GM Futurliner
| General Motors | |
|---|---|
 One of the Futurliners 2011
|
|
| Futurliner | |
| Manufacturer: | General Motors |
| Production period: | 1940-1941 |
| Previous model: | none |
| Successor: | none |
| Technical specifications | |
| Engines: |
Otto engine : 4.9 liter diesel engine |
The GM Futurliner were a series of vehicles from General Motors , the twelve vehicles of which were produced in 1940 and 1941, restored during World War II and continued to be used from 1953 to 1956.
The futuristic buses were designed by Harley Earl and displayed at the Parade of Progress in 1941, which was to showcase the company's new vehicles and technologies in the United States .
Parade of Progress
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The vehicles shown at the Parade of Progress launched in Florida in April 1941 were mainly used to showcase new technologies such as microwaves and televisions . These things were installed inside the vehicles and could be viewed. You could also find out about similar innovations.
When the USA entered World War II , the Parade of Progress was interrupted. During the war, the vehicles were brought back into shape and the parade continued in 1953 before ending in 1956.
In addition to the Futurliners, 32 escort vehicles took part in the parade through the USA.
After the parade
After the parade, General Motors sold or donated the vehicles. Two of the Futurliners went to the Michigan State Police in 1959 , which used the cars as "Safetyliners" to provide information about safety on the roads.
Another car was given to Oral Roberts , who used the vehicle as a mobile stage during his evangelical tours in the 1960s. Today it is believed that this vehicle is in Central or South America .
Current time
Today the Futurliners are extremely expensive collector's items. In 2006 the number eleven Futurliner was sold to Arizona for a total of four million US dollars .
In the summer of 2008, the number eight Futurliner was delivered to its Swedish owner Nicklas Jonsson, who planned to restore the vehicle within ten years.
Of the remaining six surviving specimens, three are currently being restored and two can be seen in advertisements. A Futurliner is in the collection of the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, Michigan .
Futurliner number 9, which was bought by Bob Valdez in 1984 and converted into a mobile home, was acquired by a German collector in March 2015 .
Number 7 was found by chance in December 2016 in a backyard in the US state of Maine. The Futurliner, believed to be lost, now has his new home with an Ilmenau entrepreneur who wants to restore him over the next few years.
Trivia
- A Futurliner can be seen as a SWAT van in an episode of the Batman cartoon series .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Safety Liners
- ^ Cathedral Cruisers
- ↑ Chandler buyer takes $ 4 mil bus home ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Rare Futurliner from GM now at home in Ilmenau . ( thueringer-allgemeine.de [accessed on March 9, 2017]).
