Jeep and Hummer
Jeep and Hummer sound like the cartoon characters of the automobile world, but, in fact, they may be among the most versatile, rugged, and loved vehicles ever made. The Jeep was created as a vehicle for wartime. Before the automobile, armies used horses and mules to move men and supplies. The French Army was the first to experiment with motorized vehicles by adding engines to tri- and quadricycles, but these were too fragile and awkward. Airplanes, tanks, trucks, and other motorized vehicles had significant roles in World War I, but there was no all-purpose automobile. The U.S. Army experimented with a stripped down Model T Ford equipped with balloon tires and with motorcycles with sidecars attached, but a vehicle that was strong but small and had the traction to cover difficult terrain was still lacking by the start of World War II.
In desperation, the Army appealed to 135 American car manufacturers to develop a "scout car" that was low to the ground, able to carry weapons, met strict weight and haulage requirements, and had four-wheel drive. The prototype was needed in 49 days and 70 more vehicles were needed 75 days later. The two automakers that responded were Willys-Overland Motors, Inc., and the American Bantam Car Company. The Bantam design arrived in Washington, D.C., first, but the Willys-Overland cars followed soon after. Army engineers subjected the vehicles to torture tests, and, despite breakdowns and many equipment failures, both types were considered successes. The Ford Motor Company also entered the competition late because the Army felt the other firms were too small to produce the number of vehicles needed. The engine in the Willys-Overland "Quad" car was so superior that this design was selected, and both Willys-Overland and Ford produced the Quad car initially with the Bantam Company assisting in later production. The three manufacturers produced 900,000 vehicles by the end of the war in August 1945.
To meet the Army's weight requirements, early jeeps were strictly bare-bones vehicles. There were no heaters, windshield wipers had to be operated by hand, seats had no cushioning, the change from two- to four-wheel drive required hand-locking the wheel hubs, and colors were camouflage green for most uses and sand brown for desert service. The jeep, however, could cover many types of terrain, and be used for command and reconnaissance. Hooks on the back could be used to hang stretchers for the wounded, and swiveling headlights could be turned back on the car so soldiers could work on the engines without other light sources. Machine guns, antiaircraft guns, and mortars and rockets could be mounted on jeeps. An amphibious form of the jeep was invented in 1941 by Roderic Stephens, Jr., a yacht designer. Balloon tires, air pockets in the metal parts, a rudder attached to the steering wheel, and an anchor transformed the jeep into a seep.
Other armies ordered jeeps as well, and jeeps played an important diplomatic role in lend-lease shipments to American allies. The tough vehicles were credited with military victories. British commandos in jeeps swept behind the lines of the German General Erwin Rommel's famed Afrika Korps in the Sahara Desert and cut off fuel supplies and destroyed a convoy of German trucks and tanks. Jeeps plowed snow off Northern European airfields--they could be fitted with Caterpillar tracks at the rear and skis in front.
The evolution of the name "jeep" is unknown, varied, and almost mythical. It was nicknamed the Peep, Puddle Jumper, Beetle Bug, and Leaping Lena; but most believe the name came from the initials "G.P." for general purpose vehicle. The returning veterans loved their jeeps, and Willys-Overland made improvements, such as cushioned seats, and marketed them as family cars, station wagons, and farm equipment. Even a sports model with a convertible top was designed and sold as the Jeepster Sports Phaeton. Legal hassles over the name and design rights arose between Willys-Overland and the American Bantam Car Company, but these were settled in 1950 and Jeep became a registered trademark. Kaiser Passenger Cars bought Willys-Overland, and, by the late 1960s, the Jeep Wagoneer exploded in popularity. American Motors Corporation bought Jeep, and the larger manufacturer increased production from 175 to 700 Jeeps per day in 1970. The availability of more free time, the recreational vehicle craze, comforts of civilian designs of the Jeep, and technical improvements to the engine, gas economy, and "shift-on-the-fly" conversion from two- to four-wheel drive accounted for Americans' love of the Jeep.
Military movers reconsidered vehicle design in the late 1970s when they realized that too many unique vehicles had evolved for specific duties. The U.S. Army announced another competition in 1979 for the design of a family of vehicles with identical mechanical features as well as adaptability to different tasks. Specifications were issued for profile, roof height, hood height, and the same mobility standards as other combat vehicles including the Bradley and the M1 tank. These included specified ability to climb grades and side slopes, ground clearance, and ability to mount vertical steps and ford streams. This new vehicle was identified as a High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle or HMMWV, which the military soon called the Hum-Vee.
Three defense contractors were interested in meeting the strict requirements, and prototypes and preproduction models were subjected to three phases of testing at test facilities and in the field by soldiers and Marines. AM General won the contract, and in 1983, the Army ordered 55,000 Hum-Vees in 15 different configurations. More than 100,000 additional vehicles were ordered in the next 6 years. The configurations included cargo and troop carriers, armament carriers, vehicles with TOW (Tube-launched, Optically-sighted, Wire-guided) missile launchers, shelter carriers (to house radio and other units), and ambulances. Most of these vehicles have protective armor, and all configurations are mechanically interchangeable.
By the early 1990s, greater weight and towing capacity were needed and certain configurations of the Hum-Vee were revised. The weapons carriers were given optional panels to improve their armor, and many other improvements were made to configurations and specialized equipment. The "identical" nature of the vehicle family was maintained by producing most of the options packages as kits.
In 1990, AM General began designing a civilian version of the Hum-Vee to be known as the Hummer. The Persian Gulf War in early 1991 brought the strong-armed appearance and versatility of the military Hum-Vee into millions of living rooms, and mass production of the civilian Hummer began in 1992. The Hummer has the low center of gravity, high ground clearance, and wide stance of its military cousin. Through brake/throttle modulation and special differential/brake design, tires that lose traction are stopped from spinning so power can be redistributed to the tires to maneuver the vehicle over obstinate terrain. The driver can inflate or deflate tires from the driver's seat using the Central Tire Inflation System (CTIS), also for better traction. The Hummer can be outfitted with equipment such as a crane, backhoe, concrete pump, fire-fighting apparatus, and others for industrial and civilian uses.
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