GM Futurliner 1999 Project Notes

Dec. 2	Connie DeJong brought over Gordon DeBaar (Transmission Specialist) to look over the 3rd transmission (3-speed/PTO) that he has volunteered to restore for the project. He looked over what we had disassembled and stated that all the gearing looked good and with a new set of bearings we should be in good shape. He stated although this was a special for our Futurliner it was common to see this type of transmission in large dump and over the road tractor trailer trucks of this era. He also stated, if there are any additional parts needed for this transmission that we should be able to find them. He loaded the disassembled transmission and the new bearings, that we had acquired, into Connie's van to take back to his place to restore. While looking at the Futurliner he inspected the differential (rear end) and told us how to inspect it to determine if we needed to disassemble it for new bearings. He also outlined the procedure for its disassembly. It is remarkable in this restoration of how many people who have come forward and offered their services. It is really enjoyable working with all these volunteers.
Nov. 1	I called Kim Schroeder at GM Archives today. She is working on a major project - a 180 foot display on GM History for the Detroit Auto Show. We need to check that out. Kim confirms that the American Crossroads Exhibit has been returned to Michigan and is being refurbished for display at the Ren Cen. She did not seem familiar with the details but says she is supposed to meet with the guys who are working on that exhibit. I asked her if she had seen the Chrysler Museum and she said I was the 6th person to ask her that this week. She says GM announced plans for a museum before Chrysler started theirs, but timed it so people would not be hindered from seeing it by the remodeling going on with relocation of GM headquarters to the Ren Cen. I told her I would send a copy of our Futurliner presentation so she could tune the guys in that are putting the GM displays together. Kim says that her grandfather painted the inside of one of the Futurliner exhibits but is having trouble remembering which one it was. Perhaps our presentation outlining the exhibits will trigger some memory for him. I'll follow up with her after Thanksgiving and see if we can learn more about what's going on.
Nov. 16	Futurliner Questions: Dean, had another conservation with Bill Putman from California that is the restorer for Brad Boyajian. I appears that their Futurliner never has a generator set as there is no PTO shaft and the original electrical control box has no reostat for controlling the output voltage. As I am copying former "Paraders" we have the following questions: 1-How many of the Futurliners had generator sets? 2-Does anyone have a list of Futurliners #1 through #12 and which of the displays they each had? We do have a list of the displays for 1953. 3-In the 1950's were any displays added or deleted? 4-We have been getting excellent pictures from the "Paraders". Does anyone have a set of photos of the displays? We do have a few pictures but not a complete set for every display. 5-Fortunately our Futurliner News is being passed around and as a result we get more and more information. Keep up the good work. 6-Bill Putman stated that the Military Vehicle Preservation Association (MVPA) is a good source for parts for both our engine and transmission. I am getting a courtesy copy of their magazine. However I do not need another magazine coming to this house. Does anyone of us get this magazine or want to get it in case we need information in the future?
Nov. 11	Just had a conversation with Kendrick Robbins the owner of the Futurliner in New Hampshire, which is the 9th one we have been able to locate out of the original 12. Kendrick acquired the Futurliner in 1984 but did not remove it from the junkyard until the early 90's. Just a few brief details about this Futurliner: 1-It has the original GMC 302 OHV 6-cylinder engine coupled to its Hydramatic automatic transmission. 2-It has some of its original paint still on it. 3-The top light bar (fin) still works. On all the original pictures that I have seen the light bar lights up a narrow plastic lens that reads "Parade of Progress". On this light bar the plastic lens reads "Square D". The owner and I can only assume that at one time Square D used this Futurliner. (We will have to try to track this down.) 4-Kendrick plans restore this again like many modernizing and using a modern powertrain. 5-Like the others this Futurliner is badly rusted. We can thank Keith Silcox up in Canada for leading us to this one. Our Partners are doing an outstanding job.
Nov. 11	Bill Putman called today and gave me some more information about their Futurliners. Their 2nd Futurliner just got hauled into his shop. It is badly damaged in the rear and it corresponds with the damage that is recorded by Douglas Dean. Douglas told me that one of the Futurliners lost its brakes on a steep hill and crashed into the other one and the back was wiped out. Since it was near the end of the Parade of Progress program GM decided not to fix the one that was wrecked in the rear. Later this rear damaged Futurliner was given to the Michigan State Police as a parts vehicle. Bill said the interior is filled with parts. Although he has not inventoried what is in it he does intend to make an inventory and let me know. Already he can see in the back a almost new aluminum grill, two rubber cast sections of the bumper one with a "G" and the other with the "M". If we must get one cast at least we will have an original reference. He said the bumper sections are not worth using except to have new ones cast. This 2nd Futurliner is #8 as he has found the "GM-8" plate that goes between the two other headlights that shows up in a lot of photos. Also he said there is the remains of a piece of plastic that covered the headlights. This 2nd Futurliner is deteriorated to the point it cannot be saved except for parts. It dose have the original powertrain inside. Both of their Futurliners have the little running lights that show up on many photos and we have not seen any. These are yellow lights in the front and red in the back. I already talked to Bill about acquiring a set. I will have to work on that in the future. He stated that the 2nd Futurliner has a generator and the 1st one never had a generator. The large electrical box in the back is considerably different for the different applications. We will continue our communications and continue to learn more.
Oct. 28	Today I had a meeting here at the house with Brian Deis and Len Dorne. The purpose was to find a source to sponsor the redesign and construction of the Futurliner's roof and the large overweight 16' doors. The roof is weak from the original design and since we must totally rebuild it we should correct it structurally. What we do to correct it will not affect the appearance of the Futurliner. The doors are simply too heavy for the roof and if we can lighten and strengthen them it will help in the roof problem. Brian and Len have a lot of contacts in the automotive and steel industry and they are going to try to identify potential sponsors on this area.
Oct. 24	Dean, yesterday the Michigan Classic Chevrolet Club stopped at our place on their fall tour. There were about 30 cars and 65 people. The oldest were two 1928 Chevys and on up to a late model Chevy Suburban. It was cold and the wind was blowing hard but they had a good visit with real interest in the Futurliner. One of the members was a retired State Police officer. He recalled when the Michigan State Police had a Futurliner. He said he also knows the driver that drove the Futurliner for the State Police. He is going to get me his address and phone number.
Oct. 24	Hi Don, I have recently acquired some more vintage photos of the Futurliners. I have attached JPG graphic files of each photo below. The file name reflects the GM photographic number on the back of each photo. I found photo #76666-3 very interesting as it appears to have been taken in Detroit on Woodward Ave. (I can just make out the name on the street sign in the original photo, I think the cross street is Cadillac Pl.) The year appears to be 1946 as the parade float in front of the Futurliner is for the 1946 Soap Box Derby. If you don't have any of these photos already, please let me know and I will get copies made for you. My progress on the model has been slow over the summer. Between my real job and other personal commitments I haven't been able to put as much time into the model as I would have liked. I attended a model car show in Toledo, Ohio in early October and displayed the unfinished model there. It generated quite a bit of attention. I had several request for kits of the model. I also met a couple of people who said they have pictures and information on the Futurliners and the POP. Both said they will try to locate the info. and get back to me. Hopefully something will come from these contacts. I've also started putting together a web page where I will be placing information about the Futurliner and the POP. It's still incomplete, and I plan to add a section to this page documenting the building of the model. If you are interested, I would like to add a section on the restoration project as well. I think it would be a good place to provide contact information for the NATMUS museum and the restoration project. I don't want to put any references to the museum or the restoration project on my page without your (and the museum's) approval. I can use information from the mailings for page content if you like, or you could supply me with information you would like to have on the page, such as email and/or mail addresses for the public to use to contact NATMUS and the restoration group. Joel, those are great photos and I do not have any of them. Yes need copies of them to add to our collection. It is interesting that one of the 1940 vintage Futurliners was used in 1946. This is the first time that I have found out that they were used after World War II before being modified in 1952 for the 1953 Parade of Progress. I think I have given you copies of e-mails that we found out the right color red for the Futurliners. I even found a chip at Hershey. It is a 1953 Chevrolet red called Target Red. I know that you have been busy however I really appreciate you working on that model. I plan to visit several GM plants in Indiana shortly to try to raise money for the museum for this project. Your model would really be helpful. Do you have any target date? Have you decided to still build a few completed units or are you just going to build the kits? Your web page looks great. Yes we want mention of the project and my e-mail. I am sure that that is also ok with the museum. Check with Bobbie or John. I will send you a copy of a page we hand out to explain the project. I will include it on another e-mail.
Oct. 14	FUTURLINER FRONT END PROBLEMS I received a call from Mario Petit (FIDO Futurliner-Canadian) that they had experienced front end problems two weeks ago. DESCRIPTION OF FRONT END MECHANICS The front the the Futurliners have dual (side by side) steering wheels. Each wheel has its own set of brakes, brake drums and rides on its own bearings. During the FIDO Futurliner's restoration this front end was disassembled and new inner and outer bearings were installed. FRONT PROBLEM Mario driving the Futurliner noticed that the right front started to make a clunking and grinding noise. Upon disassembly, they discovered that a sleeve had broken due to lack of grease from their restoration. The hub area was completely dry of lubrication. They discovered that when you spin the outer wheel it has a small hole that will line up with a grease fitting that lubricates this area. REPAIRS Repairs were accomplished by taking the broken sleeve to a local machine shop and for $125 (Canadian) a new brass sleeve was made. Installation was relatively simple. In fact from breakdown to on the road again was less than 8 hours. CATASTROPHIC FAILURE If the noise that the Futurliner was making had not been investigated the bearings could have froze up resulting in an axle breaking. LEFT WHEEL DISASSEMBLED Subsequently the left wheel was disassembled and checked for lubrication. Although some grease was found it was not sufficient. However, no damage had occurred yet. The left side was properly lubricated and reassembled. ORIGINAL ENGINEERING In Mario's opinion if this area is properly lubricated it will last 50 years or more. His advice was very simple: this front wheel assembly MUST be taken apart and all components cleaned, inspected, all parts that show any wear replaced, then properly lubricated and reassembled. Both disassembly and reassemble is relatively simple. The above information is for the purpose to add to our list of to do items in our restoration. It is a real benefit to have a running Futurliner in Canada where we are receiving excellent communication of their problems so we can hopefully avoid and not make the same mistakes. We will make enough mistakes of our own.
Oct. 4	MONTREAL, QUEBEC TRIP Went to Montreal to purchase parts from the people that restored a GM Futurliner and had a surplus. The folks here restored their Futurliner for the purpose of selling cell phones (FIDO). It is a business venture. They spent $300,000 (Canadian) in their restoration. They have done an outstanding job in the restoration however it is not restored to original and it has been restored to accommodate their specific needs. Modifications include: Engine, transmission and drive-line different than original. Modern electronics. Modernized instrument panel. Modern Honda generator. Different colors. (No GM logos or Parade of Progress indication) Many trim changes. Do not use original hub caps. The Canadians that restored this Futurliner have been most helpful in identifying things that they have had trouble with or are having trouble with. They have been very helpful in giving us original parts that they did not use in their restoration. As they restored their Futurliner they had to have parts made. Fortunately for us they had originally planned on restoring two Futurliners. However, due to the cost and other business needs they only restored one. That gave us the opportunity to purchase their surplus newly manufactured part. Although the cost was high it cost the Canadians a lot to have these parts manufactured. We could not have had them manufactured in this country as cheaply as we purchased these parts. For some reason the local NAPA stores simply does not handle Futurliner specific parts. The parts we purchased were: Windshield $5,000 Rubber molding $3,600 (Used around base of Futurliner as a bumper.) Aluminum moldings $1,440 (Used around sides of Futurliner.) Aluminum moldings $ 720 (Used between large moldings.) Total $10,760 TRIP SUMMARY Carol and I left on September 18 and headed for Montreal. I will not bore you with the dull ride from Zeeland to Oshawa, Ontario our first over night stop. The next two days we spent a little sight seeing around the 1000 Island region of eastern Lake Ontario on both the Canadian side and the New York side. We continued sight seeing in upper New York and the fourth evening stayed in downtown Montreal. Last year’s trip to Montreal we stayed outside the city and I was not going to fight that morning rush hour again. They next morning we headed through the streets of Montreal to meet Mario Petit who has been my contact for the past 18 months on this project. Mario has been most helpful during all our contacts with the Canadians. I was driving a short box pickup and had concerns whether I would get all the parts in the pickup. Mario, another person from their business, and myself worked two hours getting everything stuffed to the box of the pickup. In addition to the parts that we purchased we also had to put into the pickup the rear high/low/PTO transmission that they gave us. Although we got everything in the pickup the right rear spring was sitting on the frame. Well, I would just have to take it easy. RESTORATION TIPS Mario told me of some problems they have had since their restoration. The large side doors are very heavy and are hung on the top with 16' piano hinges and the bottom with hinge sections with a long 16' hinge pin. They noted that their doors were getting very hard to open. They ended up on the right side removing the doors and they found that since the restoration the hinges were rusting. To correct the problem they removed the long 16' hinge pins and replaced them with short stainless steel hinge pin and added grease fittings. FIDOS ENGINE In the process of research the FIDO Futurliner (Canadian) was the one given by General Motors to the Michigan State Police in 1959. The State Police used it as their Safeliner (another story). When I made my presentation to the Western AACA about the Futurliner Restoration Project one of the AACA members at the meeting remembers working at a local heavy truck garage and changing the engine on the State Police Futurliner to a later more powerful GMC V-6. According to Mario their Futurliner came with 1965-1974 vintage 401 cubic inch V-6 engine. This would match up to the memory of the local AACA member. CUSTOMS Prior to leaving I called customs and inquired as to the procedure to get through US Customs. No problem I was told since I was carrying vehicle parts there would be no duty. A different story when I got there. The first customs officer did not know what to do. He was inclined to just let me go through but decided to check with his boss. She was one to stick to THE RULES. She said that I had to hire a broker fill out customs papers. Of course their offices are located right on site. The first broker asked if I had an account. Of course not. She said the last time she did something unusual it took her 4 hours and she was leaving early that day. The second broker started with the question "Do you have an account? and with my answer she said forget it. I said what do I do? "Go next door." Been there! "Go two doors down." So off to #3. I started with my tale of woe that I had already been to two brokers already. At least they were sympathetic and started working on the paper work. Each item that I was carrying from Canada to the US had to have a certain code. Once they got a code on everything the computer spits out the duty. First time through this process the duty cost came to $685. I said I was told there would be no costs involved. "Sorry that’s what the computer says." I explained the whole Futurliner restoration project and the fact that it was a volunteer project and even all the funds were from volunteers. So back to the computers the two ladies went. They changed codes to better match what we were doing. This time the computer comes close to $300. One of the ladies calls her boss and she suggests to look up codes on antiques. After another series of code changes the duty drops to $217.75 the best they can do. I just appreciated their diligence to work to get the cost down. This process took close to three hours with Carol sitting in the truck wondering what happened to me. PETER PAN's FUTURLINERS We spent the next couple of days sight seeing New Hampshire before arriving at our daughters in Conn. In Conn. while Carol and daughter went shopping I drove to Springfield, Mass. to Peter Pan Bus company who own two Futurliners. I visited Peter Pan in April of 1998 and they were busy working to restore one of their Futurliner and use the other for parts. Their second Futurliner is not worth saving. They literally dug it out of the ground in New York state. It had been used as a living quarters in New York. Prior to that it was used by two different Christian preachers in New York City and Mexico respectfully. Since April 1998 very little progress has occurred on Peter Pans Futurliner. Other business needs had stopped the project. However just recently the owner of Peter Pan Mr.. Peter Picknelly has decreed that he wants the Futurliner done by the spring of 2000. Like the Canadians they intend on modernizing the Futurliner and making it a business venture for the Peter Pan Bus company. It will be painted the Peter Pan colors and have modernized power train and electric's. I ended up spending parts of two days meeting with the person in change of the restoration a Mr.. Bill Sinico and Mr.. Peter Picknelly. We basically agreed to cooperate in every why that we can in our restorations even understanding that our end results will be different. I did spend some time in the shop talking to one of the men who had recently started working on the Futurliner and him giving me suggestions on different methods for repair of the rust. They have already cut out a lot of rust and replaced it with new metal. While there I took lots of photos of their Futurliner. To purchase our parts we took our Futurliner account down to $46.18. We completed our trip back to Zeeland without breaking the windshield or the springs on the pickup.
Oct. 4	Dean, received a letter some time ago from Parader Renald E. Goyette and tonight got to talk to him. Had a great conversation with him about the PARADE OF PROGRESS and the Futurliner. He sent some color slides of the Futurliners including a night scene. He was in charge of maintaining the "American Crossroads" and he stated it was difficult to maintain. Later this year he going to stop at the museum in Chicago to view it again and then write to give us as much detail as he can about it. He took one of the units to NY for the Dave Garroway show in 1954 or 1955. The Futurliner broke down in what he called Pensiltucky. They had a new engine brought in from Pontiac and worked all night and still made the 9:00AM show the next day on schedule for the "Crossroads" exhibit. Renald came on the Parade in 1954 and closed it in July of 1956. He then joined Detroit Diesel and spent 32.2 years with them. The power display that supplied all the power for the Parade when set up was twin 6-71 200KW Detroit Diesel powered generators. In the big tent they had a carbon arc spot light that he ran and it spotlighted the exhibits. They also showed a motion picture, which showed the new jet engines of that era. As he thinks of more things about the Parade. He will keep us informed. He is a pilot and plans to fly over here one day and bring all his slides and other stuff.
Oct. 1	Hi Don, It sounds as if you had quite a work session. Dick does not remember what #10 was used for. He drove #1 which he said was the field office. How is the slide project coming along? Louanne & Dick Kay Comment from Don: This is the first time that I found out which Futurliner had the office. Apparently, the office Futurliner was a later addition. Douglas Dean, when he was here has a photo that he gave us that shows the office Futurliner in the distance.
Sept. 9	I joined the Parade of Progress in April 1953. We left Detroit following a ceremony in front of the General Motors Building in Detroit on April 18th. I was hired as a lecturer trainee, and later served as an administrative assistant to the Director, John E. Ryan. doing logistics planning and convoy planning, etc. I traveled with the Parade to 110 cities in the USA and Canada, and then transferred to the GM Financial Staff in Detroit in October 1955. I compiled a record of cities visited showing dates, show sites and hotel accommodations covering my entire itinerary and distributed it to every member at my farewell party. I also distributed copies to attendees of the reunion we held in Orlando several years ago. I have a considerable amount of material, including brochures, news clippings, photos, and stuff collected throughout my tour. I am quite sure that the only person who traveled with the caravan from beginning to end is James Morris of Savannah, Georgia. I held numerous positions in the Corporate staffs including payroll administration, benefit plan development, collective bargaining with UAW, -and a six-year stint with EDS beginning when GM bought the company in 1984. I retired in May 1991 after 38 years of service. We have lived in our present home for 38 years where we raised two children. We have been spending the winters in Florida - Panama City Beach and Naples - since we retired. You are involved in a very interesting project and I wish you success. I look forward to your progress bulletins. I don't recognize any of the names of partners mentioned in the bulletin and letter. I hope to see the Futurliner sometime during its reconstruction. James I. Gentzel 2739 Teynham Place Bloomfield Hills, MI 48301
Sept. 6	Steve, I will be home most of this week so I will make arrangements with Len and get the hubcap. Again thanks for picking it up. A week from this Saturday Carol and I are headed to Montreal to pick up parts from the Canadians that own the Futurliner that we are purchasing from them. We are getting the following parts: The wide lower aluminum siding (new-remanufactured by the Canadians). The narrow lower aluminum siding (new-remanufactured by the Canadians). The rubber bumper strips (new-remanufactured by the Canadians). A new windshield (new-remanufactured by the Canadians). The rear PTO gear box (they did not use it in their restoration). It will be an extra for us and will plan to use it as a working power train display. Another wheel cover. Since there were two styles used (an early 1953 model and a later 1955 or 1956 model) we do not know which one they have an extra. John, I have been in contact with Brad and Mike in California that have purchased the two and one Futurliners respectfully. Both parties intend to modernize the Futurliners to some extent and I am not sure if they ultimately know what they are going to do with them. At this time, I have found no one that is going to restore any to the original configuration. However I am keeping a dialog up with whoever has one of these unique vehicles. Again thanks for the info.
Sept. 2	Dean, as you and I have discovered the Futurliner in Dana, Indiana and one of the two in the junk yard in Arizona have been purchased and shipped to Brad Boyajian in California. I called him the other night and his intentions is to restore one of the vehicles and then later decide what to do to the other. He only intends to restore the outside to look like the original. He is not sure what he is going to do with the inside. He is not sure what type of drive line to put in it yet. We will keep in contact to see what ultimately his plans will be.
Aug. 30	Dear Don, Sorry for the delay in getting back to you about the Parade. As I may have stated, I was lecture supervisor during the final six months before the Parade hit the road in 1953 and continued in that capacity during the showings until December of '53 when I became an advanceman (one of four) for the show until June of '54 when I was promoted to asst. regional manager for Public Relations at San Francisco. I supervised the setup of the show by the men a of course the assignments for the lectures on the various "live" show exhibits. I have located a number of 8x10 glossies of various activities, such as the setup of the main tent, lecture demonstrations, photos of the Futurliners on the road in the Kentucky hills, etc. I don't know whether or not you can use them (about 15) but you're welcome to copy any of them you wish. Let me know and I'll send them to you....and you can return them after making any copies you may wish. :Hope this will be helpful.... Best regards, Frank Faraone
July 31	Don, thanks for the information re: the above. For the life of me I cannot remember Douglas Deen. having been on the Parade. I will have to dig up a personnel list and refresh my failing memory. I might add that there was not an extra tent carried on the road...maybe back in Detroit. The tent material was extremely fireproof, a requirement following the tragic fire in Boston. I some cities the fire dept would put a blow torch to the tent material just to check....It was interesting work and an experience that everyone said was most unique but none wanted to do it again. Too many people too close, too often. It was not uncommon to go out to dinner in a large city, to a remote restaurant, and before your first cocktail, see four of your fellow Paraders walk in the door. Ha. Will relate more at a later date. Conrad
July 31	Hi Don: I read the email re: Douglas Deen visit and I concluded that you may be seeking historical information about the Parade activities as well as Futurliner. I have a 34 minute video titled Parade of Progress l&ll. It was produced from the archives of General Motors Film Library by one of the Parade members about 4 years ago. The video shows the complete operation of the original pre-war Parade and a short section that shows the post war version leaving the GM Building for Lexington KY for shake down and operational check-out. It shows the original "liners" with a bubble canopy similar to a fighter plane. the "liners were originally powered by 4 cylinder diesel engines with a 4x4 mechanical transmission. No air conditioning! They were reworked and repowered by GM Truck and Coach.One of the highlights of the video is a showing of "Our American Cross Roads" that happened to be my favorite exhibit. The question I have is are you looking for some history as well such as when the Parade left the GM Building and turned left on Woodward Ave., one of the "liners" slammed into the rear end of another and could not be driven because the body was crunched into the rear wheels. Let me if you have seen the video. Incidentally, the video is in color and also shows how the tent was setup. Best regards, Ed Harben Ed, yes we are looking for information on the entire Parade of Progress starting in 1936. As we restore this vehicle we want to include the entire history around the vehicle to communicate what a significant event it really was. We do have a copy of the 34-minute video. The color part is of the pre-war Parade and the black and white is of the post war. We do not have any color videos of the post war. If you know where there is such a video, we would appreciate locating it. We knew the original "liners" had the bubble tops from the photos that we have but we had no details of the power train. We knew that they were repowered in 1952 with the Korean War power train consisting of the dual range hydramatic coupled to a 302 cubic inch overhead valve inline 6 cylinder GMC engine. So this information that the pre-war "liners" were powered with 4 cylinder diesel engines with a 4x4 mechanical transmission is new to us. The exhibit "Our American Cross Roads" still exists and is at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. One of our restoration-volunteers wives happened to see it at the museum two months ago and it was operating. This exhibit is still owned by GM and our long-term goal is to once reunite it with a restored Futurliner. First of all thank you for all the information that you have supplied. However, we are looking for every bit of information that we can put together. So to answer your question yes we want what you can remember. The Museum (National Automotive and Truck Museum) has put on a summer intern (Cara Rice) and she has been assigned to follow up on some research. You might be getting a call from her.
July 29	John, had an excellent visit with a member of the GM Parade of Progress. He was on the Parade of Progress the last year from January 1956 until the close of the program. Douglas and his wife Irene spent 5 hours with us today. Douglas was able to detail a lot of information that continues to fill in the gaps of history that we are putting together. I would highly suggest that Cara spend some time with Douglas. He has some excellent slides and he has put them on a video for me. After I review the video I will send it to you and then you can forward it to Cara. With the static display that Cara is working on for the museum I would suggest that a repeating video be put together on the Parade of Progress. Douglas has all the equipment to do this and this is really his suggestion. This is something that Cara could work on. So please pass this on to Cara as she does not have an e-mail yet. Now I am going to list a review of some of the facts about the Parade of Progress as Douglas related to me. One Futurliner was used strictly as an office. The doors were raised and the stage lowered and then walls were rolled out by hand on each side about 2'. The walls were rolled out much like a modern motor home except they were not motorized. This office Futurliner Douglas has been able to point out in photos that he brought. It was used by the people in charge of the Parade of Progress. Also the office kept statistics of the number of people that attended the show. Paraders were stationed at each entrance with hand counters. Another person was send around each hour and collected the counters and replaced them with a new counter. They kept records of attendance for each hour. This was done every hour of every show. All the Futurliners had power steering pump problems. Coming down a mountain the brakes of one of the Futurliners failed and crashed into the rear of the next Futurliner. This 2nd Futurliner was considered totaled and taken out of service. Since it was near the end of the program, it was not replaced. The Michigan State Police were given two Futurliners. One good operational Futurliner which was set up as a Michigan State Police "Safety Liner" and a 2nd (the crashed one) Futurliner to serve as spare parts. Both later ended in Chicago (Highland Park). GM's "Previews of Progress" was a show put on by GM and running at the same time. Although it was similar in content, it consisted of two men in a station wagon that went around to junior and high schools putting on science demonstrations. To become qualified to be a lecturer on the Previews of Progress you had to apprentice at the Parade of Progress. It took the entire crew to put up the tent and it took a 1/2 day. It was a lot of physical labor. Douglas was one of the science lecturers. Douglas believes that there was a 2nd tent because it sustained a lot of wear and tear. Once the tent was up a special constructed trailer was pulled up. The entire side dropped down to form a stage and the top raised up to form a roof. This was not a Futurliner. In traveling they were instructed to maintain 300' separation to prevent accidents. They also all had radio receivers and the lead vehicle and tail vehicle had two transmitters. The Futurliners carried the nicknames "Red Elephants". The paint color they refereed to as a Cadillac red. Douglas had a deck of playing cards that were given out that had a Futurliner and a modern sketch of the Parade of Progress. Now you collectors go out and find a couple of decks. Old Scout ( the 1902 Olds on the Parade of Progress) has disappeared according to Douglas. Does anyone know of its whereabouts? Douglas took all of his slides and turned them into a video presentation. He did an excellent job and is willing to help us to do the same for the Museum. He has all the equipment. On a personal note, Douglas is married to Irene (Macy). Irene believes that she went to high school with Bruce Berghoff. Irene graduated from Coley High School in 1948 with Bruce. We will check this out. Douglas left us some copies of photos that he took during the "Parade". We will add this to our collection.
July 11	Ed. thanks for the color photos. They are outstanding and are the first color photos that we have received of the Parade of Progress in the 50's. Sometime in the future I would like to take the photo of all the Paraders that is in front of the Futurliner and the one with all the Paraders in their suits and identify as many as possible. I was wondering if you could take that on. I have a list of some of the Paraders and their addresses and maybe with that help you can identify everyone. Let me know.
July 11	Bruce Berghoff the author of "The GM Motorama-Dream Cars of The 50's" was here during one of our work sessions. He also was an employee of H.B. Stubbs the builder of all the exhibits in each of the Futurliners. He left a series of notes that I am coping to J.M. Smith and others. I am going to ask JMS to have Cara to follow up on all these items. If any of the other people that I have copied have information pertaining to these people or subject matter let John or myself know. The following is Bruce's notes: CROSSROADS EXHIBIT - (Now at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry) + Sound system designer (early 50's) was Bart Blett (817) 338-2853 + Sound system builder (late 50's) Bruce Berghoff (H.B. Stubbs Co.) + Exhibit construction drawings should be still available from GM Design staff (Larry Erickson at the Tech. Center might be of assistance!). (I will follow up on the GM Design staff people) GENERAL PHOTOS - Anne DeCamillo (Corp. sales staff-director of shows-Ren. Cen.) should have a loose leaf photo file (saved from Lon Weithley and Bob Roberts files) with selected shots on the tour. (I will followup and get the GM contacts here.) EXHIBIT MECHANISM DESIGNERS/BUILDERS + Nelson Phillips (former head of GM engineering staff show section-now retired in Warren or Novi area). (Does any one know how to contact this Mr. Phillips?) + Bud Shosey-former assistant to Phillips. (location unknown) (Again does anyone know how to contact Mr. Shosey?) PURCHASER/SELLER OF MOST OF FUTURLINER FLEET AROUND 1959 Richard Knapp then President of "Anchor of Michigan" Div. of O'Neill Enterprises of Cleveland. As I (Bruce) recall Dick said he paid approx. $300 each for close to 10 Futurliners. Dick lived in W. Bloomfield until the 1970's running Anchor Motor Freight of Michigan (Chevrolet Haul away nationally). Dick would be about 73 years old and is probably in the Cleveland or Florida area. He might be reached through O'Neil Enterprises in Cleveland. (Again any leads would be helpful.) We have some information here that needs tracked down so any other leads on these people let us know.
June 11	Wally Snow was showing a photograph that he found on the wall of a photographer in Spring Lake, Michigan that showed a Futurliner in a local junkyard. It was an old photo and the photographer will not let us have it. However, several old car people recalled what junkyard. Unfortunately that the junkyard is no longer in existence. Ed remembered the name of the original owner and went searching. The junkyard was at US 31 and Pontaluna in the Spring Lake area. Ed talked to the owner, Bill Braun (616) 865-6951, and he recalls that at one time they had two Futurliners at the yard. The one was the original Michigan State Police Futurliner (given to the State Police by GM). He recalls that they picked it up in Lansing and drove it to the yard. Later it was sold to a man in Chicago but not Joe Bortz. This Futurliner was painted blue and cream when the Michigan State Police had it. Through all the photos that I have we have traced it to the "FIDO" or Canadian Futurliner. I called them (FIDO) and they confirmed that theirs was cream and blue when they received it. The 2nd Futurliner in the yard also went to Chicago but had to be towed. Ed and I are planning to meet with Bill Braun to see if he can recall the origin of the 2nd one and who it was sold to.
June 11	Dear Mr. Mayton, Your message about the Futurliners was interesting & my husband & I have fond memories of the Parade. I'm writing on behalf of my husband, Richard Kay, since he has suffered a stroke & is now in a nursing home. I showed him your letter & he said he would like to donate colored slides if you are interested. He was on the Parade in 1954-1955 & he & Jim Tolley were roommates. We enjoyed several Parade reunions before his stroke. Let us know if you are interested in the slides. Louanne & Richard Kay Dear Lousnne and Richard Kay, It was good to get your message and I am glad you could still share our restoration and historical project with your husband. Yes we could use those 35mm slides and after making copies we would be more that glad to return them. We would not want to take away precious memories of the past. This is an exciting project and especially rewarding is the contacts we have been able to make with the people that were involved in this event. I will be looking forward in hearing from you again.
June 8	Futurliner people bidding against each other for Parade of Progress stuff. We need to list the Futurliners peoples e-mail so we can stop bidding against each other. Stu as you probably know and John Martin Smith and Joel on two occasions have bid on the same article. Also we need to start a section about the past participants that we can call "Paraders". I have already received copies of personal photos from retired Priest Fr. Frank Bredeweg. He has even given me a list of past participants in the Parade of Progress.
May 26	Conrad (Connie) Vaughan 6l6 N. Wilson, Royal Oak, Mi. 48067 Hi Don, Got your letter the other day and have been wondering how I might best serve this project. I was with the Parade for the final 18 months of its tour and was involved in the "final solution". i.e. the tear-down of all the equipment. It took place in a warehouse in Hamtramck and during the final days of this activity there was a rumor that the Futurliners were to be scrapped. It seemed a shame to lose these beasts of burden having spent many an hour pushing one (no. 9 usually) down the highway. Then there was the time I was "chosen" to shepherd a Futurliner with a new motor from San Antonio to El Paso-on New Years day no less. Forty mph or less. Anyway it was a bit of a love affair with a pretty interesting bit of history so when the rumors started flying about scrapping -- to make a long story short -- I liberated an extra wheel cover. Its quite beautiful to this day, stainless steel, and I cant think of no better place for it than to be a part of your project. If you have anyone in the Royal Oak area who will be traveling to Auburn have them give me a call. If not I can always devise some way to mail it to you. Will await your contacting me. Reply: Connie, got your message. You need to think of all those interesting stories about the Parade of Progress and the events. We would like to capture them. Also would appreciate the liberated hubcap. We will work out a way to get it to Auburn. What we could do is set up a display at Auburn with the hubcap, an original picture of you and the Parade of Progress, a current picture of you with the hubcap and a credit of your donation of the hubcap to the restoration project. Our Futurliner has no hubcaps. Anything you can think of just give us an e-mail. Don
May 17	We recently received information that at the Ford Museum in Dearborn that they have a short video showing a young boy 11 or 12 years old rushing home excited about the circus coming to town with these big locomotive looking trucks. In the video, he convinces his parents to go and it is the Parade of Progress. We are arranging to get the video. The video is $38. The question is, do museums exchange info like this on a free basis? If so, we'll save the $38. If not I will go ahead and order it.
May 16	I want to mention John Wiltjer's name under partners and his contribution to the project. If you recall he has already supplied the plastic material for the large side door fluorescence fixtures. GM Powertrain has been suggesting that with the extra engine and transmission that we are going to get restored that we put together a powertrain display. Del Carpenter not only wants to do it but he wants it to run. His vision is to have it mounted on a small trailer to be pulled by the Futurliner to a show. Since we already have a spare engine and transmission on there way we simply need to acquire the rest of the stuff. I called GM Powertrain back and they said they could support us with anything that needs machined. I call the Canadians that have the restored "FIDO" Futurliner since they did not use the large transmission in the back (low, high and PTO) and they said we could have theirs. They would like both recognition and financial credit (not cash but donation credit) for giving it to us. I will ask John Martin Smith President of NATMUS for a letter for the donation value once we determine what that value is worth. Del also said he could make a simulated flat dash of the Futurliner to mount on the trailer. GM Powertrain also said if we find a third transmission (hydramatic) the they would cut holes in it to mount on the trailer to show the inner workings. Anyone got a spare 50's military Hydramatic out there??? We'll find one. I will also have to have GM Powertrain make up a short drive shaft to connect the Hydramatic to the back transmission. I think I have already communicated that the engine is now out. I will work out a schedule with Bill Bicknell when he can pick it up. Friday Del showed up with another radiator that we can use for the spare display. This past Wednesday we had a group of old car people at the house and Berry Palmer loaded the jack shaft assembly into his pickup to restore. This jack shaft assembly consists of a 2' plate that has mounted on it a shaft of about the same length set in pillow blocks and with a double set of pulleys at each end. Belts from the engine drive one end and at the other end, the belts run the air conditioner compressor and the power steering pump. Although I have not had time to inventory all the stuff that I picked up from the Canadians last fall, there was a spare air conditioned unit with compressor. Our Futurliner did not have the compressor. I want to make sure we are giving credit to all the partners that are working on this project that is why I am detailing so much. Note from Dean Tryon: Arnie showed me that latest model drawing. He's going to send me a reduced copy of it and I'll see if we can use it in the newsletter, either at the top or maybe in phantom across the page (saw that capability when I was playing with imported pictures the other day). Have you considered making it more than the 3.5 pages as the first one was? I know you want to keep it brief so people will read it but the work (mostly on Phil’s part) to print and distribute is a big job. I'll work on it next week, my Buick group newsletter is done and I'll get it out next week.
May 14	To Bill Bicknelll: Bill, both the engine and transmission are out of the Futurliner. I talked with GM Powertrain and they are working on getting the spare engine and transmission shipped out of California. It is not necessary for you to come north to pick up the engine until we get the one out of California. Perhaps we can then arrange to meet at the Powertrain plant near Ann Arbor where you can pick up both engines for restoration. We will work out the details later.
May 7	Note from Stu Allen: Kim Schroeder of GM Archives contacted me and suggested I call: Douglas Dean 2933 Tulane Drive Lansing MI 48912 517-372-4294 I talked to Doug tonight. He was a lecturer with Parade of Progress in the 50's. He rode in a Futurliner once but never drove it. He usually drove a Pontiac Convertible or Chevy wagon. He apparently was on the final tour when they parked the vehicles and closed the tour. He has a list of the participants in the show and would be interested in working on a reunion. He last saw a Futurliner when it was being towed towards Chicago but the tow truck driver didn't seem to know where it was going or the purpose. He said one of the Futurliners was used as an office and folded out to make a sizeable office space. He asked if the tent still existed? He believes there were once two of the tent structures. They were very impressive and appeared >huge when you were inside since they were free standing with no poles. He wants to talk to Don and would love to see our project. We need to get him to sit down and tell us more. He says he has some pictures and info. to show us also. I sent him a copy of the newsletter with a note and Don's phone and address.
May 6	The man I talked to today was Larry Faloon from the GM Design Center. He stated that he wanted to talk to Kim about allowing us to put the American Crossroads exhibit into our Futurliner. As I mentioned this original exhibit that was built for the 1940 Parade of Progress is still at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. I was there in April but it was not operating. They told me it was down for repairs. We will see if we can set up a meeting with Kim. That means we have to get our slide show put together. I will get a package put together as soon as possible.
May 5	At our old car luncheon today Jim Baker brought copies of newspaper articles from the Grand Rapids Press when GM's Parade of Progress was in Grand Rapids. Because the copies came off of microfiche, the copies are too poor to fax or scan. I will summarize the articles: 7-13-1953 -- Announcing the Parade of Progress parade through downtown Grand Rapids and details about the parade including a photo. 7-14-1953 -- Picture showing Futurliner and article that Parade of Progress arrived. Setup of event to occur at John Ball Park. 7-15-1953 -- One half page ad announcing the Parade of Progress. 7-16-1953 -- Article discussing the previous evenings preview to community leaders along with a photo of the Fisher Body display in a Futurliner. 7-18-1953 -- Photo of Grand Rapids GM dealers greeting the Parade of Progress standing in front of a Futurliner. Jim went on to tell me he will be researching the morning newspaper that existed in Grand Rapids during that time at the local library.
May 3	I received a communication from Roger Foehringer who lives in Elgin, Illinois. Earlier he had sent me photos of a group of Futurliners that he took when Joe Bortz had them stored in a field in the Chicago area. He recently wrote me that he would be sending me a inside door locking knob. One of ours is missing. This will save us the trouble of having one made. Roger went to the trouble of going to where these were stored to see if he could find any stray parts lying around. Del and I will be trying to extract the engine and transmission tomorrow. In the meantime GM Powertrain is working on getting the spare engine and transmission shipped from California.