Chevrolet

Chevrolet (IPA: ʃɛv.ro.leː - French origin), (colloquially Chevy) , is a brand of automobile, produced by General Motors (GM). It is the top selling GM marque and the best known brand of GM worldwide, with "Chevrolet" or "Chevy" being at times synonymous for GM. more...

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Chevrolet is GM's largest brand, currently offering 19 vehicles and many different enhanced versions. The brand's vehicles range from subcompact cars to medium duty commercial trucks. Its number one sellers include the Impala, which is the number one selling car with a domestic nameplate in the United States, and the Silverado, the second best-selling pickup truck in the U.S. .

In the North American market in 2005, a huge battle for bragging rights came about with Ford. GM leads all other automakers in Strategic Vision's Total Quality Index (TQI).

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. As head of Buick Motor Company, prior to founding GM, Durant had hired Chevrolet to drive Buicks in promotional races.

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 five-passenger touring sedan equipped with a 299 in³ (4.9 L), six-cylinder engine capable of taking the car to a top speed of 65 miles per hour (104 km/h).

Chevrolet first used its "bowtie" logo in 1913. This logo is said to have been designed from wallpaper Durant once saw in a French hotel. Another theory of the design of the mark is from the Swiss cross, hence one of the originial founders was from there.

In 1916, Chevrolet was profitable enough to allow Durant to buy a majority of shares in GM. After the deal was completed in 1917, Durant was president of General Motors, and Chevrolet was merged into GM, becoming a separate division. In the 1955 model year Chevrolet introduced the small block V8 engine, the most famous and versatile V8 engine ever produced. It came out with 265 cubic inches and was offered in three versions. The basic 265 had a two-barrel carburetor and was rated at 165 H.P. Horsepower was increased to 185 with the addition of a four-barrel carburetor, and an underrated 195 HP version, called the "power pack" had a high lift solid lifter cam, high compression heads, and dual exhaust. This engine became a hit with hot rodders and almost overnight became the engine of choice replacing the flathead Ford engine as the hot rodders preferred motor. In 1955 the 265 cubic inch engine was one of the smallest V8 engines offered by the big three U.S. automakers (see 264 Buick Nailhead, 241 Plymouth non-Hemi and 241 Dodge Hemi; however, it gave similar-sized cars with far more powerful engines--like the 88-series Oldsmobile with its 324 cubic-inch "Rocket" engine 324 Oldsmobile--a run for their money. For example, a Chevy equipped with the power pack engine and a three-speed manual shift transmission can achieve 60 miles per hour from a standstill in 8.4 seconds, an astonishing feat for the time. Because his engine was placed in production only 15 weeks after authorization was given by management, the engineers did not have the necessary time to do the proper dynamometer testing and rate its horsepower prior to release. The untested engine rated at 185 H.P. when released in 1955 but was rated at 205 H.P. in 1956 after dynamometer testing. Because of its exceptional breathing ability a 225 H.P. option was available by adding two four-barrel carbs. The power pack engine for 1956 also had two four-barrel carburetors and was rated at 245 H.P. In 1957 the carburetors were replaced with fuel injectors, the engine displacement was increased to 283 cu. in., and the engine was fitted with heads with larger ports and bigger valves. Rated at 283 H.P., this was the first engine offered by U.S. auto manufactures to produce 1 H.P. per cubic inch. This rating, however, was again incorrect due to delayed production schedules for the Rochester fuel injection unit. After proper dynamometer testing, it was rated at 290 H.P. in 1958. Enthusiasts affectionately called this engine the "fuelie."

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