Lewis Nissan history

In 1900, at the age of 21, Chevrolet left Switzerland moved to Canada, then New York.

On May 20, 1905, his passion for racing and performance led him to win his first road race on a cinder track in Morris Park, New York.

Although the venture never panned out, Chevrolet did race Christie's front-wheel-drive car at Ormond Beach, Florida in 1906.

The Flint, Michigan-based automaker signed Chevrolet up to drive for his Buick racing team in 1909.

When the irrepressible Durant was ousted from GM in the midst of a 1910 financial crisis, he set out to re-enter the auto industry without missing a beat.

Chevrolet wanted his cars to be the most impressive on the road and wanted them only to be built for the rich, which led to his resignation in October 1913.

When the two headstrong founders of the company, William Durant and Louis Chevrolet, met to discuss the positioning of their Chevrolet car lines for 1914, an argument developed.

By 1915, he'd fully disposed of his financial holdings in the Chevrolet Motor Car Co.

By 1917, he had built a new, advanced race car.

He returned for the 1919 Indianapolis 500 with brother Gaston, campaigning in cars from their own company, Frontenac Motors Corp.

In 1920, Gaston won the Indy 500 in a Monroe-Frontenac, becoming the first winning driver to finish the race on one set of tires.

Racing was suspended for a few years during World War I, and then the Frontenac was back up and running again until 1921, when the Chevrolet Brothers retired from racing

Louis Chevrolet with Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic in 1932

In 1933, Louis received a patent for his innovative aircraft engine design, but it was of necessity assigned to a financier of his defunct company—who would go on to produce the engine.

Chevrolet was elected to automobile racing Hall of Fame in 1952.