History of Hummer

[HummerHippy]

Being a noobie to this whole thing, I found this interesting. You seasoned folk may already know all this.

http://www.edmunds.com/hummer/history.html

Especially the close family genetics of Jeep and Hummer

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.

[Wisha Haddan H3]

Yeah, there's a lot of old AMC Jeep heritage tied up in the Hummer.

It even inspired a lawsuit between Daimler-Chrysler and GM (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3165/is_2001_March_1/ai_73080025) in 2001. DC claimed that the H2's 7-slot vertical grille belonged to the Jeep brand and trademark. The courts disagreed, saving GM from changing the grille or licensing it from DC.

The reasoning?
1) Grille shape isn't the only defining factor of a vehicle brand.
2) Even if it were, not all Jeeps carried a 7-slot grille (and not always vertically).
3) And most importantly, GM's "Hummer" licensing agreement with AMGeneral included the specific brand trademark of the H1's 7-slot grille, which in turn had gone unchallenged by DC since 1985, when the original HMMWV was approved for sale to the military.

[Steve - SanJose]

Good example of frivolous lawsuit. Lame.

[Hummer Aficionado_VT]

Look at the rear end of a Jeep Commander (if you can stand it...) and tell me that Jeep didn't steel that rear end from the H2!!

:lame:

[Agriv8r]

:popcorn:

[jmsspratlin]

Very interesting info....thanks....Jamie