Chevrolet's bowtie celebrates 100th anniversary
Chevrolet's globally recognised bowtie celebrates its 100th anniversary this year with 25 product launches helping the symbol find new roads around the world despite an origin that is still a bit of a mystery.
In Thailand the Chevrolet bowtie has been seen since the year 2000 on the Chevrolet Zafira. The Zafira was the first MPV in Thailand, and was a success story with over 11,500 units sold. The next products to see the Chevrolet bowtie were the Optra Sedan and Colorado pickup, which featured the new golden bowtie.
Two generations of the bowtie has been seen in Thailand,. The latest version of the bowtie has been seen in Thailand since 2010 on the Cruze, Chevrolet’s first global vehicle. With 99 dealerships nationwide, Chevrolet and the bowtie has become a well accepted and well known brand in Thailand.
The history of the bowtie starts in 1913, when Chevrolet co-founder William C. Durant introduced the signature Chevy bowtie on the 1914 Chevrolet H-2 Royal Mail and the H-4 Baby Grand, centered at the front of both models.
The bowtie has adorned 215 million Chevrolets over the last century, 60 million of which are still on the road. A Chevrolet car, crossover or truck is sold every 6.39 seconds in one of 140 countries, and the brand set a sales record of 2.5 million in the first six months of the year. The bowtie’s centennial is marked by new entries, such as the Cruze Clean Turbo Diesel compact sedan in the U.S. and the Trax small SUV in 40 international markets.
“The Chevrolet bowtie is recognized around the world and has become synonymous with American ingenuity,” said Chevrolet Chief Marketing Officer Tim Mahoney. “Whether you’re pulling thousands of pounds through rocky terrain in a Silverado pickup or commuting in a Spark EV, Chevrolet’s bowtie will always be at the very front of your travels.”
While the bowtie has been present for 100 years, the details surrounding its origin are still uncertain. Stories range from Durant being inspired by the wallpaper design in a Parisian hotel to a newspaper advertisement he saw while vacationing in Hot Springs, Va. Durant’s widow and daughter each have an alternative explanation.
According to Margery Durant, in her 1929 book My Father, Durant sometimes doodled nameplate designs on pieces of paper at the dinner table. "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.
