Chevrolet has become a phenomenal brand and the strength its legacy carries lies in a wide range of aspects. Given the sports car brand’s gradual evolution from an all- American sports car towards the 2020 mid-engine supercar, none can deny the influence Chevrolet has had on the American car industry. Owing to the brand’s enduring legacy, Chevrolet enjoys a distinguished repute among sports cars. Moreover, its latest supercar models outperform several high-performance coupes raking in top ranks among critics. Chevrolet’s sports coupes, from Corvettes to Camaros, are produced massively and are one of the best affordable sports cars out there. Never compromising on authenticity, the brand’s sports cars remained true to the race vigor.

While the list goes on, what is uniquely intriguing in Chevrolet’s legacy is its bowtie logo. The emblem touts the grand journey of the sports cars’ brand in its own modest way, yet the bowtie design holds a tasteful elegance that outlines its backstory.

Many have theorized different notions as to how Chevrolet came up with the bowtie logo, the most widely believed being the hotel wallpaper legend. While William C. Durant’s, the co-founder, family claims otherwise Chevrolet historian Ken Kaufmann brings to light a different origin.

From thick borders enclosing Chevrolet’s nameplate, to the metallic golden bowtie and now a plain silver bordered on the 2020 Chevy Camaro Heritage Edition, the brand’s logo is globally recognized. The brand revolutionized the American car industry with its stalwart sports and supercars collection.

It’s challenging to unravel the mystery behind the iconic emblem leaving just one question; where did Chevrolet’s bowtie logo come from? Let’s find out!

Hotel Wallpaper

Chevrolet logo
cutewallpaper.org

The most popular theory about the bowtie logo explains how William C. Durant, identifying as a world traveler, captured the design from a wallpaper in a hotel during his stay in Paris. According to a 1961 account of The Chevrolet Story, on its 50th anniversary issue, it stated, “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.” This incident reportedly dates back to 1908. The logo was trademarked later in 1913 becoming a symbolic representation of a true American car brand. While the models received radical changes throughout Chevrolet’s evolution, the bowtie logo remained on deck and went through its own set of alterations.

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Kitchen Doodles

Chrevrolet logo
gmauthority.com

The hotel wallpaper legend highlights co-founder Durant’s ambitions of creating a competent car brand, that would later produce one of the most iconic sports cars of all time. However, his daughter, Margery, lays out a contrasting account of the bowtie origin in her book My Father, published in 1929. She narrates the story that her father would doodle random designs on paper at the kitchen tables. “I think it was between the soup and the fried chicken one night that he sketched out the design that is used on the Chevrolet car to this day,” she wrote. The book was published while Durant was still alive at 65 years old. However, Margery’s viewpoint in the book can’t be given too much importance as Durant’s wife disagrees. His wife gives her own explanation known as the Coalettes theory. Historian and editor of The Chevrolet Review, Ken Kaufman released evidence that confirmed the Coalettes theory.

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Coalettes

commons.wikimedia.org

The Coalettes theory is considered the most likely one as it’s supported by proof laid out by Ken Kaufman. The theory unfolds in the 1986 issue of Chevrolet Pro Management Magazine which reports a 13-year-old interview of William Durant’s widow, Catherine. Lawrence R. Gustin interviewed her for his book ‘Billy Durant’ in 1973. According to the interview, Catherine states that her husband first saw the distinct bowtie style when he stumbled upon it in a Virginia newspaper ad while the couple was vacationing in Hot Springs, Virginia around 1912.

This explanation conflicted with Margery’s account in My Father and the origins of Chevrolet’s bowtie logo remained in the dark. Then Ken Kaufman dug up old issues of The Constitution, an Atlanta-based newspaper, dating from 1910 to 1917. He found a design that had an uncanny resemblance to the Chevrolet bowtie. The design was apparently trademarked by Southern Compressed Coal Co for their ad for Coalettes brand coal printed in the issue. Kaufman found that the ad dated back to November 12th, 1911. This clearly matched Catherine’s explanation and the date traced back to nine days before Chevrolet first stepped into the market.

From 1913 till today, Chevrolet continues its historic legacy embedded in the logo. While Chevrolet upholds the legacy, there are reports that it will cease the Camaro production in 2023. Until then here’s what we know about their highly anticipated 2021 Camaro.

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