Chevrolet Through the Decades – Cincinnati, OH

The first few years

In 1911, Louis Chevrolet, who Chevy is named after, was a race car driver who teamed up with William C Durant, the founder of GM. In 1910 Durant lost control of General Motors so he turned to Louis Chevrolet for help. Together they founded Chevrolet Motor Co., one of the four automotive brands to withstand the test of time out of the 270 total brands available in the early 1900s. That very next year, in 1912, Chevy released a luxury, six-cylinder vehicle. It was called the Series C Classic Six and could be bought for around $2,150 with exceptional performance.

Oddly enough, in 1913 Louis Chevrolet left Chevy and he no longer had the rights to the company that was named after him. This left William Durant to design the classic bow-tie emblem, first seen in an advertisement in this year. In 1914, the Chevy bow-tie emblem was embossed and available in the Royal Mail Roadster.

1915 gave everyone a look at the model being released in the next year, the Chevy Series 490. It was appropriately priced at $490 to keep up with competitors of that time. In 1916, Durant bought enough GM stock to become the head of GM once more when the Series 490 was released.

Chevy remained on the down low through 1917, but the brand’s first truck was introduced to the automotive market in 1918. It was based on the Series 490 and sold as a chassis only with a mere 36 horsepower. The same year, Chevy joined GM thanks to William Durant.

Roarin’ Twenties

Chevy had a few quiet years until 1924, when the first international plant opened in Copenhagen, Denmark. Selling over one million vehicles, Chevy took the top place, surpassing Ford in American automotive sales in 1927.

There were only four-cylinder engines available in 1929, until Chevy debuted, “The Chevrolet Six.” What brought many people in, was that it was priced just about the same as the other four-cylinder options sold by competitors.

Turbulent Thirties

An independent front suspension was introduced in 1934 for the 1935 Master Series model, referred to as, “knee action.” 1935 also brought about the original SUV, called the Suburban Carryall. At this point in time, the Great Depression had its grasp on America. Even with 10,610,000 people unemployed (nearly 20% of the United States population) the Suburban became a popular vehicle and is now the longest running nameplate in automotive history.

Flying Forties

The Great Depression came to an end and World War II was raging. This was a major decade of change for the world as it introduced atomic weapons, the modern ballpoint pen, the first microwave, and even the first computer; Chevy was no exception to this era of technological advancement. Chevy was a major player in World War II, producing military vehicles instead of civilian vehicles starting in 1942. It wasn’t until 1945 that Chevy began to produce civilian vehicles again after World War II had come to a close.

In 1947, for the first time since before World War II, Chevy introduced a line of pickup trucks known as “Advance Design.” This was major foreshadowing for what was to come later on with the Chevy SSR in the early 2000s.

Fabulous Fifties

The 1950s was an incredible decade for Chevy. The brand became the first to be able to provide a low-priced automatic transmission for American cars, due to the debut of the Powerglide transmission.

1953 brought about the well-known Corvette, which was the first vehicle with a fiberglass body to be regularly produced.

In 1954, GM hit a major milestone, producing its 50 millionth car which was a gold colored Chevrolet Bel-Air to be released to the public in 1955. The same year as the release, Chevy incorporated the well-known small-block V8 for the 1955 Chevrolet. Another reason that this was such a successful year for Chevy, is that the Cameo Carrier had its debut.

Many people will remember, “See the U.S.A. in your Chevrolet,” as the song which closed the first television show hosted by a woman, Dinah Shore, in 1956. While there were plenty of controversies around this, it is undeniably a major step in the right direction in human history.

Chevy offered four-wheel drive for trucks for the very first time in 1957, though that wasn’t even the highlight of the year. Fuel injection became a feature available on some models, which hadn’t been done in the past to an American vehicle. The next year slowed down a bit, but still notably, the Impala debuted.

Finishing off the Fabulous Fifties, 1959 gave Sum 41 something to sing about in their song ‘Fat Lip’, the El-Camino. It made its debut as a full-size Chevy sedan chassis. Also in this year, we got a look at the Corvair, known for its unique build.

Swingin’ Sixties

The ever popular Beach Boys recorded the song ‘409’ in 1962 showing their love for the 409 cubic inch V8 engine. If you’re not into cars, you may remember it as the song in some well known cleaning advertisements. Either way, it was a jam, and the lyrics make sure you know that nothing can touch that 409.

The split rear-window design starts and ends in 1963 with the Corvette Stingray. It remains one of the most sought after models for Chevy collectors.

In 1964, the Chevelle is the happy medium car for those who enjoyed practicality. This is an example of yet another model that a band has paid homage to. The year 1967 introduced one of Chevy’s most iconic cars, the Camaro.

Disco Era

The 1970s was an interesting decade, to say the least. We get the Chevelle SS, with 450 horsepower which was incredible at the time, and known as the greatest of its kind by many gearheads. This same year, we see the Monte Carlo which has an unnecessarily long hood, marking its place in Chevy history at six feet.

The Chevy advertisement that became famous in 1975 was known as, “Baseball, Hot Dogs, and Apple Pie.” Four years later in 1979, Chevy built the Monza, marking another huge milestone as the 100 millionth Chevy.

Decade of Decadence

With the 1980s the world met Pac-Man, lost John Lennon, watched E.T., and witnessed the horrific Chernobyl nuclear meltdown. For Chevy, the C4 Corvette debuted by 1983, though later than originally anticipated. Production was delayed, so it wasn’t until 1984 that Chevy released the C4 Corvette.

Another Chevy advertisement became famous, known as, “The Heartbeat of America,” in 1986. Two years later, bringing us to 1988, the full-size Chevy pickup trucks became available with an extended cab body.

During the 1990s, the Spacecraft Pathfinder landed on Mars, the Furby was created and banned from the Pentagon, and the first Harry Potter book was published. Chevy created more advertisements, and songs surrounded the popular Chevy brand. In 1991, Bob Seger’s song, “Like a Rock” was released. In 1992, the Corvette made headlines as its 1,000,000th vehicle was built; its first was produced in 1953.

2000s to Present

The 2000s don’t have any true distinct names, though the internet gives this era plenty. Though this era has its own craziness, Chevy took advantage of the advancements made with technology. While iPods, cell phones, and portable gaming devices not only came into existence, Chevy found ways to integrate all advancements into their vehicles.

In 2009, the ZR1 was produced as one of the most impressive supercars to date. It has a horsepower of 638, which is the fastest when it comes to the history of GM. 2010 allowed for the Chevy Camaro to get a reboot after being discontinued for the last eight years. It was always in close competition with the Mustang and became the more successful model of the two.

Electric cars are becoming increasingly prominent as we move further into the twenty-first century, and in 2011, Chevy introduced the Volt. It was the same year that Chevy celebrated an entire century of success.

With many more birthdays to come, Chevy will continue to surprise us with innovative advancements as we learn more about science and technology.