Jeep vs Hummer: Is There A Rivalry Or Not?

I have to think that there’s an unspoken rivalry between Jeeps and Hummers and the people who own them. It’s all in good fun, of course. Or not…

Am I the only one seeing a major HUMMER/Jeep rivalry starting up here? It’s not just simple competitiveness either, but a deep-rooted grudge that began when HUMMER won the right to use the seven-slat grille after a long court battle — AM General, HUMMERs owner (GM merely owns marketing rights), was once owned by American Motors Corporation (AMC) which also owned Jeep, before being sold to Chrysler Group. Source: 2007 Hummer H3x Preview

One thing’s for sure. Each thinks that its own trail-ready workhorse is the best in the land. Which one is really the best offroad vehicle though?…

• Hummer vs Jeep Video (Don’t miss the comments!)
• Jeep vs Hummer Video (Lots of good comments, too.)

Is Hummer On The Way Out?
Now, with all this talk about Hummers being discontinued, it got me wondering what Hummer owners and Jeep owners alike might think about these recent developments.

After all, the Hummer H3 won the 2008 Four Wheeler of the Year.

And the new Hummer H4 (projected for 2009) was supposed to give the Jeep Wrangler a run for its money.

I think a lot of people have been tagging it as the ‘wrangler beater’ because of the size, but to be honest, we’ve always seen ourselves as a little more premium and a notch above the Jeep brand — it’s just our philosophy and how we fit within GM. — Carl Zipfel, HUMMER’s Director of Exterior Design

 

Then again, you’ve got the whole “hummer bummer” mentality shared by Yahoo Buzz:
“Vilified by environmentalists and embraced by Hollywood musclemen, prom dates, and other people with inadequacy issues, the Hummer’s swollen militaristic might might soon follow the dead-end route of the Edsel and the Oldsmobile — at least as far as General Motors is concerned.

So, does anyone really care that the Hummer might be on its way out?

 

Some Interesting Jeep-Hummer Comparisons

The HUMMER design team really has the future of the brand in their hands, and the products they present will soon go to the top dogs at General Motors for consideration. At that point, they will decide if the changes are drastic enough to widen HUMMER’s appeal, while at the same time, not diluting the brand the way Jeep has done with the Liberty and Cherokee.  — Hummer Guy

In 2003 Jeep focused on its Jeep Rescue concept vehicle for those who might be craving a beefier four-wheel drive vehicle like the Hummer H2, which was all the rage at the time. Some even called it the Jeep Hummer.

Jeep Rescue is one of three new concept vehicles, cars that may or may not make production … Although similarities between the Rescue and the H2 scream out in profile, Jeep is disguising its concept as an emergency services vehicle designed to drive through the most demanding conditions. Source

Here’s a road test review of the Jeep Rescue.

And on a related note… Some think Jeep’s newest vehicle, the Jeep Commander which debuted in 2006, looks like the result of a one-night-stand between a Jeep and a Hummer.

Finally, check out this offroad review comparing the 2006 Jeep Liberty to the Hummer H3 (… and a few other offroad-capable vehicles).

Hey, even the little ones are torn a between Jeep vs Hummer…