The history of the Chevrolet brand

Hardly anyone today knows that Chevrolet is simply the surname of one modest Swiss family. Born in 1878, Louis Chevrolet eventually turned his own surname into a global brand. The boy inherited his love of mechanisms from his father, a watchmaker. He could watch the craftsman at work for hours, and later started taking apart complex mechanisms himself just to understand how they worked. His second passion, for speed, was born around the age of 11, when Louis started working at a bicycle repair shop. And his very first ride already left Louis Chevrolet with a question: how do you make a bicycle go faster?

Louis threw himself seriously into bicycle racing, building bicycles and winning races on them.

The year 1896 turned out to be fateful for Chevrolet — the American tycoon Vanderbilt dropped by his workshop needing a motor carriage fixed. For Louis this was no great challenge, and Vanderbilt then suggested Louis Chevrolet try his luck in America.

In 1901, in New York, Louis was already working as a mechanical engineer at the car manufacturer De Dion-Bouton. At the same time, Chevrolet took part in car races. He designed the cars himself and won on them himself. As early as 1905 he won his first major race and set a new record, covering a mile in 52.8 seconds. For fifteen years, nobody could match the skill of racer Louis Chevrolet. In 1911, the super-racer Chevrolet founded his own car company. His partner was Billy Durant, owner of General Company in New Jersey (later General Motors).

3 November 1911 became the birthday of the Chevrolet Motor Car Company.

The company grew rapidly and dynamically. Chevrolet put the car's technical sophistication and its affordability for most people front and centre. The company produced not just cars but Chevrolet spare parts too, and car service centres started springing up. Chevrolet wanted his cars to be easy to use and economical on fuel. And this brilliant engineer and brilliant racer pulled it off. To this day, every Chevrolet is still built on three principles: practical design, reliability, and the best value for money.