MV Spotlight: M998 HMMWV 1-1/4-ton truck

Following an extensive competition, AM General won the contract in 1983 to begin building the military’s new High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV). The basic vehicle is the M998 and could be configured in either two- or four-doors. When supplied with a winch, the same vehicle is designated the M1038. The M998A2 series, introduced in 1994, had numerous improvements in the power train. The engine was now the 6.5-liter (400 cubic-inch) diesel, and the automatic transmission was now a four-speed unit rather than the three-speed previously used.

Surplus sales of HMMWVs resumed in 2016. Hundreds have been sold, most have paperwork indicating “For off-road use only.”

Weight: 5,200 pounds

Size (LxWxH): 204.5” x 86” x 6”

Max Speed: 70 mph

Buy the best you can afford. Restoring a vehicle will always be more expensive than buying a finished project.

The vehicles in this guide are given a valuebased on a 1-to-6 condition grading scale:

1=Excellent: Restored to maximum professional standards, or a near-perfect original.

2=Fine: Well-restored, or a combination of superior restoration and excellent original parts.

3=Very Good: Complete and operable original or older restoration, or a very good amateur restoration with all presentable and serviceable parts inside and out.

4=Good: Functional or needing only minor work to be functional. Also, a deteriorated restoration or poor amateur restoration.

5=Restorable: Needs complete restoration of body, chassis, and interior. May or may not be running, but is not wrecked, weathered or stripped to the point of being useful only for parts.

6=Parts Vehicle: Deteriorated beyond the point of restoration.