PREVOST CAR CELEBRATES ITS 75th ANNIVERSARY.
Prevost Car, a leading
manufacturer of Premium Luxury intercity touring coaches and the world-leading
manufacturer of 'Ultimate' Class bus shells for high-end motorhome and specialty
conversion, is commemorating the 100th anniversary of its founder Eugene Prevost
(1898-1965) and the 75th anniversary of its manufacturing activities.
The name Prevost has been a
household name in Ste-Claire, Qc Canada, since 1915; eversince Eugene Prevost set
up shop in this bucolic township of 3,500 just 30 miles south of Québec City. Word
quickly got around as people began to recognize the quality and styling of the custom
furniture and cabinetry that came out of Mr. Prevost's shop. By the early twenties
everybody in the area knew of the Ste.Claire-born entrepreneur who took pride in turning
out remarkable custom projects.
| Eugene Prevost was always
looking for a new challenge. His eyes gleamed when his long-time friend Georges Roy
challenged him to built a wooden bus body on a brand new 1924 REO truck chassis. |
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PREVOST 1 |
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Prevost would
build one coach body a year, as a winter project until, pressed by demand decision was
made to build a bus manufacturing shop in 1937.  |
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PREVOST 2 |
DUPONT 1938 |
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In those days, roads were not plowed in wintertime. They were groomed with grates and
rollers to pack the snow so people could commute by horse sleds and snowmobiles during the
hard season. |
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Over the next decade, the demand for Prevost coach bodies grew steadily and additions to
the original plant were made just about every other year. By 1947, the Prevost bus plant
had grown to 22,000 square feet As new materials and new equipment became available,
Prevost buses went from wooden structure and body, to metal body over wooden
structure , |
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Wood on wood |
Wood on wood |
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and then in
1946, to all-metal body over integral metal structure.
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Metal on wood |
Metal on metal |
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Custom coach work was Prevost's forte: stretching passenger
cars, manufacturing reservoirs for oil delivery trucks, building body-on-chassis school
and city buses, building intercity buses with integral structure, creating specialty
vehicles... |
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TRANSPORT COMMERCIAL
1954-07 |
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Customization work demanded that Prevost's manufacturing facilities be almost
self-contained with metal and wood-working shops, foundry, die-casting and plating
capabilities. It even built its own windows and seats. |
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| Shortly after World War II, the
plant was expanded to 40,000 square feet to meet the post-war booming demand. From then
through 1951, Prevost was commissioned to build 100 highway buses the Canadian Government
(66 went to the Department of National Defense) establishing the name Prevost as a
reliable and performing coach manufacturer. |
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| In the mid-fifties, |
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| the cycle of
prosperity started to decline for coach manufacturers all across North America. Some
twenty-five bus makes disappeared almost overnight and Les Ateliers Prevost's activities
came close to a halt |
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| Continue with The mid-years
(1957-1967) |
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