Like Jeep, Hummer’s origins lie in the military. In the 1980s, the Hummer was designed for military use as a transport vehicle for the US Army, built by AM General. Originally, the vehicle was known as a Humvee because of the acronym associated with the model (HMMWV – which stood for High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle).
Based on its impressive military service during the Gulf War, AM General decided to offer a civilian version of the Humvee – called the Hummer. Throughout the decade, the Hummer slowly gained in popularity. Then, in 1999 AM General sold the rights to the Hummer to General Motors.
Originally Hummer offered only one model for general sale, the Hummer H1. This vehicle was popular with both sports enthusiasts and high-end luxury buyers in search of an impressive and notable image. Then, in 2006 Hummer introduced expanded is line.
The popular H1 was dropped from production, but several varieties of Hummers are available – depending on the buyers need. There’s no denying that Hummer has come a long way from the utilitarian service vehicle. Buyers can choose from nearly any feature available in today’s automobiles without sacrificing the off-road versatility – should they desire it.
Today there are existing Hummers available, none of them new. In 2009, GM attempted to sell the Hummer brand to a Chinese company, but this fell apart. In the end, GM shut down the Hummer brand and the vehicles are no longer being produced. There’s hope that GM will revive the brand sometime in the future.
