| Hummer - name of civil version for military all terrain vehicle HMMWV M998 (High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle), affectionately nicknamed by American military “the Humvee”.
Off-roader is developed by North American company AM General. Beginning of the HMMWV was started in 1979. Aim of the project was to develop an automobile wholly conforms to a good few of military requirements According to one version the company happened to be in right place at right time, because, the tender for creating jeep for American army was won by Lamborghini with its model LM-Cheetah. The U.S. Ministry of Defense had then decided not to award the tender to Europeans. Though the production cost was heavy, Italian project perfectly suited U.S. army's requirements. Lamborghini jeep's drawings were handed over to AM General without the consent of its creator, so in this way came up the first “Hummer”.
In 1981, Humvee was commissioned into the American military and after participating in war with Persian Gulf against Iraq had become well known in the world. Today “Humvee” is in the armies of more than 40 countries, and is produced in different models which make it truly multi-purpose military transport.
In 1992 (citation?), manufacturing of civilian brand of “Humvee”, which got the name “Hummer H1), had started. Manufacturing of civilian model was taken up by North American company General Motors. Civilian off-roader was different from the army one was by only some changes. First owner of “Humvee” among all was Arnold Schwarzenegger, who played significant role in popularizing “Hummer”.
Comparing “Hummer” with “Humvee”
Civilian model H1 was fully based on military model HMMWV. Unlike military HMMWV, civilian model does not have armor and weapons, but on other technical parameters it completely repeats army model. And also, in civilian version of H1 present are: highly comfortable cabin, convenient seats, audio-system and climate control. Besides this civilian model's electric network had become 12v and unlike in military model HMMWV, where two batteries are attached subsequently for achieving 24v, this model included two 12v batteries incorporated in parallel.
Brand range
At present three models of Hummer are manufactured and some two more models are planning for manufacturing in future. |
The Detroit Auto Show 2008 is taking place this week, where Hummer introduced their SUV concept with the Hummer HX. This new Hummer has a sci-fi look, is more compact and weights less than the previous models.
