The Hammer Was Never Just a Bumper
Back in 2015, Hunter had just bought her first Jeep JKU Rubicon. Motobilt was still deep in the build phase at that point. Long days, long nights, and a lot of learning happening in real time. When it came time to put a bumper on her Jeep, she did not want something off the shelf and she did not want something already in our lineup. She wanted a bumper I designed for her. Something personal. Something different. And she wanted to be the first one running it. I made that happen.
I opened SolidWorks and started drawing with one Jeep and one person in mind. There was no product brief and no thought about whether it would sell. I was focused on building something that fit her Jeep right, looked right, and could actually be used the way a Jeep should be used. That first Hammer Bumper was built for one reason. It was hers. For a while, that was all it was meant to be.
As soon as she started running it, people noticed. At events, on the trail, and even in parking lots, the questions kept coming. What bumper is that. Is it a Motobilt part. When can I get one. What started as something personal slowly took on a life of its own. The Hammer Bumper moved from a single Jeep into production, but it never lost its original intent. Tight to the body. Strong where it mattered. Clean. Functional. Honest steel.
Over the next decade, that bumper ended up on Jeeps all over the country. Daily drivers, trail rigs, and hard used crawlers. It carried winches, took hits, and protected front ends the way it was built to do. At the same time, Hunter and I were building Motobilt side by side. In 2020, we got married. By then, she was already deeply involved in the business and she continues to work every day helping scale and grow Motobilt into what it is today. Looking back, it feels right that one of our earliest defining parts started with her Jeep.
After ten years, it is time to turn the page. We are officially retiring the Motobilt Hammer Bumper without fog lights, part number MB1025. This is not about moving away from something old. It is about honoring a chapter that helped shape who we are while making room for what is next. Motobilt has evolved, our designs have evolved, and the future is wide open. But this bumper will always represent where it started. One Jeep. One design. One moment that became part of our story.
Motobilt Built.
