A Better Bowtie

Chevrolet moved more than 575,000 Silverados in the U.S. last year. That’s an astonishing number — especially considering that from the time Chevrolet truck production began in 1918, it took 15 years for the company to build a total of one million haulers.

By 1933, though, the Bowtie division was at the top of the heap. Chevrolet owned 50 percent of the truck market and was selling more commercials than virtually all other manufacturers combined. But being number one at anything also makes you a target for the competition. Agricultural-equipment powerhouse International Harvester took notice of how popular light trucks were becoming and, in 1932, fielded its first pickup, the D-1. The D-1 was a rebadged Willys C-113, but a few years later,