Chevrolet, or Chevy for short is one of the most well-known American automobile brands. The formal name of the brand is the Chevrolet Division of General Motors Company (GM). The Chevrolet’s logo is one of the most recognizable logos in the world and it hasn’t altered much through the history. It is often referred to as a cross or a bowtie and nowadays indeed resembles a golden cross.
The company was found by Louis Chevrolet, a Swiss engineer and a race car driver and William C. Durant on November 3, 1911. In 1919 Alfred Sloan became the head of the General Motors company and started to compete with its rival number one, Henry Ford. Soon Chevy outsold Ford and became the top- selling brand in the United States of America.
Meaning and history
The famous logo of one of the most popular car production brands has a long and rather interesting history since it has been evolving and changing for over a century now. The first Chevy bowtie logo was introduced by William C. Durant, the co-owner and founder of the company in 1913 and since that moment both the logo and the GM production did not stop improving, reaffirming its right to be called one of the most well-known brands not only in the United States but all over the world. Now let’s take a look how the brand’s logo has been changing throughout the history.
1911 – 1913
Originally the first logo of the brand was a black signature in bold of its founder, Louis Chevrolet.
1913 – 1914
Chevrolet’s logo resembled a gray bow tie in a white frame, inside which the brand name was written.
1914 – 1934
Chevrolet first used its “bowtie” logo in 1914 on the H series models (Royal Mail and Baby Grand) and The L Series Model (Light Six). It is believed that Durant designed the logo from wallpaper that inspired him when he saw in a French hotel room. The first “bowtie” was blue with a silver border and the white letters inside.
1934 – 1940
As it was already said, Chevy would make several changes in its logo over time. In 1934 the color of the “bowtie” changed from blue to black and the letters on the “bowtie” became bigger.
1940 – 1945
In 1940 Chevrolet brings back the original logo in blue and gold tones, however this time the blue cross is even more bright and intense which makes the white lettering stand out.
1940 – 1950
The logo resembled a blue bow tie in a gold frame, inside which the brand name was written in white letters.
1950 – 1964
During this period of time the Chevy’s logo changes radically: the color of the cross is white now; the letters are red and the typeface is thiner. Another importanat change is that the “bowtie” is now placed on a red oval background.
1964 – 1976
The Chevy logo of this period is considered to be the most minimalistic: there are no bright colors anymore; the logo is white with the black border and letters.
1976 – 1988
The blue colors are brought back again but this time with a white thin line inside of the cross. The letters are also white and not as big as they used to be.
1988 – 2002
The company is experimenting with its logo again and this time it is composed of two elements: the cross and the lettering below. The color of the cross is white with a blue border. The letters are red and bigger than the cross.
1994 – 2001
The image resembled a blue bow tie in a white frame without an inscription inside, under which there was the name “Genuine Chevrolet”.
2001 – 2002
The “bowtie” becomes three-dimensional, the border is designed in a dark red and the inside part of the cross is white. The “Chevrolet” lettering is gone.
2002 – Today
One of the modern variants of the Chevrolet logo is simply the brand name written in black letters on a white background. At the same time, there is no image of a bow tie.
2002 – 2010
Chevy’s logo is a golden three-dimensional “bowtie” with a silver border. There’s no letters anymore since the emblem has clearly become one of the most recognizable in the world.
2010 – 2013
In 2010 the golden color in the emblem becomes more intense and the silver border – thicker. The logo looks more powerful and rich.
2013 – Today
The logo of one of the most famous brand in the world is still gold and silver, however the letters (that are grey now) of the name are below the “bowtie” again.
The legends
In 1916, Chevy’s production had grown to 70,000 units and 125,882 units the following year. In 1919, Chevy introduced its models with wooden bodies, which have become more collectible and rare a century later. During the 1950s and 1960s Chevrolet had a great influence on the American car market. In 1953 the Corvette was produced, a sports car with a fiberglass body. In 1957 Chevy introduced its first fuel injected engine, and the Corvair in 1960. By 1963 one out of every ten cars sold in the America was a Chevrolet. During the 1960s and 1970s the deluxe Impala series became one of America’s best-selling automobiles in history. In 2005, General Motors re-launched Chevrolet in Europe, using rebadged versions of Korean Daewoo GM cars.
The concept cars
Concept cars are cars made to demonstrate a new technology or styling. The first one to invent concept cars was GM designer Harley Earl who was also the one to popularize it through Motorama shows in the 1950s. Among the most popular Chevrolet concept cars are: Chevrolet Corvette Mako Shark (1963); Chevrolet Volt (2011) (one of the first plug-in hybrid electric vehicle concept cars); General Motors Firebird from a series of gas turbine-powered cars (from 1956) and many others.
Race cars
Chevrolet has been producing a variety of cars for sport events across the world for quite some time now and is particularly known for the participation in NASCAR, IndyCar, and the FIA World Touring Car Championship. Chevrolet is one of the most famous car producing brand to be involved in NASCAR with thirty-nine manufacturer’s titles and the majority of recorded wins. The Chevy Monte Carlo, Impala and the SS were also used in the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series.
From 2002 to 2005 Chevrolet replaced Oldsmobile as the General Motor brand at the IndyCar Series. It didn’t have much success the years after and Chevrolet got back to IndyCar only in 2012.
In 2010 and 2011 Chevrolet also participated in the British Touring Car Championship with the Cruze and in May 2012 it replaced Audi and became the official automotive sponsor of the English football team Manchester United.
