Joseph Chevrolet : Automotive Pioneer

Louis Chevrolet hailed from Switzerland, where he spend his initial years before moving to Paris, where he worked in a mechanic’s shop and then on to Canada, where he pursued his work as a mechanic and finally the United States of America.

After a few odd-jobs in New York, Chevrolet moved to Brooklyn where he worked for de Dion-Bouton, a French car manufacturer who had recently set up its American operations. In 1905, the year that he got married, Louis was also hired by FIAT as a racing car driver. His racing ambitions also won him a seat as a driver for Buick where he not only took part in the Giants Despair Hillclimb in 1909 but also became friends with William C Durant, the founder of General Motors. Despite having no formal education in vehicle design and engineering, Chevrolet did pick up elements of design and furthered his technical prowess while at Buick. This finally culminated in him designing his own engine for a new car.

In 1911, Chevrolet co-founded the Chevrolet Motor Car Company in Detroit along with his friend Durant, whom at the time had been ousted from General Motors. CMCC’s future seemed bright however differences between Chevrolet and Durant began to emerge around 1915, just four years into business. This finally resulted in Durant selling his stake in the company in 1916 which gave him enough money to repurchase a controlling stake in General Motors, thus buying back into the company he had founded. A year later Chevrolet Motor Car Company became a part of General Motors and till date remains one of the main brands belonging to the conglomerate.

While the CMCC story ended in 1917, Louis Chevrolet went on to set up another company with his brothers which went by the name of Frontenac Motor Corporation. Incidentally, this company made racing parts for Ford Model Ts! Louis Chevrolet was also appointed as the Vice President and Chief Engineer of American Motors Corporation (unrelated to current day AMC) in 1916.

All through this period, Chevrolet continued to pursue his racing dreams. He even created a state of the art racing car named ‘Comelian’ which he used at the Indy 500 in 1915 where he managed to come 20th. Louis Chevrolet took part in the Indy 500 a total of four times, and his best was in 1919 where he came in 7th.

Louis Chevrolet died on June 6, 1941. He was 62 and almost penniless at the time of his untimely demise. His name lives on in the millions of vehicles that bear the famed bow-tie logo and have come to be known as one of the most iconic American Brands till date.