Prevost Celebrates 100th Anniversary in Mississauga
On April 18, Prevost, a leader in ultra-luxury motorcoaches, hosted a 100th anniversary celebration for employees, customers and local officials at its 52,000-square-foot service center in Mississauga. Among the 200-plus attendees, was Nikola Maric from the Mississauga Economic Development Office.
The exciting celebration featured a short film about the founding of Prevost and a multimedia exhibit that traced the company’s growth and innovation through the decades. The new Prevost H3-45 model was onsite, along with several other Prevost coaches including the X3-45 VIP Entertainer Coach. The event was capped by the unveiling of “Clarisse” – a replica of the very first coach that Eugène Prévost built in 1924.
Eugène was a woodworker in the small Canadian village of Sainte-Claire, Quebec, who unexpectedly received a commission to build a wooden coach body for mounting on an REO truck chassis. From that first order, he grew his business by producing buses and coaches for cities and government agencies.
“Eugène established a culture of continuous improvement, pride in craftsmanship and an unequivocal focus on quality, performance and safety,” said Prevost President François Tremblay who was part of Thursday’s event. “The tenets he set down in 1924 are the ones we continue to follow in the 21st century.”
Prevost is one of North America’s largest producers of premium intercity touring coaches and is the world leader in the production of high-end motorhome and specialty conversion coaches.
The Prevost Mississauga service center employs 37 mechanics, technicians and service professionals, has 15 service bays and services more than 3,000 coaches a year.
Clarisse’s Road Trip
To commemorate the company’s centennial, three generations of Eugène’s family – children, grandchildren, grand in-laws and great grandchildren – dedicated thousands of hours to research, model, build and outfit the replica.
The family located a period REO chassis in Tampa Bay, Florida, and brought it back to Sainte-Claire, Quebec, where Prevost was founded.
From there, painstaking care was taken to craft a historically accurate coach – the oak wheels were handmade, window, door and step mechanisms were agonized over, the wooden interior was hand varnished and bench cushions were hand sewn.
The 1924 coach was christened “Clarisse” in honor of Eugène’s wife who supported him in all his endeavors – even going so far as to sew vehicle cushions during the early days of the company.
Clarisse Rolls On
Following her visit to Mississauga, Clarisse will join an anniversary celebration at the Prevost Service Center in South Plainfield, New Jersey. She previously participated in events in Calgary, Mira Loma, Calif., Fort Worth, Orlando and Nashville.
To learn more about Prevost’s 100 years, follow Clarisse on her journey and purchase Prevost 100th anniversary gear, visit prevostcar.com.
