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In three days Chevy will turn 100 years old and while the company has been remarkably successful, the man who it was named after, remains more or less forgotten. Sadly the two have had very little to do with each other at all. Chevrolet the man stands in stark contrast to the success of the company. In fact, Louis Chevrolet left the company in a fit of rage right about the time their first cars rolled of the assembly line. If he had stayed a little longer he would have been rich beyond his wildest dreams, but he didn't, and his story is somewhat lost in history.

Louis Chevrolet's first and foremost love was racing. Born in Burgundy, France on Christmas Day in 1878, he displayed an early aptitude for engineering and design. In his teen years he would modify bicycle gears and enter in races. He had two brothers, Arthur and Gaston, who all shared an affinity for all things mechanical and the three of them made a name for themselves street racing and touring through America.

In 1905 he became something of a legend. He broke the famous racer Barney Oldfield's world record for the one mile closed course speed. He then went on to set the world speed record of 119 mph. While the record didn't last long Chevrolet's reputation was set in stone and he toured the professional circuit.

Along the way he met Billy Durant, who he partnered with to build a new company that would use Chevrolet's name. While the company bore his name, it also bore his temper. Louis was hard to get along with and had a notorious temper. In September of 1913, after several fights and arguments, he stormed out claiming he had quit. Many conspiracy theorists think that Durant kept intentionally provoking Louis hoping he would quit. He had mainly wanted Chevrolet for his name anyway.

Chevrolet had been formed, and the man it was named after walked away. For the rest of most of his life he raced and worked for different start up car companies, and while he was famous, he was never economically successful.

In the 1930's was a very bad time for Louis. He developed Diabetes, one of his sons died and a fire at his destroyed all of his memorabilia. Broke and sick, to add insult to injury, he took a job as a mechanic working at a Chevrolet factory in Detroit. He did not last long though as a series of strokes forced him to quit. You will love our large selection of used cars in Des Moine used cars at a great price too.

While Durant made millions, Chevrolet languished in poverty and poor health. Eventually on June 6th 1942, at age 62, Louis Chevrolet died of complications after a leg amputation. He is buried in Indianapolis.