It all began in an experimental workshop in a Detroit garage. It continues today in garages all over the world. William Durant, a successful buggy manufacturer from Flint, Michigan, asked Louis Chevrolet, a well known race car driver, to help design a car for introduction to the public. Chevrolet got named after its designer because Durant liked the sound of the name and because Chevrolet was a prominent name in motor sports.

The company was established in 1911, and the bowtie logo first appeared in 1914. Legend maintains that the bowtie shape was inspired by a pattern of wallpaper in a Paris hotel room. William Durant reportedly detached a small piece and kept it in his wallet, waiting for the day he’d put it to use. The bowtie has, since then, become an advertising icon, and is still the marquee of today's Chevrolet.