was anybody ever lucky enough to see one of these?

[49gmc]

Twelve Futurliners were built and used by GM to transport the GM Parade of Progress show throughout the United States from 1941 to 1956.

The Futurliners transported dioramas and exhibits, featuring futuristic things such as: a microwave that fried an egg without burning a newspaper; a Ping-Pong game in stereophonic sound and; sound traveling over a beam of light produced by a flashlight.

The Futurliner is a massive bus like vehicle, 33' long, 8' wide, 11'-7' tall vehicle with a whopping 248' wheelbase. An unusual feature of the Futurliner is dual (side-by-side) front wheels. Each wheel had its own set of brakes, brake drums and bearings. Nearly all of the Futurliners had problems with their power steering pumps failing, presumably because of the tremendous force required to turn the wheels.

The pre-1953 Futurliners were powered by 4-cylinder diesel engines and 4x4 mechanical transmissions. The 1953 version, however, is powered by a 302 cubic-inch inline six-cylinder OHV GMC engine. The engine is a Korean War vintage four-speed Hydramatic automatic transmission that is bolted to the backside of another two speed gearbox. This gives the driver the option of selecting from 8 forward speeds. Complicating this a bit more is another 3-speed PTO gearbox. To shift this gearbox, the driver must leave the cockpit (presumably with the vehicle stopped) and travel to the rear quarter of the vehicle and manually select one of the three gears. With this combination, the driver now has 24 selections to choose from. The restoration crew reports that the rear-end has yet another gear reduction, but they haven't figured out quite how that works yet. In spite of the gearing ratios, some of the original 'Paraders,' as they referred to themselves, recall attainable speeds of not much more than 40 mph! The Futurliners packed two 45-gallon gasoline tanks!

The original Futurliners, prior to their 1953 refurbishing, had bubble canopies over the cockpit (driver's compartment), similar to a fighter plane of the era. This arrangement was brutally hot for the drivers and the vehicles were not air-conditioned! The cockpit is reached by climbing a stairway to the top of the 11'-7' vehicle. This positions the driver's head at about the 11' level and makes for a terrifying first time experience when going under an overpass!

The vehicle has an incredible 19 access and display doors on it. Two massive 16x5' doors open to expose the display housed within the vehicle. A 16' lighting panel is attached tot he top of the overhead doors and a large light bar rises from the roof another 7' up above the Futurliner for additional illumination. To provide electricity for all this lighting, a massive twin 6-71 200KW Detroit Diesel generator was used.

Because the brakes were so poor, one Futurliner rear-ended another and consequently they were instructed to stay 300 feet apart. They all had radio receivers but only the lead and tail vehicles had transmitters. The Futurliners were nicknamed the 'Red Elephants.' The name 'Futurliner' was spelled without the 'E' in Future so GM could copyright or trademark the name.

[northerngmc]

The only one I have ever seen was on TV It is the one Ron Pratt bought at Barrett Jackson in Scottsdale for $4 million in 2006.

After the auction there was a great shot posted of it driving down the freeway in Arizona. Yes $4 million and he drove it home!

[1956cameo]

I got to see one up close and personal. My uncle used to work for GM and every June at the GM world head quarters they have a company car show (oh yeah!). The only catch is you have to work for GM or be a friend or relative of a GM employee to get in. Well not only do all the employees bring their classics but GM brings out a few of their own every year as well.
One of the years I was there they had a futurliner sitting out in the show. I got to go in it a little bit. They also had the hood open so I even got to poke my nose in the engine bay. It must have been a 53 because I am pretty sure it had the GMC motor. I didnt realize what it was at the time or else I would have taken more pics of it, since we were allowed to look all thru it.
I also saw the barrett jackson futurliner, and in one of my old car mags they talk about a guy who owns a futurliner that was converted to a motorhome. People have been trying to buy it from him forever but he wont sell. Shame to because it is sitting outside in an unprotected city lot, and he has no plans to fix it up. I believe it is in Arizona or Nevada.

[joeys66pickup]

That is hands down the coolest ting i have ever seen holy crap

[nuke1]

i would love to to turn that into a motorhome/car hauler..... hmmmmm...

[robin58]

One was for sale on eBay about a year ago.

[northerngmc]

Here is the picture of it driving home from Barrett Jackson

[1956cameo]

That is awesome that the guy shelled out $4 million, and drove it home. In my opinion that truck was sold to the right person. Never understood why people gasp when a beautifully restored vehicle is actually used for its intended purpose. It is not like you can't restore it again someday; and guess what no matter how well you preserve the vehicle it will still have to be restored again someday.

[mbgmike]

Here is the link to a restoration a few years ago

http://www.futurliner.com/

[youngrodder]

I saw one in July of 2007 at a local car show in Vicksburg, MI
It was way cool. I loved the styling.

[1956cameo]

According to the futurliner website the futurliner I read about was in California and owned by a guy named Bob Valdez. It was futurliner #9, the one that sold at BJ was futurliner #10. Apparently Mr. Valdez decided as of this last summer that he will get rid of it (futurliner #9). It didn't say how much he wanted for it except that it was over a million dollars. Of course it has been extensively modified so a resto on it would propably be even harder than the one that sold at BJ.

[el_fantasma]

Kendigit, b****ing rides, did a show on the restoration of one in season one. According to Comcast it's repeated this Saturday at 4 am. I'm intrigued by this so I'll record it.

[OrrieG]

Originally Posted by el_fantasma

Kendigit, b****ing rides, did a show on the restoration of one in season one. According to Comcast it's repeated this Saturday at 4 am. I'm intrigued by this so I'll record it.

I think it stretched over several episodes, might want to record the series. Was a cool rebuild, lots of work. They even duplicated the original exhibit of a jet engine based on photos and other documents.

[lower50's]

I have never seen one in person but they are amazing machines. Found a vid of one driving around.
https://youtu.be/vz_NzPdLx5M

[Donaldo]

I have seen 2 in Morro Bay CA. in the last few years, one, like the one in the first pic of the thread, was being shown at a weekly Saturday morning car get together by a family that has a trucking business in the rural county. The second had an open bed like a large pickup but large enough to hold a suburban, in a local shop for repair, was in the area for a car show. Probably 3 years ago.

[_Ogre]

holy 8 yr old thread revival batman

2012 power tour had this futurliner at the holland mi stop
coolest vehicle since sliced bread

my co-driver took this pic of ogre in the cab

[Henry50]

Cool thread, I saw this one in Auburn IN a few years ago,

[Softpatch]

Originally Posted by _Ogre

holy 8 yr old thread revival batman

2012 power tour had this futurliner at the holland mi stop
coolest vehicle since sliced bread

my co-driver took this pic of ogre in the cab

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that is cool right there
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Why is that not you avitar ogre.?
.
.
.
.

[Clay54]

Originally Posted by OrrieG

I think it stretched over several episodes, might want to record the series. Was a cool rebuild, lots of work. They even duplicated the original exhibit of a jet engine based on photos and other documents.

I was able to see the original episode and then several repeats. The one these guys "rebuilt" was #3. What a mess that thing was when they started. Seems like I remember seeing several of those in a traveling show when I was a kid.

[Donaldo]

The 'pickup style' one I saw locally is listed for sale on Hemmings for $1 million - 1 big truck !!

[_Ogre]

a futureliner has to be one of the most unworldly vehicles to drive
you sit 10 feet up, centered in a narrow cramped cab with only room for one person
here i am waiting to go up to the cab, i'm 6'4'' the cab is almost 2x as tall as an ogre

[MARTINSR]

If you want to follow a great page on Facebook the grandson of Harley Earl (who was behind the Futureliner) posts some awesome stuff. https://www.facebook.com/Harley-Earl...31472/?fref=ts

Brian

[mr48chev]

I'm another that followed the rebuild of the one that Kendig-It did on the show. It indeed was a mess when they started and wasn't and easy redo but those guys don't cut corners on anything they do.

It seems that in the past few years more of those have come out of hiding. The big money for the one sold at auction may have a part in that though.

[lower50's]

I love the dually front and rear wheels.

[Russell Ashley]

The GM Parade of Progress came to Savannah, Ga in 1954, and I remember being totally impressed by it. I was 13 and already a "car guy" who loved everything automotive. I remember just walking around the FuturLiners (GM spelling) and wondering how anything that beautiful could be built. They had white wall tires and dual wheels on the front.