The GM Futurliner
GM Futurliner Restoration Project
National Automotive and Truck Museum of the United States

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1953-1956 SECOND GENERATION FUTURLINERS
    In 1953, the Futurliners were rebuilt into their second-generation form. In 1956, just three years after their rebuild, the popularity of the show waned and the Futurliners were either sold or donated. Approximately 13 million people in nearly 300 cities nation-wide saw the 12 vehicles roll into their town and enjoyed a free show that provided them with a glimpse into the future.

    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 its dual (side by side) front wheels. Each wheel has 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 inline 6 cylinder OHV GMC engine. The engine is coupled to 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 to the 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 vehicle 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.