On November 3, 1911, Swiss race car driver and automotive engineer Louis Chevrolet co-founded the Chevrolet Motor Company in Detroit with William C. Durant and investment partners William Little (maker of the Little automobile), James H. Whiting, Dr. Edwin R. Campbell (son-in-law of Durant) and in 1912 R. S.
History of Bowtie Logo
You may have heard the legend of how Chevrolet's co-founder Billy Durant came up with its famous bowtie logo when he saw the design on wallpaper in a Paris hotel. The problem is the legend isn't true. Here's the real story.
William C. Durant, the co-founder of Chevrolet, loved to develop logos for his products.
And for years, the story of the Chevrolet bow tie emblem was consistent. The 50 Year Anniversary issue of The Chevrolet Story, printed in 1961, tells the story:
"This was also the year (1913) that the famous Chevrolet trademark was first used on the cars. The distinctive trademark has appeared billions of times on products, advertisings and sales literature as the mark of dependability, economy and quality in motor transportation. It originated in Durant's imagination when, as a world traveler in 1908, he saw the pattern marching off into infinity as a design on wallpaper in a French hotel. He tore off a piece of the wallpaper and kept it to show friends with the thought that it would make a good nameplate for a car."
Billy Durant's widow, Catherine, however, claims that's not actually how he came up with the Chevy logo. According to Mrs. Durant — in an interview by Lawrence R. Gustin, who interviewed her for his book "Billy Durant," in 1973 — the bowtie emblem was first seen by her husband in an illustrated Virginia newspaper, while they vacationed in Hot Springs, Virginia around 1912.
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