All About the Chevy

History

Chevy is a name known in America since the early 1900s. When racecar driver Louis Chevrolet got into the automobile industry in 1911, he had a mission to offer some competition to the recently released Ford Model T in 1908. Chevrolet’s business partner, William Durant, was a recently fired employee and founder of General Motors. He wanted to get back part of his involvement with GM, this time through purchasing stock. His purpose to helping out Chevrolet was to make enough money to buy GM stock.

After Chevy introduced the Classic Six, a touring 6 passenger truck to compete with the Model T, Durant had enough money to buy some shares of the GM stock. By 1916, he bought enough shares of GM and became the president of GM once again, therefore merging Chevrolet and GM.

Chevy progressed to producing quality trucks, with milestones such as the 1929 six cylinder engine truck and the 1935 release of the 8 passenger Chevy Suburban. Then in 1953, the sports car favorite, the Corvette, was introduced.

Chevy’s success started crossing the borders into Asia, Europe, Latin America, and many other worldly countries.

Chevy Trucks

The Chevy truck is well known. The trucks have evolved immensely over the years. A top quality American truck is still what Chevy buyers enjoy. Several models have been in production. The Chevy pickup, Chevy S10 is one of the most popular trucks in America.

The Corvette

With the release of the Chevy Corvette in 1953, Chevys fit in well with the car racing fad of the 1950s. With the first ever fiberglass body, the Corvette was the lightest and strongest in its class. In major competition with European racing cars, Chevy was out to break new records in the world racing circuit. In 1957, the “Vette” is ranked the fastest production car in the world. But this still couldn’t top out some of the finest custom cars from Europe. Finally, in 1963, the Corvette Stingray was released. Its light weight body and V8 engine that shot a 5.6 second 0-60 mph finally outdid the European cars at the tracks. The Corvette is still a substantial car in the realm of all American sport cars. And it’s still competing with Europe for the fastest cars in its class!

Muscle Cars

The muscle car era continued to give Chevy its attention with bigger engines, racing designs, and more models. The Chevelle, Camaro, and Firebird were other significant cars Chevy released. Some of these cars have been around for decades, with the general look changing every few years.

The Camaro was taken out of production in 2002 due to lack of sales and popularity. It may be making a comeback.

The Chevelle, released in 1964, ended production in 1977 and proved to be one of Chevy and GM’s most successful cars. This was because of its wide variety of models, from convertibles to hardtops to economical and efficient models.

Campaigns

“Like a Rock”: Many hear this phrase and immediately think of Chevrolet. This 14 year old ad campaign, started in 1991, was the life of Chevy during the 90s.

In 2004, “An American Revolution” slogan launched its campaign to produce 10 new models in 20 months. With the “E” of Revolution highlighted in three red stripes, some believe the emphasized E refers to three stripes in an American flag, a reference to an American Revolution. Others think it could mean the Revolution equals Evolution, meaning the new evolution of Chevy. This new campaign was started in an effort to boost the company's revenue and get rid of some debt.

The Chevy Girl

Ever since the 1960s with big powerful muscle cars and huge gas guzzling cars and trucks, working under the hood is somewhat of a favorite American pastime. Of course, the other image of a bunch of guys working on cars in a garage is their conversation. There’s not a more perfect place to drink beer and talk about cars, sports, and women. Therefore, the Chevy girl is a persona that developed from the garage, moving to major car racing events, portraying women as car mechanics in skimpy clothing.

Under the Hood

Chevy engines are built tough. With the slogan “Like a Rock,” Chevy better try to live up their promise. Sure enough, they have had a fairly good reputation over the years. Chevy’s mechanical designs and strong materials have enabled cars from the Classic Six to the new aluminum block Corvette to be major competitors in the automobile industry.

Chevrolet, sometimes referred to as the “ bowie” because of its logo, will always be a part of American history, and increasingly world history.