Hummer History

1903	Terre Haute IN - Standard Wheel Company expands bicycle operation to include Overland Automotive division to manufacture motor vehicles The Overland "Runabout" was introduced to the general public
1908	Indiannapolis IN - John North Willys purchased the Overland Automotive Co.The Pope-Toledo Automotive Manufacturing plant was purchased and all automotive operations moved to Toledo OH.
1912	Willys-Overland Company was formed producing the Willys-Knight series of vehicles and later the "Whippet"
1935	Willys-Overland Motors Inc. was formed as a result of Depression-era bankruptcy reorganization
1953	Willys-Overland Motors Inc. was purchased by Harry J. Kaiser interests, and Willys Motor Inc. was formed
1963	Willys Motor Inc. name was changed to Kaiser-Jeep
1964	South Bend IN - Studebaker Corp. went out of business while Kaiser-Jeep assumed the military vehicle manufacturing contract and purchased the Chippewa Avenue Studebaker Plant
1970	2/5 Chrylser Corp. purchased Kaiser-Jeep Corp. 3/26 Kaiser-Jeep Corp. name was changed to "Jeep Corporation" 5/14 Jeep Corp. General Products division corporate offices move from Toledo to Wayne, MI
1971
Jeep Corp. General Products Division was spun off and a separate wholy owned subsiderary of American Motors was formed - resulting in the AM General Corp.
1979	AM General offices were moved from Wayne to Detroit MI and they begin preliminary design work for a High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) to meet U.S . Army standards
July 1980	First engineering prototype vehicle completed
July 1981	U.S. Army awards Phase 1 request contract to AM General for development of prototype vehicles
April 1982	AM General delivers 11 prototype vehicles to U.S. Government
March 1983	AM General awarded initial production contract for 55,000 U.S. military vehicles during this same year they were sold to the LTV Aerospace and Defense Company as the AM General Division
April 1983	Plant facilitation begins
April 1984	First production begins and in this year their corporate offices are moved to Livonia, MI
January 1985	Volume production of Hummer begins
1986	AM General's name was changed to LTV Missiles and Electronics Group, AM General Division and the corporate office were moved to the South Bend IN manufacturing facility while Engineering remained in Livonia
August 1989	AM General awarded additional production contract for 33,331 military vehicles
1990	Initial design work for civilian Hummer begins, the name of the company was again altered during LTV reorganization to LTV Aerospace and Defense Company, AMGeneral Corporation and corporated offices moved to downtown South Bend IN
June 1991	AM General announces intent to market civilian Hummer to public
1992	In March the 100,000th military Hummer was produced and in April the company was sold to the Renco Group, Inc.
July 1992	First civiliam Hummer delivered
August 1992	Volume production of civilian Hummer begins
October 1992	National introduction of civilian Hummer
January 1995	First gas-powered Hummer limo introduced at North American International Auto Show
January 1996	First turbo diesel-powered Hummer introduced at North American International Auto Show