FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January, 2005

A DVD or VHS video is now available of the Futurliner restoration project. The approximate 45-minute video chronicles the history and restoration of Futurliner #10 by a group of volunteer men in the West Michigan area. Futurliner #10 was one of 12 large dual-front wheeled display vehicles designed specifically for the GM Parade of Progress. The GM Parade of Progress and its crew of about 60 young men carried futuristic and inspirational exhibits to millions of people across North America from 1936 through 1956. This 1953 Futurliner, with 16-foot display doors on either side, was a perfect platform for static exhibits and live demonstrations of emerging technology.

A group of volunteers have been working on restoring the vehicle since 1999 when Don Mayton (retired GM Manager) was smitten with the desire to have one when he saw a converted one while on a business trip to California. The video unfolds the story of how Don located the Futurliner at NATMUS (National Automotive & Truck Museum of the United States) in Auburn, Indiana. The vehicle, donated to the museum by Joe Bortz of Chicago, was in disrepair. As anyone who has restored a vehicle can attest to, it was much worse than it looked – and it looked bad. While NATMUS owns the vehicle, it was released Don under its "Partner Program" and Don trucked it to his pole barn in Beaverdam, Michigan – hence the name of the video, "Miracle at Beaverdam".

With volunteer labor and countless donations of materials and money, the Futurliner is nearing completion. This summer it will be a special exhibit at the American Truck Historical Society (ATHS) National Convention and Antique Truck Show on June 2-4 in Auburn, Indiana at the Kruse Auction Park. It will also be shown at the Red Barns Spectacular XXV car show at the Gilmore Car Museum on August 6-7.

The Futurliner and the role it played in bringing the imaginative GM Parade of Progress to fuel the hopes and dreams of young boys is inspiring – and still is. While the boys aren’t so young anymore they are still inspired – inspired to volunteer their time every Tuesday to work on the vehicle’s restoration.

The first Parade of Progress hit the road on February 11, 1936, opening in Lakeland, Florida. By Pearl Harbor, the Parade had covered well over a million miles, had visited 251 towns and small cities in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Cuba, and had played to some 12.5 million people. There would eventually be three GM Parades of Progress, the last one taking its final curtain in mid-1956.

The man who sparked GM’s original 1936 Parade of Progress was none other than Charles F. Kettering. Boss Ket was GM’s resident genius and research vice president – the man behind such inventions as the first commercial electric self-starter, Ethyl gasoline, the diesel-electric locomotive and much more.

Kettering hit on the Parade idea one day as he strolled through GM’s science and technology exhibit at the 1933 Chicago world’s Fair. The thought suddenly struck him; Why not take all this out to the people – let those who can’t see it here, see GM’s exhibit in their own hometown?