Early years (1924–1951) Prevost Car was founded by
Eugène Prévost (1898–1965), a cabinet maker specializing in church pews and school furniture; in 1924 he was asked to build a custom bus body for a new
REO truck chassis. Prévost's company received several repeat orders, but Prévost limited production to one bus body per winter. Between 1937 and 1939, its first dedicated bus manufacturing plant was built in
Sainte-Claire, Quebec,
Normand era (1957–1995) The company was acquired by Paul Normand in 1957, who renamed the company to Prevost Car. Under the Normands, Prevost Car introduced the
LeNormand in 1957, an intercity coach with modern features including stainless steel side panels, pneumatic suspension, and a diesel engine. This was succeeded by the
Champion (1966), Instead of the step-up front fitted to the Champion/Prestige, the Mirage had a full-front, four-piece windshield. A long-wheelbase XL was introduced in 1992 with a nominal 45-foot length, the
XL-45 Entertainer, One year after the XL buses debuted, in 1985, Prevost introduced the
H5-60, an
articulated bus, at the annual meeting of the
American Bus Association; this was the first model in what would become the
H-Series. For 2006, the XL-II was revised to become the
X3-45, which featured a longer wheelbase than its predecessor. The
New York City Transit Authority was the launch customer for this configuration. Previously, 20 transit-style buses of the Le Mirage predecessor model had been built for
GO Transit in the late 1990s. In 2019, the X3-45 was redesigned, getting a new headlight setup and a new rear end. For the 2008 model year, Prevost introduced the
Volvo D13 engine from their parent company as a replacement for the then-current
Detroit Diesel Series 60 offering. Prevost has yet to make an announcement regarding the availability of the DD15 with its products.--> A set of new interior color schemes was also introduced. In 2009, Prevost began distributing the
Volvo 9700 coach in Canada and the United States. == Models ==