Hummer : How a Little Truck Company Hit the Big Time, Thanks to Saddam, Schwarzenegger, and Gm

English

ISBN: 0760318638

EAN: 9780760318638

Category: Transportation / Automotive / General/Transportation / Automotive / History/

Publisher: MBI Publishing Company LLC

Release Date: 11/11/2004

Synopsis: What is it about the HUMMER that attracts and inflames so many people as it plows through Americas suburban streets and backwater hideaways? Where did it come from? How did it evolve from the sand dunes of Kuwait on the nightly news to the driveways of America? And what did Arnold Schwarzenegger have to do with it? This is what author and noted automotive journalist Marty Padgett explores in HUMMER: How a Little Truck Company Hit the Very Big Time, Thanks to Saddam, Schwarzenegger, and GM. The story of the civilian HUMMER begins before World War II and the Willys-Overland vehicles, the Jeeps, and up through the growth of AM General and its military contracts for unique transport vehicles through the 1970s and 80s. Worldwide notoriety came as the High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV, or Humvee, by its requisite military acronym) beamed into our homes during live broadcasts of Operation Desert Storm via brand new 24-hour cable news networks. Soon after, a certain action movie star personally encouraged a civilian market for what would become known as the HUMMER, built and sold by General Motors as the ultimate in suburban safety, comfort, style, and beat the Joneses prestige. Filled with thorough research, detailed interviews, and the authors own insight, its a tale of business, automotive innovation, and military history. And the tale gets even more interesting along the way, with environmentalists, politics, and a second Gulf war giving this powerful vehicle a reputation its creators never dreamed of. Book jacket.

Excerpt: Unknown Property Excerpt

Hummer : How a Little Truck Company Hit the Big Time, Thanks to Saddam, Schwarzenegger, and Gm

Illustrated: Yes

Format: Hardcover

Height: 0.75 inches

Width: 6.25 inches

Length: 9.25 inches

Weight: 18.13 oz

Pages: 256