Hello everyone, This is my first post...
Does anyone know the origin of the word Chevelle? How did GM come up with the word? What was a Chevelle before it became the model name of a car?
Thanks in advance for your comments, Ed.

I think this has come up before, and at the time it was just that some of the GM marketing people started adding suffixes to the start of the model name (Chev) to see what sounded good. Chevron was already taken, and names like Chevmont and Chevder sounded silly, finally someone came up with
Chevelle. Just like when the gas crisis hit they named their small economy
car Chevette.

When I was in France awhile back, a Frenchman told me
it stands for the feminine form (version) of the word Chevrolet. ;)

Oh la la. We we, Bon Ami. :)

I believe it was originally supposed to be Gazelle.

Then they changed it to try and tie the name into the Chevrolet brand name.

When I was in France awhile back, a Frenchman told me
it stands for the feminine form (version) of the word Chevrolet. ;)

Oh la la. We we, Bon Ami. :)
How cares what the French think......lol

I think the origanal name they were going to go with was Chaparell?

I believe it was originally supposed to be Gazelle.

Then they changed it to try and tie the name into the Chevrolet brand name.

Thats my take on it too. They had the Impala and Chev~elle is a contraction of Chevrolet Gazelle. Sort of an African safari theme... Does that make Hyundi a contraction of Hyena and something :D

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOK, so how did it become the Beaumont north of the border?

wasnt the camaro going to be called a Panther? Some bum walking down my road told me that.

wasnt the camaro going to be called a Panther? Some bum walking down my road told me that.
I heard that many years ago, it must be true...mike

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOK, so how did it become the Beaumont north of the border?

I believe this comes in part from the differences in dealership set-up north of the border here.

Pontiac was a separate dealership here (never a Pontiac and Chevy dealership on the same lot in those days) and the Poncho guys needed something to sell to compete with Chevelle in the same price point... there was something about the GTO or whatever would have been comparably built in the US at the time being too expensive once shipped into Canada based on the tariffs or duty or what have you -- relative to sale price of the Canadian built Chevelles from the Oshawa plant that the Chevy dealerships had on their lots. So the Beaumont was a Canadian built car that could be marketed through Pontiac dealerships in direct competition with Chevelle.

In 1970 or thereabouts, the rules on importing changed and so the need for the Beaumont died, hence no Beaumonts after 69.

Did I get that right Beaumont owners?

I thought that Chevelle was a French name for a type of swift warship.

I thought that Chevelle was a French name for a type of swift warship.
Actually that would be a CORVETTE.

Thanks to all who posted, but still no definite answer. Anyone out there have a GM corporate connection, who could provide the answer?
Thanks again, Ed.

I had heard or read (can't remember where) that they were considering "Chevette" and "Caravelle" but they combined them to make "Chevelle" - a totally made-up word.

The story about the Camaro being called a "Panther" is true. I have seen prototype pictures of what looks exactly like a '67 camaro, but the emblems said "Panther". Judging by the completed look of the prototype, I'd guess the name was changed not long before it went into production.

Actually that would be a CORVETTE.
Right you are....man I hate getting old, you never know which brain cell you are going to kill!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOK, so how did it become the Beaumont north of the border?

'cause you've got all those silly frenchies up there...

What does Camaro mean then?

What does Camaro mean then?
A camEro is some sort of spanish for SHRIMP, which is why I hate it when people misspell Chevy's little F-body. I recall reading that Camaro is some french derivative of "friend".

Well, legend has it that its more simple then you might think!!! Back in the late 50`s a ceo of Chevrolet was talking with his 4 year old daughter. She (like most kids) spoke in phonics. When she asked Dad where he worked he told her Chevrolet, she would always reply Che-vu-lay and leave the "R" out. Thats were it all began. He just broke that down and came up with
che-ve-lle and put it all together to get Chevelle. He also came up with the Camaro which was how she would always say the word "Camera"/"Cam-a-ro" Believe it or not!!!!!

As far as the Camaro goes, the official word from GM is the french word for "friend" or better translated "comrade". And actually, Spanish for shrimp is closer to the correct spelling of Camaro - Camaron.

Good Answer Bow Tied.
The Acadian Beaumont first appeared in 1962 based on the Chevy II body. The Acadian gave Pontiac dealers a car they could sell in competition to the Chevy II and Corvair. In 64 the Beaumont name made the switch to the Chevelle body for reasons you mentioned. The Chevy II style Acadian was renamed the Acadian Canso. The Acadian's, like Pontiac to Chevrolet were considered a little fancier than the Chevelle/Chevy II. The Canson shared the majority of its body and interior with the Chevy II, the Beaumont shared its body panels with the Chevelle and most interior trim was the Tempest/Lemans. The Beaumont shared the same drive train as the Chevelle up until the end of production in 1969. Wouldn't that have been something, an 1965 Acadian Beaumont SD 396.

When I sold my '68 Pontiac Catalina convertible one of the guys who came to look at it was driving his '68 Parisiene (sp?). It looked virtually identical inside & out to my car except the badging, and had a Chevy 396 instead of my Pontiac's 400.

I could see the African Safari theme if the Camaro went into production as the Panther. IE: Impala, Gazelle, Panther. But I guess since the last two never saw produciton under those names, you can't go by theme.


I have read here that it was the combo of Gazelle and Chevrolet, which has been my definition of what it ment, but the topic doesn't come up much.

Chris