Chevrolet

Chevrolet, or Chevy for short, is a brand of automobile, now a division of General Motors. It is one of the most popular GM marques. For 2005, Chevrolet outsold its main domestic rival, Ford, for the first time in 19 years, making it once again the top-selling marque in the United States.

History

Chevrolet was co-founded by Louis Chevrolet and William C. Durant. Louis Chevrolet was a racecar driver, born on December 25, 1878, in La Chaux de Fonds, Switzerland. William Durant, founder of General Motors, had been forced out of GM in 1910 and wanted to use Louis Chevrolet's designs to rebuild his own reputation as a force in the automobile industry.

On November 3, 1911, Chevrolet entered the automobile market to compete with the Ford Model T. A year later, the "Classic Six" was introduced. The Classic Six was a 5-passenger touring sedan equipped with a 299 in3 (4.9L), 6-cylinder engine capable of taking the car to a top speed of 15 miles per hour (25 km/h.)