Hummer
...1903. A company named The Standard Wheel Company of Terre Haute Indiana originally built bicycles, however, after the invention of the combustion engine, they felt it would be in their best interest to begin building automobiles, and created a division named Overland Automotive.
John North Willys purchased Overland Automotive from The Standard Wheel Company in 1908 and renamed it Willys-Overland Motors. In 1940 Willys-Overland Motors became the creators of Americas first four-wheel drive ΒΌ ton utility truck. By 1941, they began a relationship with the U.S. government by winning a contract to build 350,000 Jeeps for the war effort.
In 1953, Henery Kaiser who renamed it, Willys Motors, purchased the company. Under the new ownership, the M274, a light weapons carrier, was created and put into production. In 1963 Willys Motors was again renamed and by 1967 the production of government vehicles became so profitable that Kaiser Jeep Corporation created a special division to solely produce them. It was this division that was a direct organizational forerunner to the AM General Corporation.
American Motors Corporation purchased the Kaiser Jeep Corporation and incorporated it as AM General, a division dedicated to fulfilling the transportation requirements of the U.S. government. From 1971 to 1979 AM General was heavily involved in research and development of vehicles for the U.S. government. They tested existing vehicles and produced and tested their own vehicles. They produced over 125,000 vehicles ranging from light armored utility vehicles to 20-ton transport trucks. Near the end of this period AM General began preliminary work on the M998 Series Humvee.
In 1981 AM General, Teledyne and Chrysler defense were awarded prototype contracts to determine who could build the ultimate all terrain war/peace time vehicle. By 1983 it was obvious who...
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