Chevrolet Bel Air 235 Limousine

Make description

In 1911, Swiss race car driver and automotive engineer Louis-Joseph ’’Louis’’ Chevrolet (1878-1941)  co-founded the Chevrolet Motor Company in Detroit with GM founder, William Crapo ’’Billy’’ Durant (1861 -1947) and investment partners William Little (maker of the Little Automobile (1912-1915)) and Dr. Edwin R. Campbell (son-in-law of Durant) and in 1912 with Robert Samuel McLaughlin (1871-1972), who was influential Canadian businessman and CEO of General Motors in Canada. As head of Buick Motor Company, William Crapo ’’Billy’’ Durant had hired Louis Chevrolet to drive Buicks in promotional races. Durant planned to use Chevrolet's reputation as a racer as the foundation for his new automobile company. Design of logo was a stylized Swiss cross, in tribute to the homeland of Chevrolet's parents. Louis Chevrolet had differences with Durant over design and in 1914 sold Durant his share in the company. By 1916, Chevrolet was profitable enough with successful sales of the cheaper Series 490 to allow Durant to repurchase a controlling interest in General Motors. After the deal was completed in 1917, Durant became president of General Motors, and Chevrolet was merged into GM as a separate division. Founded in 1919, GMC Truck (General Motors Truck Company), was producing commercial grade trucks, which were rebranded as Chevrolet, and were using the same chassis of Chevrolet passenger cars and building light-duty trucks. GMC commercial grade trucks were also rebranded as Chevrolet commercial grade trucks, sharing an almost identical appearance with GMC products. Chevrolet continued into the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s competing with Ford, and after the Chrysler Corporation formed Plymouth in 1928, Plymouth, Ford, and Chevrolet were known as the "Low-priced three". 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. During the 1960s and early 1970s, the standard Chevrolet, particularly the deluxe Impala series, became one of America's best selling lines of automobiles in history. Depending on the vehicle type, Chevrolet V8 engines are built in displacements from 4.3 to 9.4 litres, with outputs ranging from 113 PS to 1 007 PS as installed at the factory. The engine design has also been used over the years in GM products, built and sold under the Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, Hummer, Opel (Germany), and Holden (Australia) nameplate.