Langlois Bros., Langlois Brothers, Bennett Auto Body, Harry F. Langlois, Herbert N. Langlois, School Bus



Bennett Auto Body Co. - 1910s-1919; Langlois Bros. - 1919-1950s; Los Angeles, California

Located next door to Standard Carriage Works at 717 S. San Pedro St. was Langlois Bros., a well-known school bus body builder and distributor founded by twin brothers, Harry F. and Herbert N. Langlois.

The Langlois were born in Paso Robles, California on February 24, 1891 to William H. and Lizzie L. (Terry) Langlois. After a public education they attended Santa Maria College., graduating in 1910. They became interested in the emerging auto truck field and after working for a number of Los Angeles-based firms entered the trailer, truck equipment and school bus distribution business in 1919, when they purchased the business formerly operated as the Bennett Auto Body Company.

Bennett was best known for their commercial body building activities on the Ford Model T chassis and also distributed heavy-duty Model T frame extension, suspension and drivetrain kits. Bennett was the successor to the Williams Brothers, an early Los Angeles carriage builder who had been in operation at 717 S. San Pedro St. since the 1890s.

Early in their life the Langlois Brothers offered their own line of school bus bodies for the Model T chassis, but soon became distributors only becoming the Los Angles agents for Superior Body Co. of Lima, Ohio. The brothers prospered and put some of their profits into Diatom Co. a successful Nevada mining operation. They also were heavily invested in developing the town of Desert Hot Springs, California and held a number of US patents relating to heavy-duty brakes, transmissions and oil filtration systems.

Today 717 S. San Pedro is at the center of Los Angeles’ wholesale flower district and the former Langlois Brothers plant is now the home of the Los Angeles Flower Mall.

For more information please read:

Ed Strauss & Karen Strauss - The Bus World Encyclopedia of Buses

G.N. Georgano & G. Marshall Naul - The Complete Encyclopedia of Commercial Vehicles

Albert Mroz - Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Trucks & Commercial Vehicles

Donald F. Wood - American Buses

Denis Miller - The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Trucks and Buses

Susan Meikle Mandell - A Historical Survey of Transit Buses in the United States

David Jacobs - American Buses, Greyhound, Trailways and Urban Transportation

William A. Luke & Linda L. Metler - Highway Buses of the 20th Century: A Photo Gallery

William A. Luke & Brian Grams - Buses of Motorcoach Industries 1932-2000 Photo Archive

William A. Luke - Greyhound Buses 1914-2000 Photo Archive

William A. Luke - Prevost Buses 1924-2002 Photo Archive