Louis Chevrolet: A Racer with a Dream | Chevrolet Dealership

Louis-Joseph Chevrolet, the co-founder of the Chevrolet Motor Car Company, was an American race car driver who competed in the Indie 500 four times.

At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum, there is a memorial with a bronze bust of Chevrolet to honor his contributions to the automotive world.

He was not only responsible for the start of Chevy, one of the most successful vehicle makers in history, but he also created several other companies that were involved in car production and racing.

Here’s a little bit of backstory behind the man who set the scene for so many important cars to come. Without his ambition, you wouldn’t see iconic models like the Camaro or Corvette at your local Chevrolet dealership today.

The Early Years

Louis Chevrolet was born in Switzerland on Christmas day in 1878. He lived in France during his youth and learned to work on bicycles; that was the start of his love of racing.

As a young man, he moved to Canada and became a mechanic, and then made his way to New York. It was there that he met his wife and married in 1905.

That was a big year for him in multiple ways. He was also picked up by FIAT as a race car driver. And he started working for a different company that wanted to develop a front-wheel-drive race car.

He also drove for Buick during those years. And it was through his connections there that he met William Durant, the man who would be his partner in the founding of Chevy.

Throughout Chevrolet’s experiences, he learned more and more about cars and began working on his own designs.

Setting Out on His Own

In 1911, he, Durant, and their investors created the Chevrolet Motor Car Company in Detroit, and they began planning their first model.

But Chevrolet and Durant couldn’t agree on the design, and by 1915, Chevrolet sold his share in the company and moved on. He started his own business called McLaughlin’s and began building Chevys in Canada.

As fate would have it, through several stock trades and purchases, all of the companies were later rolled into one large entity, General Motors.

Building and Racing

In 1916, Chevrolet founded the Frontenac Motor Corporation which produced racing parts for Ford Model T’s.

And in the same year, he was also responsible for the start of the American Motors Corporation, acting as the chief engineer. However, it later merged several times over, and did not become a long lasting business.

Meanwhile, Chevrolet continued to race feverishly, and his two brothers joined him. They designed and built cars together under the Frontenac name, and they all drove professionally.

His brother, Gaston, even went on to win the Indie 500 in one of their Frontenacs in 1920. Sadly, Gaston died from injuries he sustained during a crash that involved Louis and another driver.

Chevrolet was so devastated by the loss that he decided to never race again, though he continued to be an engineer and a lover of cars his whole life.

He passed away in 1941 at the age of 62, leaving behind an incredible legacy of passion and innovation.

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