Everything about Louis Chevrolet totally explained
Louis-Joseph Chevrolet (
December 25,
1878,
La Chaux-de-Fonds,
Neuchatel,
Switzerland -
June 6,
1941,
Detroit, Michigan) was a
racing driver and a co-founder (with
William C. Durant) of the
Chevrolet Motor Car Company, which was acquired by
General Motors and is their bestselling brand nationwide and in many cases synonymous with General Motors itself.
In
1886 his family left Switzerland to live in
Beaune in the
Côte-d'Or département of
France. It was there as a young man Louis developed his mechanical skills and interest in auto racing. He worked for the Roblin mechanics shop from 1895 to 1899 at which time he went to
Paris where he worked for a short time before migrating to
Montreal, Quebec in
Canada in
1900. The following year, he moved to
New York City where he was hired by
FIAT.
Working for
Buick, this mechanical genius with little in the way of a formal education learned car design and started designing his own engine for a new car in 1909. This, an
overhead valve six, he built in his own
machine shop on Grand River Boulevard,
Detroit. Shortly thereafter, he'd partner with Durant to start the Chevrolet Motor Car Company there. Chevrolet had differences with Durant over the design and in 1915 sold Durant his share in the company. The next year, the company was folded into Durant's
General Motors.
At that time, Chevrolet shifted into the racing car industry, partnering with Howard E. Blood of
Allegan, Michigan to create the
Cornelian, a state of the art racing car which he used to place 20th in the 1915
Indy 500. In 1916, he and his younger brother
Gaston started
Frontenac Motor Corporation, designing and producing another line of racing cars. They became well-known for, among other things, their Fronty-
Ford racers.
Louis also competed in the
Indianapolis 500 four times, with a best finish of 7th in
1919. Younger brother Gaston won there in
1920 in a car Louis built, and brother
Arthur also competed twice.
Louis Chevrolet died nearly penniless, and is buried in the Holy Cross and Saint Joseph Cemetery in
Indianapolis, Indiana. His bust stands at the entrance to the museum at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Indy 500 results
| Year |
Car |
Start |
Qual |
Rank |
Finish |
Laps |
Led |
Retired |
| 1915 | 27 |
23 |
81.010 |
23 |
20 |
76 |
0 |
Valve
|
| 1916 | 8 |
21 |
87.690 |
13 |
12 |
82 |
0 |
Rod
|
| 1919 | 7 |
12 |
103.100 |
2 |
7 |
200 |
9 |
Running
|
| 1920 | 3 |
3 |
96.300 |
3 |
18 |
94 |
0 |
Steering
|
| Totals |
452 |
9 |
|
|
| Starts | 4
|
| Poles | 0
|
| Front Row | 1
|
| Wins | 0
|
| Top 5 | 0
|
| Top 10 | 1
|
| Retired | 3
|
|
Awards
Further Information
Get more info on 'Louis Chevrolet'.
|
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