A few years ago, we had the opportunity to drive a 1939 GM Futurliner—one of the most unique and awe-inspiring vehicles ever to come from America. In fact, it was this very Futurliner that’s for sale right now. It’s on the market for a cool million bucks, which we certainly can’t afford, but we’d be glad to drive it again if the buyer feels so generous.
The Futurliner looks more like an apartment building that Jay Gatsby would own than a bus, which is only part of what makes it special. At its core, it’s a 12-foot-tall rolling showcase of pre-war Americana. It currently belongs to Peter Pan Bus Lines in Springfield, Massachusetts, and it stands as one of only 12 Futurliners ever made between 1936 and 1940. They were all originally built to promote GM’s Parade of Progress, and after all these years, just nine are believed to remain. Even then, the whereabouts of most of them are unknown. This specific example is half of a duo owned by Peter Pan but its sibling is derelict.
It stands at a whopping 11 feet, six inches tall while measuring 7 feet, 10 inches wide and 32 feet, 10 inches long. I always thought it was shaped like the Iron Giant’s head. With its massive GM logo, four horizontal headlights, skinny windshield, and corrugated aluminum side panels, there isn’t a vehicle on this planet that looks like the Futurliner and, as we found out, people tend to notice when it’s driving around.
Getting into the Futurliner’s cockpit requires climbing a small flight of stairs. At the top, you’re met with a driver’s seat and steering wheel in the middle like a McLaren F1. Behind the center driver’s seat are two leather-lined jump seats, and you might be asking, “How could something as long as a Greyhound bus only have three seats?” Since the Futurliner was never a passenger vehicle and was only meant to be a rolling showcase, the rest of the Art Deco bus unfolds into a soundstage for various events. Oh, and there’s also an overhead canopy light that extends from the roof.
Powering the Futurliner is a four-cylinder Detroit Diesel with a four-speed automatic transmission sending power to the rear wheels. Since it weighs right around 12 tons, it isn’t exactly quick, but who needs speed when you have this much style?
With a million-dollar price tag, the next buyer of this historic Futurliner will either be a very wealthy collector (maybe one with a monocle) or a museum. Whoever owns it next, though, will hopefully bring it out and show it to the world because it’s the sort of vehicle that people need to see, to remember such a time in American history.
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