Top 5 Chevy People Of All Time: #5 Louis Chevrolet

Louis Chevrolet (December 25, 1878 – June 6, 1941). Photos from www.wikipedia.org

It’s hard to imagine a company that has been in business for over 103-years to have their namesake present for only four of those years, but that is exactly what happened with Louis Chevrolet.

Chevrolet makes it to #5 on our top 5 Chevy people of all time, primarily for his name. William C. Durant chose Louis Chevrolet to help found a new car company, banking on using Chevrolet’s reputation as a racer as the foundation for the new company.

Durant had just been cast out as the CEO of General Motors in 1910 after a failed attempt to secure funding to buy Ford Motor Company. Durant and Chevrolet went into partnership in 1911 after Durant secured a loan of $52,935.25 with a Canadian co-signer, R.S. McLaughlin, the CEO of McLaughlin Car Company of Canada. Chevrolet had a recognizable name as a successful racer/car designer and it helped that his brothers were successful racers as well.

A proud man, Louis Chevrolet was dedicated to having the new Chevrolet cars represent his family name as top of the line vehicles. When Durant wanted an inexpensive car to compete with Ford’s model T, Chevrolet’s difference of opinion caused problems between the two men. Chevrolet sold his shares of the company to Durant, leaving to start another car company with his two brothers.

Louis Chevrolet in a Buick racer in Crown Point, Indiana, during the Cobe Cup Race in 1909.

The Chevrolet brothers founded the Frontenac Motor Corporation, a company that focused on making racing parts for Ford Model Ts with Louis Chevrolet as the front man of the organization. The brothers made an entire line of very popular and successful racecars, often appearing at racetracks with Gaston or Louis behind the wheel.

Frontenac race car before the 1921 Indianapolis 500. Driver Tommy Milton at the wheel, with Barney Oldfield and Louis Chevrolet (in center with black suit and hat).

Fortunes changed for the Chevrolet brothers in 1920 when Gaston Chevrolet was killed when his Frontenac crashed on lap 146 of a 200 lap season ending race. After his brother’s death, Louis Chevrolet began to withdraw from the limelight and racing. He died on June 6, 1941, in Detroit and is buried in Indianapolis, Indiana. His name and legacy live on in the company that he helped found in 1911.