Chevrolet Cars
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Pictures of Chevrolet cars photographed at car shows, musuems, and collector car auctions. Chevrolet Cars by Year
Chevrolet Cars by Model
Chevrolet Cars by Description
Chevrolet HistoryChevrolet Motor Division, General Motors Corp. Chevrolet was co-founded by Louis Chevrolet and William C. Durant. Louis Chevrolet was a racecar driver, born on December 25, 1878, in La Chaux de Fonds, Switzerland. William Durant, founder of General Motors, had been forced out of GM in 1910 and wanted to use Louis Chevrolet's designs to rebuild his own reputation as a force in the automobile industry. On November 3, 1911, Chevrolet entered the automobile market to compete with the Ford Model T. A year later, the "Classic Six" was introduced. The Classic Six was a 5-passenger touring sedan equipped with a 299 cid, 6-cylinder engine capable of taking the car to a top speed of 65 miles per hour. Chevrolet first used its "bowtie" logo in 1913. This logo is said to have been designed from wallpaper Durant once saw in a French hotel. In 1916, Chevrolet was profitable enough to allow Durant to buy a majority of shares in GM. After the deal was complete in 1917, Durant was president of General Motors, and Chevrolet was merged into GM, becoming a separate division. The last year of the Chevrolet 4-cylinder engine was 1928 and Chevrolet was already laying plans to command the 1929 low-price field with "A Six for the Price of a Four." Preparations for this change were mapped carefully and secretly. The first move was to increase the length of the 1928 chassis by 4 inches. This set the stage for the sensational introduction of the valve-in-head 6-cylinder in 1929, Chevrolet´s "cast iron wonder" or "stove bolt six" as it was colloquially known.
Each year's Chevrolets were identified by a special model name: Universal for 1930, Independence for 1931, Confederate for 1932, Eagle (deluxe) and Mercury (standard) in 1933. Styling developed along the lines of the more expensive GM cars. The Thirties were very good years for Chevrolet despite the prevailing Depression. Chevy production exceeded that of Ford for each year in 1931 to 1934. Output bottomed out at 300,000 units in 1932, rose to 480,000 in 1933, and was back to the 1931 level in 1934. In the 1955 model year Chevrolet introduced the now famous small block engine, probably the most famous and versitle V8 engine ever produced. It came out with 265 cubic inches and was offered in 3 versions. The basic 265 had a 2 bbl. carburator and was rated at 165 H.P. Horsepower was increased to 185 with the addition of a 4 bbl. carburator, and 195 H.P. version, called the "power pack" had a solid lifter cam with dual exaust. This engine became a hit with hot rodders and almost overnite became the engine of choice replacing the flathead Ford engine as the hot rodders preferred motor. In 1955 the 265 cu. in. engine was the smallest V8 engine offered by U.S. automakers, however, no other U.S. car could out perform it. A Chevy equiped with the power pack engine and a 3 speed manual shift transmission would go from 0 to 60 in 8.4 seconds, an astonishing feat for the time. Famous Chevy models include the large and luxurious 1958 Impala and the innovative air cooled rear-engined 1960 Corvair. Chevrolet had a great influence on the American automobile market during the 1950s and 1960s. In 1963, one out of every ten cars sold in the United States was a Chevrolet.
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