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1912ChevroletClassicSix2ndProto
Chevrolet Classic Six
Chevrolet
aka Classic Six
Production (see text)
Class Full-size
Body Style 4 Door Touring
Length '
Width '
Height '
Wheelbase 120 inches
Weight 3,500 - 3,750 lbs.
Transmission Rear mounted 3-speed selective sliding
Engine 299 cu. in. (4.9 l) T-head Straight-6
Power 40 hp
Similar '
Designer Etienne Planche and Louis Chevrolet


The Chevrolet Type C Classic Six is the first ever Chevrolet. It is one of the few Chevrolet's made while record-setting Buick race car driver Louis Chevrolet was with the company. This early car was much larger, more powerful, more stylized and therefore more expensive than the cars that would ultimately replace it. Louis Chevrolet loved it, but William (Billy) Durant had a cheaper car in mind.

The 1913-14 Chevrolet Type C also called the Chevrolet Classic Six, Chevrolet Model C or, at the time it was new, simply the Chevrolet (since there were no other models to confuse it with until 1914 when the Models H and L were released), and was also sold by other makes. It was a well constructed car and had a 6-cylinder engine up front with a cone clutch and a three-speed gearbox mounted at the rear axle. Henry Ford had been selling his much less expensive Model T for three years, in six models by the time Chevrolet entered the market. The Chevrolet's that followed, under the management of Durant, would be much cheaper 4-cylinder cars that competed directly with the Model T. The Series C Classic Six, however, was capable of 65 mph and competed against the more high-performance cars of that time. Standard equipment included a starter, four doors, a folding top, a tool box, cowl lights, and electric headlights.

The 1914 Classic Six was in essence the 1913 model with a few slight mechanical changes.

Design[]

Designed by Etienne Planche under direction from Louis Chevrolet, the Classic Six with its low running boards had a design more resembling European cars. Radiator shell and Chevrolet nameplate on the dashboard. The "bow-tie" emblem didn't appear until the 1914 Chevrolet Series H and L models.

The first prototype car appeared in late 1911, Louis Chevrolet himself tested it on the back streets of Detroit. Throughout 1912 refinements were made to the design. Later in that same year the new 1913 model was released at the New York Auto Show.

Engine and Transmission[]

Chevrolet's first engine, a liquid-cooled 299-cubic-inch, six-cylinder cast iron block cast in three banks of two, with a T-head configuration, that produced 40 horsepower. The T-head engine is a side valve engine that is distinguished from the much more common L-head engine by its placement of the valves. The intake valves are on one side of the engine block and the exhaust valves on the other, making dual camshafts necessary. Seen from the end of the crankshaft, in cutaway view, the cylinder and combustion chamber resembles a T - hence the name "T-head". The 299 was a very large engine at that time and the only engine in the C Series. In 1913 the ignition was a Simms magneto with a compressed-air starter. For 1914 the ignition was now a Simms High Tension Magneto and the starter used was a Gray & Davis.

Colors[]

The Body, frame and wheels were painted Chevrolet Bowtie Blue and the fenders and hood were painted black. Light gray striping was found on the body and wheels.

Production[]

It is unclear due to conflicting production records as to how many were actually made. But the total Chevrolet production for 1913 was 5,987. But this figure included all Little Motor Car Co. production (Little Motor cars were produced in the same factory) and could also have included all the 1914 models produced in 1913. It is doubtful given the high price of the car that many were made and sold. But as can be seen in the serial numbers of the below listed existing cars it is safe to assume at least a few hundred were built.

Surviving Examples[]

There are only 2 Classic Sixes known to exist. The oldest example is a 1913 model #93 located in the Reynolds-Alberta Museum in Canada and is an unrestored partial car. The other is also a 1913 model #323 located in Flint, Michigan at the Alfred P. Sloan Museum. This car is the only complete and fully restored running example.

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