Back to the future

Shortly after my father graduated from college in 1938, he took a job with General Motors and joined the Parade of Progress, a traveling road show of twelve Futurliners (the 'e' was dropped for trademark purposes) designed to show the wonders of GM automotive engineering during the pre-television age.

These red and chrome behemoths each weighed thirteen tons and carried a driver--in a single center seat--and two team members directly behind him in an aircraft-like cabin sixteen feet above the pavement. On arriving in a town, the twelve Futurliners would circle like wagons in a city park, usually around current GM models on loan from local dealers. Large panels on either side opened to reveal displays of futuristic themes--focused, one suspects, on GM's role in them.

Though his days with the Parade ended with Pearl Harbor, he often talked about 'his days on the caravan'--throughout the U.S, Mexico, and even a trip to Havana. Until today, however, I had never seen one, but a photo in the weekend section of the local paper showed fully restored Futurliner No. 10 currently on exhibit at an auto show here in Melbourne.

I even got to climb the stairs and sit in the driver's seat. Way cool. -DJN