(FORTUNE Small Business) – If the original Hummer is a truck for the Terminator and the downsized H2 a perfect fit for Indiana Jones, then who is the new, even smaller H3 designed for? Agent Cody Banks? Ace Ventura? Even at about $35,000 (vs. $55,000 for the H2), buyers should think twice about the H3. It delivers a healthy chunk of the traditional Hummer experience but not enough to compensate for some significant shortcomings. And owners will still be the targets of jeers from drivers of more fuel-efficient vehicles.

GM's original concept for the H3 was on the money: Create a vehicle that combines a Hummer's curb appeal and rugged off-road capability but wrap it in a more practical package. Hummer sales have slumped lately in the face of rising gasoline prices and diminished novelty value, but the brand still resonates with hairy-chested buyers. So GM built the newest Hummer on the bones of its Chevy Colorado midsized pickup truck, invested it with traditional Hummer details (seven-slat front grille, vertical windshield, gun-slit windows), and tested it on California's Rubicon Trail, which eats ordinary SUVs for lunch.

So far, so good. But splicing Hummer DNA into the pickup's genes required some unfortunate tradeoffs. In profile, the H3 faithfully replicates the Hummer's iconic ammo-shack looks. But extending the wheels out beyond the body to improve off-road handling disfigured the classic slab sides, and raising the roof to provide more headroom eliminated the squashed-brick proportions integral to the truck's original appeal. The changes make for a more user-friendly vehicle but a lesser Hummer.

GM provided me with an early production version of the H3 but didn't allow me to ford any rivers or climb any rockslides. On the flat roads around GM's proving ground in southeastern Michigan, it ran surprisingly quietly and smoothly, given its enormous 32-inch tires (nearly twice the size of a typical car's) and primitive aerodynamics. Gas mileage isn't awful; GM expects the H3 to get about 20 mpg on the highway. But acceleration is a major disappointment. The tiny 220-hp Chevy engine strains to push the 4,700-pound vehicle up to 60 miles an hour in ten long seconds. (Some SUVs can get there in seven.) That's fine for the Rubicon but pretty poky for everyday driving.

The H3 will start to fill up dealers' lots this month, and GM expects to sell about 70,000 a year. Of those, 5% to 10% will go to dyed-in-the-mud off-roaders, while another 50% are destined for those who only occasionally travel over hill and dale. That means the remainder of the buyers will use the vehicle for everyday driving. They are essentially buying an H3 just to get into the Hummer club. I don't have a problem with that. But a bunch of wannabes who hang out at the mall in their H3s aren't going to do much to enhance Hummer's image as the ultimate go-anywhere vehicle--much less dampen those nasty comments from Toyota Prius owners. As manufacturers such as Jaguar and Land Rover have discovered, tampering with an automotive classic can be a risky proposition.