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Battle cry - Chevrolet's answer to Ford's success

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Created on July 1, 1985

Reading time 15min

Written by:

Halwart Schrader

Photos:

RM/Sotheby's

3

Oldtimer Galerie Toffen

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Bruno von Rotz

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Wolfram Hamann

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- Courtesy RM-Auctions

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Archiv

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RM/Sotheby's

3

Oldtimer Galerie Toffen

3

Bruno von Rotz

3

Wolfram Hamann

1

- Courtesy RM-Auctions

1

Archiv

13

Chevrolet Superior K (1925) - als Touring-Version

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Chevrolet (1912) - früher Personenwagen

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Chevrolet (1912) - mit Louis Chevrolet am Steuer

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Chevrolet (1914) - als offener Tourenwagen

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Chevrolet 490 (1921) - Vorgänger der neuen Baureihe ab 1923

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Chevrolet 490 (1919) - als Phaeton

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Chevrolet 490 (1920) - Cockpit

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Chevrolet (1922) - Testfahrten mit neuen Modellen

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Chevrolet Superior (1923) - mit Scheibenrädern

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Chevrolet (1924) - neue Chevrolet-Modelle im Anmarsch

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Chevrolet (1927) - als Phaeton mit Vierzylindermotor und 2993 ccm

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Chevrolet (1927) - im Einsatz als Taxi

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Chevrolet (1927) - karossiert als Phaeton

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Chevrolet Confederate (1932) - Nachfolger der Modelle Superior der Zwanzigerjahre

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Chevrolet Superior (1926) - als Touring-Version

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Chevrolet Superior (1926) - als Touring-Variante

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Chevrolet Capitol Series AA 2-Door Coach (1927) - als Lot 51A an der Versteigerung der Oldtimer Galerie Toffen am 20. Oktober 2018

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Chevrolet 490 Tourer (1923) - Museum Mahymobiles in Leuze-en-Hainaut

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Chevrolet Superior V Five-Passenger Sedan (1926) - angeboten als Lot 266 an der RM/Sotheby's Versteigerung in Hershey am 10./11. Oktober 2019

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Chevrolet Superior (1926) - friedlich parkend neben einem Renault 4 CV - am 48. FNA-Treffen in Triengen 2022

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Chevrolet Capitol 4-Door Tourer (1927) - Lot 136 an der Versteigerung der Oldtimer Galerie Toffen am 23. März 2024

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Chevrolet National 6AB Coupé (1928) - Lot 74 an der Oktober-Versteigerung der Oldtimer Galerie am 12. Oktober 2024

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Chevrolet Series AB (1928) - Emil Frey Oldtimer Grand Prix Safenwil 2022

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Chevrolet Series AB (1928) - Emil Frey Oldtimer Grand Prix Safenwil 2022

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Summary

Chevrolet narrowly escaped liquidation at the beginning of the 1920s, but new people with new ideas managed to turn things around. Against the extremely successful Ford Model T, the Chevrolet men relied on clever marketing and technical continuity. With success! Between 1923 and 1928, Chevrolet Ford became increasingly dangerous ...

This article contains the following chapters

On the brink of ruin
More flexible and customer-oriented
New production facilities and methods
A new model was needed
The old one as the better
Improvements under the skin
Almost too late, but only almost
Only minor visual changes
One million hit thanks to major advertising investments
Ford expected to strike back
Inferior to the Ford A
Continuation of the duel
Technical data Chevrolet 1923-1928

Estimated reading time: 15min

Preview (beginning of the article)

The fact that one of the biggest car brands in the world in the 1920s was almost dissolved was indirectly due to William C. "Billy" Durant, one of the most important but also most controversial personalities in American automotive history. The Chevrolet Motor Company of Michigan was formed in 1911 by the Swiss-born racing driver Louis Chevrolet and Billy Durant as a public limited company after the gentlemen from Wall Street wrested control of the General Motors group he had founded from Durant in 1910 during a financial crisis. The four- and six-cylinder Chevrolets, designed as mid-range cars, sold so well that smart Billy was able to regain control of GM as early as 1915 through share purchases, transactions and powers of attorney from other shareholders. In the same year, Durant ventured into the lower price range dominated by Ford with the Chevrolet Type 490 (the cheapest model initially cost 490 dollars). Business was booming, as there was a real gold fever in the car business in the USA during this period, with annual registration figures increasing almost tenfold between 1912 and 1921.

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