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These
AM General prototypes proved to be the muscular new breed of vehicle
the Army had been looking for. As a result, the company was awarded
the initial production contract for 55,000 HMMWVs for delivery in
1985.
In
the years since, the AM General HMMWV has proven to be a valuable
asset in the military's arsenal. Given the name "Humvee"
by soldiers, this unstoppable vehicle has played a critical role in
military actions around the globe. All told, more than 150,000
HMMWVs have been produced for the U.S. Armed Forces and friendly
overseas armies.
It was only a
matter of time before the Humvee's extraordinary powers were called
upon by the nonmilitary sector. AM General's 1991 decision to sell
to the public finally allowed nonmilitary personnel to experience
the exceptional off-road performance and problem-solving abilities
of a military-based utility vehicle. Save for a few comfortable and
practical refinements, the Hummer is virtually unchanged from its
much-storied military counterpart. All of the power, durability and
versatility of the military Humvee is available to you in the
Hummer, the world's ultimate off-road vehicle.
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HUMBLE IS NOT A WORD ONE WOULD USE TO
DESCRIBE ITS BEGINNINGS.
The history of
the Hummer began in the ranks of the U.S. military 20 years ago.
As the logistics of modern warfare changed, so did the military's
needs for mobility and flexibility. The militarized civilian
trucks in use no longer satisfied the rigorous demands of the U.S.
Armed Forces. They required a new breed of vehicle.
In 1979, the U.S.
Army drafted a document outlining its requirements for a High
Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle, or HMMWV. It needed to be
agile. It needed to be able to go places that defied the
imagination. And it needed to last a minimum of 12 years under the
most unforgiving conditions. In July of that year, AM General
Corporation began preliminary design work. An impossibly short 11
months later, the first prototype, the M998, was already in
testing.
In June 1981, the
Army awarded AM General a Phase 1 request contract for development
of several more prototype vehicles to
be delivered to the U.S. government for another series of even
more exhaustive and grueling tests. |
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