miscellaneous options, the main one of which was the automatic transmission ($1,695), which also includes GM's excellent Stabilitrak stability-control system.

In sum, the H3 offers buyers an opportunity to enjoy the Hummer mystique in a maneuverable, affordable and more-or-less environmentally-friendly package. Despite some limitations, we think GM has done a good job here and predict the H3 will find a ready market. R&D