It was designed by Charles F. Kettering, head engineer of Delco, the General Motors research division wing in Dayton, Ohio.

[3] The Copper-Cooled Chevrolet was in fact a feasible project; however, the final product did not live up to the standards that Kettering had imagined.

The 1923 Chevrolet Series M Copper-Cooled consumed extensive amounts of resources to develop and was a failure in the end.

He decided that a cast iron engine with copper U-shaped fins would give the best cooling, as opposed to aluminum which is the first choice for modern automobiles.

An issue however that arose from this design was finding a place to incorporate the copper-fins that Kettering had based his whole project on.

[3] Oil leaks in an air cooled system were fire hazards, as well as health safety hazards because when oil leaks onto the hot metal surfaces of the engine it creates smoke and could ignite causing severe damage to the automobile, and its occupants.

Kettering understood these concerns and continued to work on ways that would minimize the possibility of an oil leak on the hot cylinders.

This design scheme allowed for bottom end cooling which was more efficient and easier to control, while the air flow was reverse-flow instead of cross-flow to minimize exhaust air from being recycled back into the engine cooling block area.

[5] After the fan was installed on the prototype, the car was finally fitted with Kettering's signature automatic electric starter.

[3] Du Pont approved the new design for testing under the Chevrolet and Oakland (automobile) divisions.

Management at GM assuaged him and pushed for more development from Oakland and Chevrolet for the project [3] Oakland however was not pleased with the project and Fred Hannum expressed this notion to Pierre du Pont in a letter explaining the problems that plagued the automobile.

Chevrolet gave time in its schedule to begin in the new production year, and Oldsmobile also showed signs of interest.