Home Part 2: The Last 100 years 8: Car Manufacturers by Country 8.15 United States 8.15.2. Chevrolet History of Chevrolet Motor Cars / Automobiles 8.15.2. Chevrolet Chevrolet was founded in 1911 by Louis Chevrolet and William Durant. The following year the company introduced the 4.9 litre, six-cylinder Classic Six model. In 1912 the company sold nearly 3,000 cars. In 1917 Chevrolet became a division of  General Motors. See Part 2, Section 8.15.5. Models produced between 1911 and 1940 include the Baby Grand, Little Four, Little Six, Series H and Styleline. The first cars to be produced in 1945 were pre-war models that had been renamed Stylemaster and Fleetmaster. New models, the Special Series and the Deluxe were introduced in 1949, with over 100,000 produced in the first year. A range of Corvette sports cars have been manufactured by Chevrolet since 1953, including the Roadster, C2-C6, ZO6, Callaway, ZR-1 and in 2006, the C6 convertible and ZO2 models.   Over 110,000 Corvette Stingray’s were produced between 1963 and 1967. The car had a 5,358 or 6,997 cc engine and was capable of 140 mph (222 kph).  Between 1955 and 1957 the company produced the “Tri Chevys”. Over 4.7 million of these cars were produced. Fuel injection was an option on the ’57 Chevy”, the first American car to offer it. A station wagon version, the Normad, was also made.  The Impala was first produced in 1958 and during the 1960s it was the top selling car in America, with over one million sold in 1965. By 1996 over 13 million had been produced.  An Impala model was available between 1958-85, 1994-96 and 2000-07. The Chevrolet Camaro was introduced in 1967 as a competitor to Ford’s Mustang model. Four generations of the car were produced up to 2002 when production ended. The 1982 model was fitted with fuel injection. About 4.8 million were produced. Other models produced between 1950 and 1980 include the BelAir, Chevy ll, Chevelle, Monte Carlo, Vega, Monxa and Nova. The Cavalier was a compact Chevrolet produced from 1982 to 2005. By 1999 just over 5.2 million had been produced. The company replaced the Cavalier in 2005 with the Cobalt and Astra models. Models produced in 2007 include the Avero, Cobalt, Corvette, HHR, Impala, Malibu and the Monte Carlo.   [ Back ]