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Its Impalas dropped us off at school. Its pickup trucks hauled our produce on the farm. Its Corvette sustained our sports car fantasies through the boredom of high school algebra class. Earlier than almost any other automotive brand, Chevy created a palette of vehicles that ranged from the small and thrifty to the sleek and sporty to the large and smartly trimmed.

Once the model line expanded beyond the limited body selections of its first half-century, there was a Chevy for almost everyone. The brand's broad appeal resulted in a place atop the sales charts starting in the 1930s and continuing nearly uncontested for decades. By the mid-1960s Chevrolet sold nearly three million cars and light-duty trucks a year.

But there's more to the story than commercial success. Although it occupied the first rung of Alfred P. Sloan's General Motors hierarchy, a ladder on which customers would move up to more expensive brands as they gained affluence, Chevy developed a following of fans whose devotion lasted a lifetime. After decades of decline, Chevrolet has lately had a resurgence with its Cruze and Malibu sedans, the reinvented Camaro and the Volt, the first mass-produced plug-in hybrid.

The full Chevrolet story has filled volumes. Here are some highlights of the 100-year journey.

EARLY DAYS

IN a fateful twist of Chevrolet history, the man who lent his name to the automaker is largely forgotten.

Louis Chevrolet was the Mario Andretti of his day. He barnstormed the country, consistently beating the likes of Barney Oldfield. He escaped horrible crashes that claimed the lives of lesser and unluckier drivers, and won the admiration of those considering the purchase of a newfangled horseless carriage.

The Swiss-born Chevrolet was flamboyant, swashbuckling, outspoken and charismatic. He had a bushy mustache, a foppish grin and he chain-smoked smelly yellow French cigarettes.

In 1909, Chevrolet was hired to drive for the Buick racing team. Of course, the entrepreneurial William C. Durant, who founded General Motors, wanted to find a way to leverage Chevrolet's name to his advantage. At first it was enough that the driver's prowess in racing Buicks to victory helped to put that company on its way to sales success.

But Durant, who lost control of G.M. in 1910 after a failed bid to buy Ford, saw a bigger opportunity for Louis Chevrolet than merely selling Buicks. So after acquiring the Little automobile company, Durant sought out the race driver to start yet another auto brand. Louis agreed, and on Nov. 3, 1911, Chevrolet's formation was announced; Louis designed and engineered the large, powerful 6-cylinder automobile that bore his name.

"It was a marvelous machine -- the Model C, as it was called," said Jay Leno, a collector and admirer of Chevrolets. "It was one of the finest and fastest automobiles of the day. It just didn't sell well. It was too expensive."

Pressured by Durant to come up with a lower-price automobile to compete with the Ford Model T, Louis said he did not want his name associated with a cheaper car. By 1914, Louis offered to sell his stock in the company, and Durant readily agreed.

After Louis moved on, Durant began rebadging the smaller, inexpensive Littles as Chevrolets, and they found willling buyers. By 1916, Chevrolet had generated enough profits for Durant to buy back control of G.M., into which he merged Chevrolet.

With the 1918 introduction of the Model D, powered by an 8-cylinder engine, Chevrolet sought to further increase its sales and market share and challenge Ford. But the low-cost 4-cylinder models continued as the big sellers. In 1927, when Ford's River Rouge plant was shut for a time, Chevrolet briefly took the industry's sales lead.

For its 1929 models, Chevrolet made a huge gamble. While other carmakers were promoting the use of lightweight aluminum, 8-cylinder motors and the advantage of large displacement, Chevrolet seemingly backtracked, introducing a cast-iron 6-cylinder. As the economy slumped, the engine's once-derisive nickname -- the Stovebolt Six -- was transformed into a selling point: "A Six for the Price of a Four."

And what of Louis Chevrolet? He went on to form two more automobile companies, Cornelian and Frontenac, which made the car in which his brother Gaston won the 1920 Indianapolis 500. After Gaston died in a racing accident, Louis left the auto industry and began designing aircraft engines with his brother Arthur; his "Chevrolair 333" and a brief association with an aviation pioneer, Glenn L. Martin, formed the basis for Martin Marietta (now Lockheed Martin).

But Chevrolet, despite his engineering and mechanical genius, never lasted long in any partnership. He died in Detroit, virtually penniless and largely unremembered, on June 6, 1941. He was 62.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11296/1184374-185-0.stm#ixzz1ba2Id0bQ

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