As
a byproduct of General Motors' hugely successful industrial exhibits at
the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago, GM decided to build a fleet of
behemoth "Streamliner" trucks, packed with amazing exhibits and
demonstrations showcasing GM's latest inventions and technology. Named
the "Parade of Progress", this fleet of 8 "moving van sized" buses and
attendant support vehicles lumbered across America during the depression
era and dazzled rural Americans with appliances, technology and science
that they had only read about in dime store comic books or si-fi
novels. The Parade of Progress was a huge hit for General Motors and
exposed over 10 million consumers in 220 cities, to the technological
wonders of the day. After touring GM's displays at the 1939 World's Fair
in New York, Charles Kettering (Vice President of GM's Research and
Development) decided it was time to "modernize" the Parade of Progress,
so he authorized construction of 12 new "Futurliner" buses (dimensions:
33' x 96' x 11'7"; weight: 33,000 lbs.; wheelbase: 284") at GM's
Pontiac, Michigan plant, to replace the out-dated and road-weary fleet
of "Streamliners" (the Streamliners were retired and their fate is
unknown). Each new Futurliner was fitted with 19 display and access
doors as well as an impressive lighted roof panel that could be raised
16 feet in the air, to illuminate exhibits at night. Packed with
wondrous exhibits and displays (including demonstrations of early forms
of television and microwave ovens!), this new Parade of Progress and its
fleet of 12 "bubble-topped" 2-story Futurliner buses and support
vehicles, hit the road in February 1941 and began introducing more
Americans to the wonders of technology. After only 9 months, more than
2.5 million consumers in over 30 cities had experienced the wonders of
this travelling Parade of Progress, but the WW-II attack on Pearl Harbor
in December 1941 brought an end to the tour and GM mothballed the
entire fleet of Futurliners. Probably coinciding with the introduction
of Chevrolet's new Corvette fiberglass sports car in 1953, General
Motors pulled the Futurliners out of storage, installed new larger
motors and comfort features like air conditioning, and launched a new
Parade of Progress tour. This 3rd tour was not as successful as the
first 2 had been, so after 3 years, GM brought the tour to an end in
1956. It's interesting to note that during this final tour, two
Futurliners collided, inflicting major rear end damage to one of the
Futurliners. However, the other 11 rigs successfully finished the tour.
At the end of this tour, the Futurliners were sold or given away - some
were repurposed by other companies but others ended up rotting in a
field or junkyard. At this time, most of the Futurliners have been
restored or are currently being restored. Our featured Futurliner was
acquired by the current owner in an extreme state of deterioration, so a
full restoration was not possible. The cab was transferred to a
Peterbilt truck chassis with a 230hp motor and the owner has restored
this "survivor" Futurliner as a flat bed with a "roll-back" carrier for
vehicle transportation, while retaining much of the original
Futurliner's unique trim, style and dignity.
Click Image to Enlarge it
| |||
1941 GM Futurliner
with driver's door open | 
1941 GM Futurliner
showing large GM trim | 
1941 GM Futurliner
impressive front view | 
1941 GM Futurliner
open driver and access doors |
1941 GM Futurliner
driver's seat up top | 
1941 GM Futurliner
mechanic's access door open | 
1941 GM Futurliner
beautiful art-deco style | 
1941 GM Futurliner
side view shows flat bed |
1941 GM Futurliner, unique
molded GM front bumper | 
1941 GM Futurliner
stylish vehicle transport | 
1941 GM Futurliner
stairs to driver's cockpit
Source: oldtrailer.com
|
