The Hummer
It's not a car. It's not a truck. It's not just another 4x4. It's a HUMMER. A vehicle that defies comparison or categorization. A vehicle not in a class, but a universe all its own. A wolf in a field of sheep. A wolf in wolf's clothing. A HUMMER is able to go places and do things no other vehicle can. It was not designed for the masses, but for the U.S. Armed Forces. They needed a vehicle like nothing in existence. One so powerful and agile that it could overcome the impossible. A vehicle that could climb the steepest hills and conquer the toughest terrain. A vehicle that would be strong enough and durable enough to be depended on in the heat of battle. And they wanted it to last 12 years under the most punishing conditions. And save for the addition of a few creature comforts, the street-legal civilian version is virtually unaltered. It's a beast, slightly tamed. When the terrain is at its ugliest, this beast is at its most beautiful. It can scale a 22-inch vertical rock ledge, claw its way up a 60% grade, ford 30 inches of water, muck or mud, and plow through three-foot snow drifts. Impossible? For another vehicle. But not for the HUMMER. In addition to its four-wheel independent suspension, the HUMMER has 37-inch tires and a full 16 inches of ground clearance - twice as much as any other 4x4. Its 72-inch track width gives it an amazingly low center of gravity. Making the HUMMER stable enough to traverse a 40% side slope. Much of the HUMMER's climbing prowess is a result of its geared hub assembly, which provides a gear reduction of nearly 2-to-1 directly at the wheel, where it does you the most good. The reason it can handle water so well is that the powertrain's entire ventilation system is sealed. So you can drive around in two feet of water all day long and be completely protected from sand, silt and muck. A HUMMER can negotiate obstacles and rough terrain that would be a dead end for any other civilian vehicle. Its four-wheel, double-A arm coil spring independent suspension has springs much larger than an ordinary 4x4, with heavy-duty hydraulic shocks mounted inside them. The HUMMER's TorqTrac 4 technology continuously monitors the rotational speed of each wheel. The unique TT4 4-channel system automatically reduces tire spin on severe terrain or slippery surfaces by applying the brake to the spinning wheel, allowing the differential to redistribute torque to those wheels with traction. Equipped with a Torsen¨ II limited slip torque-biasing differential and a locking transfer case, the HUMMER's TT4 4-channel system provides the best mix of electronic and mechanical systems. Couple this with the HUMMER's geared hub assembly, which provides a gear reduction of nearly 2:1 (doubling the torque to the wheel where you need it most), and there is very little terrain in the world that you can't negotiate. In deep mud or loose sand, the HUMMER can be equipped with another innovation to keep you moving: The Central Tire Inflation System. This allows you, as you're driving, to let air out of either your front tires, your rear tires, or all four of them. This increases each tire's footprint, putting more tread in contact with the terrain. Then, when you're back on the streets, you can inflate them again just as easily. You can also choose to equip your HUMMER with an exclusive Run-Flat System, which will enable you to travel up to 20 miles at 30 mph with no air in one or all four tires. If you find these feats amazing, it's because they are. No other civilian vehicle in the world comes close to doing what a HUMMER can do. Most 4x4s would consider themselves lucky to boast any of these advancements. The HUMMER, however, houses dozens within a seemingly indestructible, heat-treated aluminum alloy body. Panels are first bonded together, then riveted (more like an aircraft than a truck). The end result is the uncontested king of all off-road vehicles.
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The History
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 Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, or HMMWV. It needed to be agile. It needed to be 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. 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. |
