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Chevrolet

The Chevrolet Motor Company was founded by Louis Joseph Chevrolet and William Crapo Durant on November 3rd 1911, and the first car was produced same year.
By the end of 1912 some 2.900 cars had been produced.
Production moved to Flint in 1913, and Louis Chevrolet parted company with Durant in December same year. Some 5.989 were produced.
By 1915, sales had increased to 13.292. In October same year Durant incorporated The Chevrolet Motor Company in Delaware as a holding company for all Chevrolet activities.
In May 1916 Durant announces that Chevrolet owns 54.5 percent of GM’s outstanding shares and he takes over the GM presidency in June.
In 1917 sales had grown to 110.839 vehicles.
The first commercials - ½ tonners - appeared in 1918, same year as Chevrolet was absorbed by GM.
In 1920 production had rose to 134.117 cars and trucks in the US and Canada.
By 1925 Chevrolet sold 481.267 cars and trucks, a rise of 64 % on the 1924 figures.
The Martin-Parry Corporation was purchased in 1930, which enabled Chevrolet to offer complete trucks with a variety of bodywork. Heavier trucks up to 2 ton was launched in the late 1930´s and true heavy trucks did not appear until the 1960´s.
During WWII four companies made most of the 1½ ton trucks for military service; International (M-3L-4) made specifically for the Navy and Marines, Ford (GTB), Dodge (WC62) and Chevy (G506 also known as the Chevy G7100). Of the various manufacturers, Chevy by far, supplied the most 1 ½ ton trucks during the war.
About 150,000 Chevy 1 ½ ton trucks were manufactured with some going to the Army and Army Air Corps, but the largest share being sent to allied forces, particularly Britain and Russia. Common uses included towing artillery, firefighting, hauling troops and supplies, and the multitude of tasks associated with engineering battalions. The truck also came with special body configurations, for a variety of specialized tasks such a fire fighting, bomb supply, and communications.
Production of the heavy duty range was discontinued in 1980, and the production reverted to lightweight trucks.