Futurliner, the truck of the future from General Motors

In the XNUMXs and XNUMXs, no country in the world spoke better about the future than the United States. Big success Chicago Exhibition "Age of Progress" early XNUMXs, it reminded General Motors Vice President Charles F. Kettering of organizing a series of shows at engine technologywho could travel the country to "make millions of people live" for the future.

The procession that looped through the streets different cities and who stopped in a special space, created in accordance with all the attributes fairwas usually formed from 24 trucks, 11 cars, 4 vans and one a dozen motorcycles... Repeated until 56, they were a great success, with an estimated 13 million visitors.

The Parade of Progress

The first Progress Parade took place in Florida in 36, and GM designed and built eight trucks known as Silver Top Streamliners march and carry one movie screen or they turned into rudimentary boxes. It was so successful that four years later, twelve more trucks were built, this time for real. futurists.

They were called Futurliner and they had to participate in the parade, carrying the necessary material for the show, and above all, they had to turn into a stage, in the office, in a traveling museum. They were about 10 meters, height (to the roof of the cabin) 3 meters and 60, weighed 11 tons and were made on a frame Military GMC.

Like a fighter

Housing, red and silver, with inscriptions on typical characters of that timein addition to transforming into a stage or a mobile office, it was equipped with ten doors and various hatches; we can say that he was the progenitor of modern "mobile homes".

The cabin was fairly high and was central and built-in. plexiglass, the material from which the cockpits of fighters were built at that time. Was single placeThe dashboard and large white steering wheel were also very modern in design and concept at the time.

Inline six with a volume of less than five liters

It was originally powered by an inadequate 4-cylinder all-wheel drive diesel engine; but it was too slow, and in the 53rd year new gasoline engine, 302-cylinder in-line GMC 6, from 4.949 см, also of military origin.

In fact, in 53, all 12 copies were "revised" with the correction of some defects and the addition of various accessories, for example, an air conditioner, so that the driver who “cooked” in the Plexiglass cabin would have a minimum of comfort.

Not lightning

Speed, of course, was not one of the priorities of the Progress Parade, but the transmission was eight-speed, 4 long and 4 short; if that was not enough, the driver could personally select a further reduction from the power take-off, which could lead to a further 24 gear ratios.

He reached i 72 km, and equipped with two 170-liter tanks to minimize stalling, the large drum brakes seem insufficient for all this weight; so much so that they say that during the parade some Futurliners collided precisely because of inadequate brakes... When the Parade or Progress ended, the twelve Futurliners were sold or donated charitable organizations.

XNUMX-year restoration

Over the years, the traces of twelve Futurliners were lost, while in General Motors, someone decided show interest in these real stylistic exercises. At the beginning the nineties There were nine of them, some were abandoned and "disassembled" in the United States, some were redesigned and used mainly for advertising purposes.

There was one very greatly reduced, but practically intact, number 11, which was found in Chicago. A group of Canadian employees at GM bought it for little money, almost for the price of iron, and in over a decade perfectly restored both mechanically and body. 

During the auction Barrett Jackson, one of the most renowned classic car commercial organizations, Futurliner number 11 was sold for an amazing 4.320mila dollars. Yes, you read that right four million three hundred twenty thousand dollars... Not bad for a vintage truck.