Media Europe

25.12.1878

Louis Chevrolet is born in the Swiss town La Chaux-de-Fonds in the Jura mountains, the son of a watchmaker, Joseph Félicien, and Marie Anne Angeline Chevrolet. He spends his early childhood in the Jura villages of Bonfol and Beurnevésin. Louis Chevrolet is one of seven children.

1887/88

At the end of 1887, the family moves to the French town of Beaune (near Dijon). As a youngster, Louis takes a job at the workshop of the Roblin haulage company. He also competes in local cycle races – very successfully.

1898/99

Towards the end of 1898, Louis leaves his parents' home in Beaune and moves to Paris. There, he works as a car mechanic and begins saving to fulfill his big ambition: to go to the USA, the land of his dreams.

1900

Louis leaves the old continent for the West. He arrives by boat in Canada and begins working as a chauffeur in Montreal, a job that at that time also required the skills of a car mechanic. With his savings, Louis is finally able to travel to the USA. His first employer in New York is a Swiss emigrant, William Walter, who has an engineering workshop there.

1901

Louis moves to the American offshoot of the famous car manufacturer, De Dion-Bouton, also in New York.

1902

His father Joseph dies; his mother, brothers and sisters move to the USA.

1905

Louis joins Fiat in New York. He makes the headlines with his first car race, the "Three Miles". He wins the race and sets a new world record for one mile: 52.8 sec, an average speed of 109.7 km/h.

On July 3, 1905, Louis marries Suzanne Treyroux at the "Saint-Vincent-de-Paul" church in New York. The couple have two sons:

             - Charles on August 23, 1906
             - Alfred on April 25, 1912

1906

Louis leaves Fiat and moves to Philadelphia to join Walter Christie. There he is made first assistant for the development of a new racing car with a completely new concept, namely front-wheel drive. The vehicle has a Darracq V8 engine and becomes known as the "Big Bear". It reaches 191.5 km/h (world record).

Louis' racing career lasts from 1905 to 1920. During this time, he also drives for Buick and gets to know William Durant, the later founder of General Motors.

3.11. 1911

William Durant and Louis Chevrolet found the "Chevrolet Motor Car Company" headquartered in Detroit. Louis Chevrolet becomes president of the company. The first Chevrolet vehicle is the Classic Six.

1914

Durant and Chevrolet argue over the future direction of the company. Louis leaves the firm but has to leave his name behind. Shortly afterwards, he founds the "Frontenac Motor Corporation" and drives races again.

1915

While designing his own Frontenac racing cars, he also works on a small racing car for the "Blood Brothers Machine Co." He drives the Cornelian single seater to qualify for the Indianapolis 500, but is unsuccessful.

After this, Louis again concentrates solely on building the Frontenac. This is where Louis shows his enormous technical skills. Wherever possible he uses only aluminum parts and is already working with a locking differential on the rear axle.

1916

Louis takes a job at "American Motors Co", where he is responsible for vehicle tuning and final control.

1919

Louis still has four of his Frontenac racing cars, driven by him, his brother Gaston, Ralph Mulford and Joe Foyer.

1920

The brothers compete in many races until Gaston Chevrolet is killed on November 25, 1920. Louis is deeply shocked and says good-bye to motor racing. The same year, he is in contact with Allan A. Ryan and the people from "Stutz Motorcar Co", who want to build the Frontenac in large numbers. Van Ranst works with Louis on this project.

1921

At the end of the year, the first Frontenac prototype leaves the factory.

1922

1,500 workers build the Frontenac in a new plant. The car and engine boast a number of technical innovations and the car becomes a showpiece for the motor industry. It is the last vehicle to be designed by Louis Chevrolet.

1926

Louis begins designing a light aircraft engine, the Chevrolet 333.

1927

Louis Chevrolet splits with his brother Arthur after a dispute and sets up the "Chevrolet Air Car Company" in Indianapolis. In 1929 he moves to Baltimore and cooperates with Glenn L. Martin, a Ford supplier. With him, Louis founds the "Chevrolet Aircraft Corporation", but they have to dissolve it again during the economic crisis.

1932

Louis applies for a patent for a 10-cylinder radial aircraft engine, but the patent is not granted until three years later.

1933

Times are hard. Louis Chevrolet returns with his family to Detroit, where he works as a simple mechanic at the "Chevrolet Motor Division" of General Motors. By this time, more than 8 million vehicles have left the factory halls bearing his name.

1934

The 56-year old Louis becomes seriously ill and suffers a stroke, from which he never really recovers. The same year, he also has to cope with the death of his 27-year old son, Charles.

1935

On February 19, 1935, Louis is awarded the patent for his 10-cylinder radial engine. But it is too late to build up anything else.

6. 6. 1941

The car pioneer dies at the age of 63 at his home in Lakewood to the east of Detroit.