The Hummer was first developed as military vehicle for the American military by AM General Corporation. The vehicle was than called an HMMWV or Humvee and was a very important part of the US military due to its cross country capabilities. AM General Corporation started the work of creating civil version of the humvee during the 80s. One of the main points in the development was to keep the qualities that made the car so good for the military in the civil version just adding extra comfort.

There was for a long time no dealers that sold this car that costed 50 000$ at the time and those who wanted to buy one had to go to the factory to do so. The first Hummer sold to a civilian was sold in 1991 to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger which only helped to improve the cars macho image. The civilian model of the Hummer caught the attention of the world and the American consumers during the adventure tour were two Hummers drove from London to Beijing through the rough roads of Russia and the former soviet union.

General motors later started selling hummers and eventually ended up buying the brand name Hummer. The later models of Hummers like the H2 and H3 are developed by GM for civilian consumers and have never needed to live up to the standards that were needed for the first model in the military service. This does not mean that they are bad cars just that things like comfort have had a larger influence on the development. The latest model is in fact developed to be a suitable family car and to work well as a city car. The latest model also has more high tech features and more safety features designed for families.

Hummers have a high ground clearance, double of a standard SUV, to allow them to traverse rough terrain. This means that a hummer can go almost anywhere. They can go up and down steep hills and can easily climb a 16 inch vertical rock. Hummer cars also have a very high tolerance for water and can traverse relatively deep streams. Hummer also features a long row of different functions to allow the driver supreme control regardless of the terrain. An example on one such features is the Central Tire Inflation System which allows the driver to control the pressure in all 4 tires individually from the driver seat.

Hummers are today sold with a large number of accessories and can be customized according to the individual customers need. Examples on such customizations are bullet proof hummers and the today relatively well know hummer.

Read about the new Hummer models like the HUMMER 3 - H3 and the coming model HUMMER 4 - H4 that is currently under development.