There have been many celebrations of Chevrolet's 100th anniversary this year, and along with them commemorations of its namesake, Louis Chevrolet, but we must remember the man who built America's "deep running" brand, as well as General Motors itself: William Crapo Durant.

Born on December 8, 1861, Billy Durant was highly ambitious, and he got his start in the fledgling auto industry by purchasing Buick, and rolling this into GM with Cadillac, Oakland and Oldsmobile in 1908. He lost control of this corporation in 1911, the same year that he helped found Chevrolet - soon the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors.

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