Louis Chevrolet's Name Is on Millions of Cars. He Ended Up Poor

Louis Chevrolet's name is on millions of cars, yet in the 1930s he walked into a Detroit car plant as a mechanic, working for a wage like everyone else on the line. This is the true story of the Swiss racing driver who gave Chevrolet its name, walked away from it, and never got rich from it. It begins with a watchmaker's son in Switzerland, a poor family in the French wine town of Beaune, and a young man who crossed the Atlantic with little more than his hands and his nerve. In America he became one of the fastest racing drivers of his time, beat the famous Barney Oldfield, and caught the eye of William Durant, the man who had built General Motors and lost it. Together they started Chevrolet in 1911. Then came an argument about cheap cars, a cigar, and a line Louis would be remembered for. He sold his shares, built winning Indianapolis race cars with his brothers, lost his youngest brother Gaston on a board track in 1920, and lost almost everything else in the crash of 1929. A Louis Chevrolet documentary about pride, loss and the man behind the most famous bowtie in the world. Chapters 00:00 An old mechanic at the gate 00:43 A watchmaker's son 02:29 Crossing the ocean 03:51 The fastest man in the room 05:47 A car with his name 07:55 The name goes on without him 09:10 Indianapolis, 1920 10:18 The brother he lost 11:56 1929 13:18 Clocking in under his own name 14:39 The man behind the bowtie Watch next Buick Evolution https://youtu.be/nNrdE30U5Jc Ford Mustang Evolution https://youtu.be/732MMlIIjAk #Chevrolet #LouisChevrolet #CarHistory