VERY RARE Louis Chevrolet SIGNED / AUTOGRAPH Letter, Glenn L. Martin LETTERHEAD For Sale

- 1931 LOUIS CHEVROLET Typed-Letter SIGNED -- On “The Glenn L. Martin Company” LETTERHEAD -- Chevrolet FOUNDED Chevrolet Motor Company 1911 -- Chevrolet RACED at the Indianapolis 500 FOUR times -

VERY RARE, typed-letter authentically SIGNED / AUTOGRAPHED by automotive ICON Louis Chevrolet - with SUPERB airplane manifold / carburetor design CONTENT. Louis Chevrolet was the co-founder, along with William C. Durant, of the CHEVROLET MOTOR COMPANY in 1911. Chevrolet’s signature / autograph is extremely difficult to find in any form.

The letter is dated January 19th 1931, on the attractive and embossed “Glenn L. Martin Company” of Baltimore LETTERHEAD. It is addressed to “Mr. W. C. Clayton”, the Assistant Chief Engineer of the Pitcairn Aircraft Company. Chevrolet FOUNDED the CHEVROLET AIRCRAFT COMPANY in 1928 and soon thereafter sold the majority of his company interest to Glenn L. Martin. In fact, Martin would CHANGE the company’s NAME in January of 1931, the SAME MONTH as this letter, to “The Glenn L. Martin Company”. Consequently, this may be the EARLIEST surviving letter which reflects this change in company name. Louis Chevrolet does make specific reference to this name change in THIS LETTER.

Letter reads in FULL - “Dear Mr. Clayton: Since our pleasant visit at your factory we have designed a manifold to take care of the special condition on your plane. We are today ordering the pattern and the castings from the Alloys Foundry Corporation, and instructing them to ship one of those castings to you no later than January 26th. I believe they will be able to deliver on that date, so we are sending you inclosed a blue print to have this manifold machined in your shop. You will notice that the flange where the carburetor is bolted on shows a six degree angle on the facing. This should be kept right so as to keep the carburetor in a level position while in normal flight. As you may know, this company has been merged with the Glenn L. Martin Company and will be known from now on as the Engine Division of the Glenn L. Martin Company. Yours truly, THE GLENN L. MARTIN COMPANY by Louis Chevrolet (signed) Vice Pres.”

LOUIS CHEVROLET (1878 - 1941) was a Swiss born, American race car driver, auto mechanic, and the FOUNDER of the Chevrolet Motor Car Company in 1911. Chevrolet left Switzerland in 1887 with his father and settled in France. It was here that he first developed his mechanical skills and interest in bicycle racing. He emigrated to Montreal, Canada in 1900 to work as a mechanic. The following year he moved to New York City where he worked for the French car manufacturer “de Dion-Bouton”. Chevrolet won his first auto race in 1905 driving a Fiat. He was hired by the Autocar Company of Philadelphia in 1907 on a project designed to produce a front wheel drive racing car. Chevrolet raced at the Giants Despair Hillclimb in 1909. While working for Buick, he learned how to design cars and built an overhead valve six-cylinder engine in his own machine shop in Detroit, Michigan. Chevrolet also helped design the 1910 Buick 60 Special, also known as the “Buick Bug”. In 1911, Chevrolet FOUNDED the CHEVROLET MOTOR COMPANY in Detroit, Michigan, with the help of his brother Arthur and William Crapo Durant. In 1915, Louis Chevrolet sold his share in the company to Durant. The following year, in 1916, Chevrolet and his brothers founded the FRONTENAC MOTOR COMPANY which made racing parts for Ford Model T’s. That same year Chevrolet also became the Vice President and chief engineer of the “American Motors Corporation”. As a race car driver, Chevrolet finished in 20th place at the 1915 Indianapolis 500. He would race at the Indianapolis 500 speedway a total of four times, with his best finish being 7th place in 1919. In the spring of 1928, Louis Chevrolet left the Chevrolet Brothers Manufacturing Company and started a new company called the CHEVROLET AIRCRAFT CORPORATION, which produced aircraft engines. Chevrolet would sell a 90 percent share of the Chevrolet Aircraft Corporation to Glenn L. Martin at the end of 1928, with Chevrolet retained as company president. In January of 1931, the name of the company was changed to the Glenn L. Martin Motors Corporation, with Chevrolet’s titles changed to VP and General Manager. The depression had a severe negative impact on the company’s fortunes and Louis Chevrolet resigned in December of 1931, but still held onto his stock in the company.

CONDITION: the letter is guaranteed authentic and original. It measures about 8 3/8 x 10 7/8 inches in size and is in EXCELLENT original condition. There are NO folds, rips or tears. It would be extremely difficult to improve on the condition of this letter. The first TWO images where taken with a digital camera, the last FOUR images with a flat-bed scanner (see SCANS). The signature / autograph of LOUIS CHEVROLET is guaranteed authentic. Winning buyer to pay $40 for shipping, postage & INSURANCE. Please let me know if you have any additional questions. PLEASE READ: I have been buying + selling American historical autographs & documents for over 40 years and a former member of both the “Manuscript Society” and the UACC. We ship everything INSURED (thru the USPS) with a value over $50. This helps us know that the item you took the time to purchase arrived safely. Packages are shipped out within 1 – 3 business days, but typically the next day. Please understand, we don’t make any money on shipping costs and usually experience a deficit over the course of a year. Most buyers don’t realize that charges me a 13.6 percent FEE on the item sold, an additional 13.6 percent FEE on my quoted shipping charges, and another 13.6 percent FEE on the sales tax that collects on the item. Everything we sell is packaged with the utmost care. Please read my response over the last 25 years. The comments are often – the best packaging I have ever seen or “bullet proof” packaging. We do NOT offer returns for one simple reason. In the past, I have had some buyers purchase items from me and then proceed to shop them around during the return period to try and make a fast profit, without any financial risk. After they were unsuccessful, they returned the item to me. This information, however, made it back to me from different people I know who were directly offered my item immediately after I had sold it and before it was returned to me for a refund. offer with confidence! You will receive the exact item pictured and in the same condition as described in my listing.