Louis Chevrolet

Louis Chevrolet ( born December 25, 1878 in La Chaux -de-Fonds, Canton of Neuchâtel; † 6 June 1941 in Detroit, Michigan) was a Swiss and 1915 American race car driver and the founder of the Chevrolet Motor Car Company, which today to General Motors Corporation is one.

Activity

1886 left his family to Switzerland to live in Beaune, in Burgundy. It was at this time that Louis was a young man, his interest in racing. He worked for a time as a mechanic before he emigrated in 1900 to Montreal in Canada. The following year he went to New York, where he was hired by Fiat.

When he was working in 1909 for the Buick Motor Company, he learned a lot about car design and started to develop its own engine for a new car. Shortly thereafter, he became a partner of William Durant and founded the Chevrolet Motor Car Company in Detroit. 1915 Chevrolet had differences with Durant because of the construction of this and sold his share. A year later, the company was merged with General Motors.

Louis was the older brother of Gaston Chevrolet (1892-1920), of the Indianapolis in a car called Frontenac won 1920 500 mile race, which they had constructed. Even Louis contested four races, with a 7th place as the best result.

Louis Chevrolet was buried in Indianapolis. He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1992.