HOME
'33 World's Fair
1936 Parade
1938 Previews
1941 Parade
1953 Parade
1954 Parade
Aero-O-Dome
Exhibits
Demonstrations
Appreciation Letters
Futurliner
In-Line Six
Other
Futurliners
Kadletz
Boyajian
Boyajian 1
Boyajian 2
Boyjain 3
Valdez
Peter Pan
Pan 1
Pan 2
Pan 3
Learned
Paraders
Oral
Roberts Cathedral Cruiser
|
(NOTE:
Mr. Robins moved to Waterford, ME after this article was written.
There is a 2005 updated at the bottom of this page.)
In
the Spring of 2000, Don Mayton traveled to New Hampshire to locate and
take pictures of a Futurliner owned by Kendrick Robbins. It took Don
quite a bit of detective work to track down the vehicle. Don was not
able to make contact with Kendrick who lives and works in Maine and
rents the New Hampshire home, but he had three possible locations
where he could go to.
At the first town he stopped at, he
inquired at a tire and automotive store. They had never heard of the
Futurliner nor of Kendrick. They sent Don to the police station where
he was told Kendrick lived in the next town but they didn't have an
address.
The next town was 10 miles away but when Don stopped at the police station, they would not give out the
address. He was told to go to City Hall where he could look up the
address on tax records. The address was easily accessed on the
computer and was only a few blocks away. |
When Don arrived at the
location of where Kendrick's street was thought to be, there were about
five very narrow (driveway size) streets headed off in different
directions and none was the street he was looking for. Don inquired from
a man coming out of the local VFW and he stated he never heard of the
street. The man pointed to the post office across the street and told
Don to check with them. Fortunately, they knew of Kendrick and provided
specific directions that took Don back to the VFW. He was instructed to
go up a very narrow street, turn onto another narrow street and turn
again onto another narrow street. How Kendrick ever got the Futurliner
to this location is a mystery. |
|
Like all the unrestored
Futurliners, this one is very bad with years of weathering and lots of
rust. Many key parts, such as
doors, engine, transmissions, windshield, rubber bumpers, trim pieces
etc., have been removed and stored elsewhere. The person that was renting the home did not have
Kendrick's phone number but stated that he does show up once a month
to collect rent.
|
Don
then proceeded to the junkyard where the Futurliner came out of. It
was still in operation and run by the widow of the original owner. She
did remember the Futurliner and said it had been gone for about 10
years. It had been driven into the junkyard in the mid 80s. She could
not remember where it had come. |
2005
UPDATE -- The following was received from Joseph Brown: "I
personally viewed the Kenndrick Robbins Futurliner in Waterford, ME on
Jan. 5, 2005. It is in very bad condition, the engine was removed with
a torch, and no holds barred. the bottom half of a side door has
fallen off, there is very little left of the drivers compartment, over
all for a vehicle that was driven in the 80s it is very hard to
imagine that it will ever see another highway on its on power. The
Futurliner is for sale." |
|