Chevrolet: Story of a Global Brand - Episode 2
The American Dream
Initially, Chevrolet went to Paris – then the European center of automobile production. In the workshop of Darracq, Louis learnt the basics of the internal combustion engine. Subsequently, he may have also worked for Hotchkiss and Mors. His earnings paid for his trip to Canada where he found employment as a chauffeur and mechanic for a few months. From there, he moved to New York and was employed as a mechanic by a fellow Swiss migrant, William Walter. A short time later, Chevrolet joined the American subsidiary of the famous automobile company, De Dion-Bouton.
In 1902, the De Dion-Bouton subsidiary was shut down and Chevrolet was out of a job. What was clearly a setback in his career proved to be a bonus on a personal level: as a chauffeur for the Treyvoux family he met his future wife, Suzanne. Wedding bells rang in New York in July 1905, and the couple was to be blessed with two sons, Charles born in 1906 and Alfred in 1912.
In 1905, Chevrolet started work with Fiat, but again he did not stay long. A year later he moved to Philadelphia to work for Walter Christie. In the meantime, Louis' fascination with engines had reached yet another dimension – carried away with the notion of speed, he became a racing driver. In the Christie factory he was appointed first assistant in the development of a new race car based on a completely new concept: front-wheel drive.
In the next episode, we will share with you how Louis Chevrolet participated in his first motorized race and how racing impacted his life....stay tuned.
