In the unlikely rural setting of a community called Beaverdam near Zeeland, Michigan a 5-year long, all-volunteer restoration of a GM Futurliner nears completion. Over 30 volunteer men and women and countless donations of talent, materials and money have resurrected a piece of GM history. At the June 2003 Eyes on Design show at the GM Design Center where the Futurliner made its debut showing, Bob Lutz, Chairman of GM was heard to say "You guys are heroes of GM!"

Resurrecting the Futurliner has also resurrected it's past - a remarkable era of GM history called the GM Parade of Progress. Paraders, as they were called, who worked on the Parade of Progress, have come out of the woodwork, with pictures, recollections and donations of memorabilia. There were 12 of these unusual vehicles that took the carnival of progress to rural towns throughout the United States, Mexico and Canada. While a handful of the Futurliners are still in existence, this will be the only one restored to original. The project, led by former GM Plant Manager, Don Mayton, is under the auspices of the National Automotive and Truck Museum. The Futurliner was donated to the Auburn, Indiana museum by Joe Bortz and under a "Partner Program," Don Mayton took it to his home in Michigan to do the restoration work.

Another unique and unusual aspect of this project is a web site that provides a week by week progress report, accompanied by pictures of the work being completed. To-date there are nearly 300 web pages filled with well over 1,000 restoration and historical pictures. The web site covers the historical period of the Parade of Progress from the mid-30s through the 50s. The web site can be found at www.futurliner.com.

In addition, a book has been developed that awaits funding for printing that chronicles the history of the Parade of Progress and the role that the Futurliner played in transporting leading-edge technologies to the public. At times, one has to wonder if it is the Futurliner or the Parade of Progress that evokes such a following for this project. Possibly, it's both.

The Parade of Progress was the brainchild of Charles F. Kettering, Chief Engineer, (GM Vice President and creator of the GM Research Labs) who was inspired by GM's popular Science and Technology Exhibit at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair. Kettering convinced General Motor’s management to take these educational exhibits on the road and in February of 1936, the Parade of Progress made its debut. The vehicles used were eight custom-built Streamliners, which resembled large moving vans.

In 1940, 12 completely new designed Futurliners were built to replace the Streamliners. These Futurliners were used by GM to continue the concept of bringing new technology exhibits and demonstrations via the Parade of Progress shows throughout the United States. The vehicles 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. Other areas that were demonstrated included gas turbine engines, diesel locomotives, friction (the good and evil aspects of it), sound demonstrations, ultrasonic thickness measurement techniques, high octane gasoline and high compression engines, powdered metal demonstrations, solar powered motor development, demos of stroboscopes, cathode ray oscillographs, measuring the bending of steel beams and tempered glass demo.

In addition to the 12 vehicles with displays, GM designed and built a very unique tent they called the "Aerodome" that could set 1500 people. It was totally supported by external beams and hence, had no internal poles to impede visibility.

In 1956, 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, spend a day setting up the free show, including the large tent, and providing them with a glimpse into the future.

One of the original exhibits, Our American Crossroads, was on display at the Chicago Museum of Science & Industry for many years in a simulated side portion of a Futurliner. The display, owned by GM, was then refurbished for display at the 2001 Detroit Auto Show and then at GM’s headquarters in the Renaissance Center Building in downtown Detroit. Inquires are being made into the possibility of reuniting the display with the restored Futurliner.

"General Motors' Parade of Progress is on the road again dramatizing the vital role of science in American life ... "presenting," as Harlow H. Curtice, president of General Motors put it, "a picture of America on the move toward better lives for all of us."

The new and exciting 1953 version of the Parade is an ultra-modern presentation, high-lighting the enormous progress the country has made in recent years. Visitors, for example, will hear the scratchy reception of the radio of 1925 as compared to modern high-fidelity microwave transmission -- will watch a tiny jet plane swoosh across the stage and take a fanciful flight into outer space.

Most of the Parade's exhibits are contained in the 12 "Futurliners." These special, 33-foot long, streamlined coaches have 16-foot side panels that open to form a stage for the exhibit areas plus a cover over the top. The Futurliners contain some two dozen major exhibits. They ranged from a demonstration that covers refrigeration and insulation to "Power for the Air Age," the jet engine story.

The Parade's stage show is presented in the aluminum and canvas Aerodome. Here is presented a show of achievements in such fields as electronics, aviation and chemistry. And it's all free -- no admission charge.

A crew of about 60 men, mostly young college graduates, operates the Parade. The men not only are lecturers and showmen; they also drive the vehicles, put up the tents and do the other necessary jobs.

The history of the Parade goes back to 1936. Sparked by GM's famed scientist, Charles F. Kettering, the Parade took to the road in Miami, FL, and from then until Pearl Harbor in 1941, it played before more than 12-1/2 million people in 251 cities. It is planned to keep the new Parade rolling across the U.S. almost continuously all year long."

The Futurliner is a massive bus-like vehicle, 33’ long, 8’ wide, 11’-7" tall with a whopping 248" wheelbase. An unusual feature of the Futurliner is its dual (side by side) front wheels that all move when steering. Each wheel has its own set of brakes, brake drums and bearings. In 1952, the Futurliners were modified into their second-generation form.

The 1940 Futurliners were powered by 4-cylinder diesel engines and 4x4 mechanical transmissions. The 1952 second generation 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, which has a two-speed gearbox bolted to its backside. This gives the driver the option of selecting from 8 forward speeds. Complicating this a bit more is another 3-speed PTO gearbox located at the rear of the vehicle. 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. 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 1940 Futurliners had bubble canopies over the cockpit (driver’s compartment), similar to a fighter plane of the era. However, this arrangement was brutally hot for the drivers and the vehicles were not air-conditioned! In the rebuilding modifications in 1952, the bubble was removed and a more standard windshield installed along with air conditioning.

The cockpit is reached by climbing a stairway to the top of the 11 1/2’ vehicle to a driver seat located in the center of the cockpit. This height positions the driver’s head about 10’ above the street and makes for a terrifying first time experience when going under an overpass! Two additional passenger seats were located behind the driver.

The vehicle has an incredible number of access and display doors – 19 in total. Two massive 16’ long x 5’ high doors on each side open to expose the display housed within the vehicle. They also provide a stage with a roof over it for the presentation. A 16’ long lighting panel is attached to the top of the overhead doors plus a 15’ long light bar rises from the roof another 7’ up above the Futurliner for additional illumination. To provide for the electrical needs of the show, 6 of the 12 Futurliners had 110 Volt AC generators driven by the PTO in the rear.

Because the brakes were 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 "Target Red" painted Futurliners were nicknamed the "Red Elephants."

Don Mayton’s first view of a Futurliner vehicle was in Palm Springs, California in 1998. While sitting in an outdoor café having breakfast with his wife Carol, he spotted a strange vehicle coming down the road that he had never seen before. And the fact that it had a big "GM" on the front further intrigued him. When he got home, Don, did extensive research and soon learned that it was most likely one of 12 GM Futurliners that GM had built in the 1940’s. It turned out that this particular one was owned by Bob Valdez in California which had been converted into a modern motor home. Don Mayton then knew he had to have one of these unique vehicles to add to his collection of various GM cars and trucks. He soon realized, however, that owning and restoring one would not be within his financial means.

His search led him to the National Automotive and Truck Museum (NATMUS) in Auburn, Indiana where they had one awaiting restoration.

Don volunteered to lead the restoration and it was set up where he would work on it at home. The museum’s role is to manage the finances and help raise the estimated $200,000 to complete it. The museum owns the Futurliner and Don and his crew of volunteers are taking great pleasure in being a part of an effort to bring the Futurliner back from the past.

Don expanded his garage (twice in fact) to provide room for the vehicle. The project has worked nearly every Tuesday in his garage from May 1999 and continues today. They do take the summer months off since the hard working crew does have another life out there beyond the Futurliner although with the dedication they exhibit, it sometimes is hard to tell.

The Tuesday on-site crew typically has 15-24 workers and has accumulated over 16,000 hours of donated time to the project so far. This is just the time spent "on-site". With all the work they have done at home, we would estimate that there is nearly twice as many hours accumulated on the project. A total of 30 people have been the core group of volunteers on-site plus a another 2 dozen people work on the project at their home locations, many outside of Michigan. And, the project would not have been successful without the help of the wives contributing food for lunches, snacks to keep them going and overall moral support while their husbands are off "restoring". Donated parts, financial donations, restoration services and labor have been a huge part of the project to supplement the "on-site" work by the group of volunteers in the Grand Rapids Michigan area.

While much of the body work and metal replacement is being done in Mayton’s garage, many of the individual components have gone home with local volunteers or been shipped to volunteers across the United States for restoration. The Futurliner, as many restoration hobbyists can attest to, is one of those "It’s worse than it looks." projects.

While the "knuckle-busting" portion of this project focuses on physically restoring the vehicle, another project is under way to recreate and document the historical role of the Futurliner. Videos, pictures, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks and personal accounts are being collected and documented. This will all find its way to NATMUS when the project is completed.

Although 12 were originally built, the project can only account for the current location of 9 of these. The first one that was converted (as mentioned above) by Bob Valdez is using modern drivetrains and the interior is a modern motorhome décor. Two others have been converted with modern drivetrains and features and are used in various advertising activities. These are owned by the Peter Pan Bus Company in Springfield Mass and by the Kebecson Co. in Montreal Canada who leases it to companies such as the FIDO cell phone company for advertising. The other vehicles are sitting in scrap yards and are generally beyond a restorable condition. Two of the vehicles we believe were used by Oral Roberts in his ministries and may have been taken to Central or South America and not returned to the US. This project is the only one being restored to the original condition with original engine, transmissions, drivelines, 110 VAC generator, etc. The only change in the name of safety is an improvement in the pneumatic braking system.

2003 was a monumental year for the project. In the spring, General Motors asked Don if the vehicle could be available for the big "Eyes On Design" show coming up in June. The vehicle had a long way to go at that point and the crew was estimating completion in 2004 or later. After discussions with the team and estimating what it would take to get it presentable in terms of time and money, GM made a substantial financial contribution that allowed the vehicle to be sent out for completion of the exterior body work and painting. The crew also elected to start doubling up on their weekly work sessions from April thru June.

By early June, the vehicle was painted in the original bright red and white, the engine and drivetrain installed and the vehicle was cranked up for the first time. It is now running on it’s own for the first time in probably 40 years. A tow truck was used to transport it to Detroit and it was a major part of the 5 days of shows and activities at the GM Tech Center in Warren Michigan late June.

A quarterly newsletter goes out to over 500 people who are interested in the project or who have contributed financially to its success. We also are in contact with over 50 of the original "Paraders". These are the guys who ran the show in the 1950’s – all college graduates in their early years with GM. They did everything from driving the vehicles between shows, setting it up around the country, making the presentations of the new technologies and breaking it down again for the next location. They held a reunion at the project site in Sept 2002 and were thrilled with the progress and to see their old vehicle getting back on the road.

When the work sessions resumed in the fall of 2003, they were back on the once/week schedule but many of the volunteers continue to work at home on various aspects to supplement the on-site efforts. Work efforts in 2004 are concentrating on finishing all the details inside the vehicle including areas such as wiring, interior trim, instrumentation, drivers cockpit, exterior lights, turn signals, and many, many others. A completion in late 2004 is still the target. When completed the Futurliner will reside at NATMUS in Auburn and will periodically be on display at special events.

NATMUS is located in two of the former factory buildings of the Auburn Automobile Company. Vintage cars, trucks, and toys and models of cars and trucks are exhibited in the restored factory buildings containing 112,000 square feet. NATMUS is open daily from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. EST. Admission is $6.00 for adults, $3.00 for youth ages 5-12 and under 5 free. Group admission rates (10 or more) are $4.00 adults and $1.00 for 5-12 years old. For more information call 260-925-9100 or visit www.natmus.org.