Louis Chevrolet Biography

Louis Joseph Chevrolet was a Swiss-American car racer who designed the first Chevrolet automobile and also founded the ‘Frontenac Motor Corporation’. He learned the basics of mechanics from his father, a watchmaker, and as a teenager used to build, repair, and race bicycles. He was a strong teenager and became a champion bicycle racer after he tailored bicycle gear ratios to take advantage of his strength. His passion for the automobile found him eagerly apprenticed to several carmakers. Working for a prestigious automobile company, he was hired as a driver of the Fiat auto racing team, and after several victories became a celebrity. He rose to fame as a daring automobile racer who displayed little concern for his own safety when the outcome of a race was in doubt. His driving skills attracted the attention of the auto executive, William Durant, and the two men combined their talents to form the Chevrolet Motor Company. With little formal education and a vast knowledge about automobiles, he designed a stylish six-cylinder touring car, which proved that his design abilities matched his racing skills. After professional differences with Durant, he left the company and became a successful independent designer of racecars. Although automobiles were his enduring passion, he also enjoyed speedboat racing, trapshooting and golf. He was a motor racing legend whose accomplishments left a huge impression on the American automotive industry.