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Chevrolet History


1909 With the help of a well known race car driver - Louis Chevrolet, William Durant came up with the introduction car design for the public
1911 Chevrolet Motor Company of Michigan is incorporated in November of 1911 by Louis Chevrolet, William Little and Edwin Cambell, William Durant's son-in-law. Headquarters are in Detroit.
1912 Chevrolet launched its "Classic Six" - a large 5-passenger touring sedan that could reach the top speed of 65 miles per hour
1914 The Chevrolet "bowtie" logo appears for the first time
1915 Chevrolet, the "490" was introduced to challenge Ford Model T
1918 First Chevrolet truck sold. General Motors buys the operating assets of Chevrolet Motor Company in May.
1921 GM decides to proceed with commercial application of Kettering’s "copper-cooled" engine, intended to replace the traditional piston engine. The initial target is to put the copper-cooled engine in all of Chevrolet Division’s cars. The program is officially ended in 1923, with a total of fewer than 800 copper-cooled engines ever being produced and only 300 sold to dealers, all of which are recalled by GM.
1923 GM’s first European assembly plant is established in Copenhagen under the name General Motors International A/S. It is to build Chevrolets for sale in Scandinavian countries, the Baltics, and Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary and Russia. The first GM vehicle assembled outside the U.S. and Canada, a Chevrolet utility truck, comes off the Copenhagen assembly line on January 7, 1924.
1924 Chevy offered first radio option. William S. Knudsen becomes president of Chevrolet and joins the GM Board of Directors.
1927 Chevrolet outsold Ford by topping 1 million units for the first time
1929 Chevrolet introduces its new six-cylinder engine for use in commercial vehicles. This engine is nicknamed "the cast iron wonder" for its remarkable durability.
1930 Chevy produced its 7-millionth vehicle. First in the industry to introduce articulated brake shoes
1934 First in the industry to introduce independent front suspension
1935 Chevrolet introduces the Suburban Carryall, a 1/2-ton truck with seating capacity for eight.
1941 Chevrolet built a record 1.6 million cars and trucks in that year
1942 Chevrolet stopped production for civilian for the next four years. Concentrated on wartime equipment
1948 Chevrolet won the La Caracas - the 6,000 miles race
1949 Introduction of the two new "Post war" contrasting styles - the "Fastback" and the "Bustleback"
1950 Introduction of Powerglide - the first automatic transmission in the low-price field
1953 The Chevrolet Corvette is introduced at the 1953 Motorama. It is the first volume production sports car and the first production car with a plastic body to be produced in quantity.
1954 Power brakes, seats and windows offered for the first time.
1955 The legendary Chevy V8 was introduced. The break through in the new look of the American automobile
1957 Ramjet Fuel Injection introduced. Introduction of the most prized collector cars ever - the 1957 Bel Air
1958 Chevrolet introduced Impala to complete with Cadillac. Instant success with the American public
1959 Chevrolet cars are completely restyled for the second year in a row. Chevrolet introduces the El Camino, designed to combine big car comfort with the utility of a pickup truck, as a 1959 model. Chevrolet introduces the Corvair.
1960 Launch of Corvair, the first American production car with all-around independent suspension
1961 Debut of Impala SS and the completely restyled of full-size Chevrolet
1962 Introduction of compact Chevy II Nova to the public
1963 Introduction of the all new Corvette Sting Ray. The new Vette sported a modern chassis with independent suspension
1964 Mid-size Malibu series offers sedan, hardtop, wagon and convertible models.
1965 Launch of mid-size Malibu series ranging from sedan, hardtop, wagon and convertible models
1966 Debut of luxurious Caprice model. Chevrolet is first to build more than 3 million cars and trucks in a single yeat
1967 Chevrolet unveiled Camaro. It proved an instance success and contributed 10% of the Chevrolet 1967 Sales
1968 The "New Generation of Cars", the Camaro SS was launched
1969 Four-wheel-drive Blazer sport utility vehicle introduced
1971 Chevrolet set a new industry yearly sales record, selling over three million vehicles
1972 Most popular full-size car in automotive history, the Impala number 10 million was sold. Introduction of "light utility vehicles"
1973 All-new Monte Carlo won Motor Trend's "Car of the Year" award
1974 "Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet." This advertising campaign reflects Chevrolet's unique position as an American favorite
1975 Chevrolet introduces the Chevette in October. This U.S.-built T-car was first designed by Opel and is also manufactured by GM subsidiaries in Argentina, Brazil and England and sold under the names Kadett, Chevette, Gemini and K-180.
1977 Full-size Caprice was "downsized" and became the American favorite car
1979 The 100-millionth Chevrolet is built (1979 Monza)
1980 The first front-wheel-drive, Citation, was introduced
1982 Redesign of Camaro. Voted "Car of the Year" by Motor Trend Magazine.
1984 The 1984 Chevrolet Corvette is introduced, with the car’s first major styling change in 15 years.
1985 The mid-sized Astro Van was introduced.
1989 Chevrolet introduces its Geo line of small vehicles with Geo Metro, Spectrum and Tracker.
1990 Corvette shatters three world records for speed and endurance
1991 Introduction of new Caprice Classic LTZ named Motor Trend's "Car of the Year"
1992 GM celebrates production of the 1-millionth Corvette and Camaro celebrates its 25th anniversary.
1993 Toyota and GM sign an unprecedented supply and sales agreement under which GM will build right-hand drive Chevrolet Cavaliers in the U.S. Toyota will purchase these models from GM and sell them in Japan.
1994 "Genuine Chevrolet" embodies the commitment to delivering automobile ownership experience every driver deserves
1995 The redesigned Blazer earns Motor Trend's "Truck of the Year" award Chevrolet becomes the first company ever to win Motor Trend's "Truck of the Year" award in two consecutive years
1996 Chevy re-introduces the classic Malibu nameplate
1997 The fifth-generation Corvette was born and will carry the Corvette legend into the next millennium
1998 Geo Prizm brand become the newest additions to the Chevrolet family The all-new 1999 Silverado Pickup is introduced, winning Motor Trend's 1999 "Truck of the Year" award
1999 North American Detroit International Auto Show, Chevrolet launches the All-New Chevy Tracker
2001 The Chevrolet Cruze is launched in Japan. Developed by GM and its alliance partner Suzuki, the Cruze is the first GM vehicle to be built in Japan since the 1930s.
2002 The Corvette celebrates its 50th anniversary, while the Camaro ends its 35 year production run.
2003 GM announces that the 2005 model year GMC Envoy XL, Envoy XUV and Chevrolet trailblazer EXT will be the first vehicles to showcase its innovative Displacement on Demand fuel-saving technology, which enhances fuel economy without compromising performance or the ability to carry heavy loads. Displacement on Demand is to be a standard feature in the vehicles' optional Vortec 5300 V-8 engine. The technology, which boosts the Vortec engine's fuel efficiency by 8 percent, is also to be introduced in other GM engines in the 2006 model year.


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