The Futurliners were a group of twelve custom vehicles styled in the 1940s by Harley Earl for General Motors and built for the company’s Parade of Progress, a travelling exhibition that toured the United States and Canada. They were originally manufactured for the 1939 New York World’s Fair and later became the centrepiece of the parade itself.
GM Futurliner at a glance
| Builder | General Motors |
|---|---|
| Styling | Harley Earl, 1940s |
| Built for | the Parade of Progress, 1940-1941 and 1953-1956 |
| Number built | 12 |
| Length | 33 ft (about 10 m) |
| Width | 8 ft |
| Height | more than 11 ft |
| Weight | more than 12 tons |
| Engine, 1953 | 302 cu in GMC straight-six, 145 hp |
| Transmission | four-speed automatic with gear splitter |
| Original top speed | about 40 mph |
| Survivors | nine known in 2007; two unaccounted for |
Based on one source, the English Wikipedia article on the GM Futurliner.
History of the GM Futurliner
Parade of Progress
The Futurliners were built after GM had already used eight custom Streamliners between 1936 and 1940. The new vehicles were integral to the Parade of Progress, a promotional caravan that travelled a 150-stop route across the United States and Canada. Alongside 32 support vehicles they were driven by 50 college graduates, who also staffed the exhibitions along the way. At each stop the caravan was arranged around a large tent and an information kiosk, and every Futurliner carried a single themed exhibit covering subjects such as jet engine technology, agriculture, traffic engineering, stereophonic sound, microwave ovens and television.
Design and equipment
Each Futurliner was 33 feet long, 8 feet wide, more than 11 feet tall and weighed more than 12 tons. The bodywork was heavily stylised art deco streamlining, painted deep red on the sides with a white roof, and the vehicles had large articulated chrome side panels, whitewall tyres and a high-mounted driver position with a panoramic windscreen. A rarely seen technical feature was that the front wheels, like the rear, were dual wheels. Each vehicle also had a self-contained stage and a deployable light tower.
Mechanical changes in 1953
The original powertrain was a four-cylinder diesel coupled to a four-speed manual gearbox, which gave a top speed of about 40 mph. When the parade resumed in 1953 the Futurliners were refurbished with a 302 cu in GMC straight-six petrol engine rated at 145 hp and 262 lb-ft of torque, a four-speed automatic transmission with a gear splitter, a metal roof over the glass cabin and Frigidaire air conditioning. The driver sits centrally at the front of the cab with his eyes about 10 feet above road level, and the cab has room for two passengers.
End of the parade
The parade was interrupted by the Second World War and resumed in 1953, when it set off with 44 vehicles in total: the 12 Futurliners, 14 trucks and 18 cars. In 1955 a miniature assembly line display named A Car Is Born was built for one Futurliner, and a display titled Our American Crossroads was also used that year. The revived parade was discontinued for the last time in 1956, displaced by the growing popularity of network television, one of the technologies the Futurliners had once promoted.
Design and features
- Art deco bodywork: streamlined styling by Harley Earl with articulated chrome side panels.
- Built-in exhibition: every vehicle carried its own stage, light tower and a single themed display.
- Central driving position: the driver sat high above the road behind a panoramic windscreen.
- Dual front wheels: an unusual arrangement matched to the dual rear wheels.
- Refurbishment for 1953: a 302 cu in six, automatic transmission, metal roof and air conditioning.
GM Futurliner versions
- Original 1940 specification: four-cylinder diesel, four-speed manual, glass cabin.
- 1953 specification: 302 cu in petrol six, four-speed automatic, metal roof and air conditioning.
- A Car Is Born (1955): a Futurliner fitted with a miniature assembly line display.
- Our American Crossroads (1955): an animated diorama of road building from 1902 to 1953.
- Futurliner #10: nominated in 2014 for the National Historic Vehicle Register.
The Futurliner was a GMC-built vehicle of the same era as the GMC CCKW army truck, and the Parade of Progress was one of the ways GM promoted the cars it sold through dealers. More vehicles are in the GMC collection.
Sources
- GM Futurliner, English Wikipedia: history, dimensions, engines, parade dates, survivors
