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Hummer Forum Guide

Hummer Forum Few vehicles are as instantly recognizable as a Hummer SUV. Unapologetically boxy and impossibly wide, these rugged vehicles were originally built for military use, and it shows. For Hummer aficionados, the fact that these mammoth rock-crawlers are tank-like both in appearance and nature is a selling point, not a flaw. Go to a Hummer dealer and all you'll see are SUVs. There is no such thing as a Hummer car, at least not yet.

The Hummer brand can actually trace its roots back to another military icon -- the Jeep. Designed by the Willys-Overland company in the 1940s, the Jeep became so popular that when Henry J. Kaiser purchased the Willys-Overland company in 1953, the name was changed to Kaiser-Jeep. In 1970, American Motors bought Kaiser-Jeep and renamed it the Jeep Corporation. At that point, Jeep was producing vehicles through two divisions: the Commercial Products division in Toledo, Ohio, and the Government Products division in South Bend, Indiana.

A year later, the Government Products division was spun off as a wholly owned subsidiary known as AM General. In the early 1980s, the company, now owned by the LTV Corporation, designed a vehicle to compete for a contract offered by the U.S. Army. Called the High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV, or Humvee, as it came to be known), it was designed to serve as the military's main light tactical vehicle. AM General won a 1983 production contract (the first of many with the U.S. Army) that required the delivery of 55,000 vehicles over a five-year period. AM General's Humvees distinguished themselves in active duty during the Persian Gulf War in the early '90s. The vehicle's wartime prowess garnered a great deal of positive publicity, and not just within military circles. As a result, AM General (now under the ownership of the Renco Group) decided to introduce a civilian version of the Humvee, dubbed the Hummer, in 1992. In 1999, General Motors bought the rights to the Hummer brand name and became responsible for the development, marketing and distribution of future Hummer SUVs.

hummerforums.com - Hummer was created as a civilian version of the Humvee (High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle), a military vehicle developed by AM General during the 1980s. The first model, simply called the Hummer, was launched by AM General, seven years before General Motors took ownership of the company.

hummerforum.org - after that change, the Hummer was renamed the Hummer H1 and GM worked on expanding the brand's lineup and broadening exposure to the mainstream market. The results of those efforts could be seen in the Hummer H2, a rugged off-roading SUV that offered attitude and sheer mass not found in many vehicles.

hummerxclub.com - the Hummer H3 SUV is a mid-sized, five-passenger sport utility vehicle that carries the military-inspired design cues and off-road capabilities of the H1 and H2, but puts them in more affordable package. The hummer accessories include a body color grille, chrome brush guard and18-inch chrome wheels.

hummerhummer.com - the future for Hummer is a bit unclear, as GM announced in 2008 their intention to sell, discontinue or restructure the Hummer. A Chinese company STHIM Co., Ltd appears to be the front-runner to acquire the Hummer brand. The new owner of Hummer will contract assembly of the current Hummer models.

h2fanatic.com - the midsize Hummer H3 is now its most popular model due to its relatively reasonable price and compact dimensions. Hummer now adds a H3T 4-door pickup variant. The standard Z85 suspension is for highway and off-road driving, while the Off-Road Adventure suspension is for dedicated off-road travel.