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There is a long and interesting history of Chevrolet dating back to 1911. Louis Chevrolet was a Swiss-American race car driver and mechanic before he became an entrepreneur. He became acquainted with William Durant, the founder of General Motors (who had a “riches-to-rags” career), and Chevrolet became part of GM in 1918.
Apparently, differences in management goals lead to Louis Chevrolet selling his shares and the Chevrolet name to Durant. By 1927, Chevrolet was the best-selling car in America, surpassing Ford. By 1962, General Motors had captured 50.7% of the U.S. automobile market, and by 1967 Chevrolet was the most popular vehicle brand in the world. In fact, Chevrolet was bigger than all of the other GM auto brands combined.
Chevrolet has one of the best known logos in the country, maybe even the world. Of course, it’s the “bowtie” logo. Companies periodically change logos or create new ones but not Chevrolet. The Chevrolet bowtie logo was first used in 1914 on the Royal Mail Roadster. Supposedly, the logo was copied from a design on a French hotel’s wallpaper back in 1908. Durant reportedly tore off a piece of the wallpaper, showed it to friends and thought it would make a good logo for Chevrolet. The logo was trademarked in 1913 and today is recognized worldwide.
The 1960s were good years for U.S. automakers, but changes were happening as cars were getting away from the “bigger-is-better” styling to smaller cars. The leader in that move was American Motors with Rambler American and Classic models. In 1961, Rambler was the third best-selling car in the country behind Chevrolet and Ford.
The Chevrolet Chevelle was the exciting new car for 1964. It was targeted for the middle-class buyer, a car larger than the Chevy II but smaller than their top-of-the-line Impala. That first year, Chevrolet sold 338,286 Chevelles. It offered a complete line, including two-door hardtops, convertibles, four-door sedans and four-door station wagons.
Oakland resident Matt Davies is the proud owner of this issue’s featured car, a 1967 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu convertible. While there were seven engine options for Chevelle, our featured car has the tried-and-true 230-cubic-inch, six-cylinder Turbo-Thrift engine, rated at 155 horsepower and teamed with a three-speed manual transmission. Other than the power top, there’s no power steering, brakes, windows or anything else.
Davies is the second owner of this beautiful convertible. The first owner was his next-door neighbor, Jane McCaffrey, who bought the car new from a Chevrolet dealer in Marion, Ohio, and drove it west.
“She became a stand-in grandmother to me in many ways,” Davies said. “Never did I imagine, in those elementary school years, I’d be driving her Chevelle later in high school, let alone now all these years later.”
Davies thinks his father bought the car for about $2,000 (about $5,245 today) for his 16th birthday in 1987.
“Many great stories abound from Jane driving the car in the early days of the Oakland hills. She always referred to it as ‘Black Beauty.’ She was diminutive in stature so she sat on the Yellow Pages (phone book) in order to drive the car, which is no easy feat. Early in the 1970s, she ran into the local Woodminster Market and left the car running. She came out surprised to see someone in the passenger seat. He was trying to steal the car, but couldn’t for the life of him, figure out how to drive a three-on-the-tree shifter.”
This Chevelle convertible is completely original, including the black-and-orange California license plates. Davies and his father in 1989 repainted the car the original factory color. The interior is also original but not perfect. The six-cylinder engine and transmission has more 216,000 miles on it and has required only routine maintenance. An unusual feature of the car is its glass rear window that has to be unzipped when the top is lowered. Most convertibles of that era have a plexiglass rear window that bends when the top is folded down.
This was Davies’ main driver for at least 10 years. It was his car for dating and double-dating through high school and college, and Davies even went on his first date with his wife in this car. It was also his oldest daughter’s first ride when he brought her and his wife home from the hospital.
The owner believes he has a rare Chevelle. It has never been modified to make it a muscle car like many Chevelles have. Davies has no intention of selling it but believes its current market value to be about $25,000. While he and his family have other more modern cars to drive, Davies says the Black Beauty will be the last family car to ever face the auctioneer.
Have an interesting vehicle? Contact David Krumboltz at MOBopoly@yahoo.com. To view more photos of this and other issues’ vehicles or to read more of Dave’s columns, visit mercurynews.com/author/david-krumboltz.
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