Chevrolet had Ford and their remarkable sales figures in sight, building cars for the common man, and by the late 1920s Chevy was the number one selling car in America.
This article is in no way a complete history of the brand, but rather a collection of interesting facts and products that appear behind the legendary Bowtie emblem.
One of the famous tag lines is “The Heartbeat of America,” yet the Chevrolet name and brand is sold in 21 countries. Other famous tag lines include “See the USA in your Chevrolet,” and “Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie & Chevrolet.”
Chevy is also mentioned or the subject of no fewer that 24 hit songs, going back to Dinah Shore’s “See the USA in Your Chevrolet.”
The Beach Boys sang about them in “Shut Down” and “409.” and the chorus of Don MacLean’s “American Pie” has all of us driving “our Chevy to the levee.”
Regarding longevity, in addition to being 100 years old, Chevrolet has a couple of other distinctions to brag about. In 1935, they mated a station wagon body to a small truck chassis, effectively inventing the SUV. It was named the Suburban Carryall, and today’s Chevy Suburban is the longest running, continuously manufactured nameplate in the auto industry.
Twenty years after the Suburban was launched, Chevrolet hit what might be the ultimate horsepower home run. The small block V8 was introduced in the 1955 Chevy BelAir, and the basic design is still being used today. The longest actively produced V8 in the world, Chevrolet expects to build the 100 millionth engine sometime this year.
The engine is so popular, it has also been installed in other makes, bearing the names Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, and Hummer to name a few.
The V8 also brought about many racing successes for Chevy. The marque has won more NACSAR races and more NASCAR Manufacturer’s titles than any other car make.
The big block engines have found success on the drag strips and open wheel venues, but one name that rings of Chevrolet racing everywhere is the legendary Dale Earnhardt. He was behind the wheel of a Chevy when he won the first of his 76 NASCAR races, and seven championships and in his final year of racing, he also drove a Corvette in the 24 hours of Daytona. Once behind the wheel of a Chevy, like millions of others, he never looked back.
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