Futurliner No. 10 at the Washington Auto Show
To say that the Historic Vehicle Association unveiled the latest addition to its National Historic Vehicle Register wouldn't be entirely accurate; no one could find a silk cloth large enough to cover it. So they made the announcement from inside the 33-foot-long General Motors Futurliner No. 10 at the Washington Auto Show on Thursday.
The huge, bus-like vehicle, built in 1940 to be a traveling stage, was flanked by two 1950s GM concept show cars; the Buick Wildcat II roadster and the 1953 Cadillac Le Mans roadster.
Futurliner No. 10 and 1953 Cadillac Le Mans
The National Historic Vehicle Register is an expansion of the U.S. Interior Department's efforts to document in the Library of Congress significant examples of America's historic and cultural heritage. Started in 1933 with the Historic American Buildings Survey, the Interior Department's preservation mandate has grown over the years, and as of last year now includes the National Historic Vehicles Register.
1954 Buick Wildcat II concept _ Courtesy of National Automotive and Truck Museum
To make the cut, Historic Vehicle Association president Mark Gessler said, a vehicle must satisfy four conditions: association with an important person; association with important events; significant design; and outstanding informational value.
So far the list includes the 1964 Shelby Daytona Coupe that began Carroll Shelby's bid to end Ferrari's dominance in endurance racing; the first Myers Manx dune buggy, one of the most-copied designs in history; the Tucker 48 prototype, known as the Tin Goose; and the 1918 Cadillac Type 57 touring car used by Eleanor Roosevelt, daughter-in-law of former President Teddy Roosevelt, in Europe during World War I.
Futurliner No. 10, one of 12 custom-made, art deco-styled display trucks built on late-'30s GMC bus chassis, was part of GM's Parade of Progress, a traveling roadshow that brought new consumer technology, agricultural techniques, and a variety of other wonders of modern life to North America's rural communities. The shows were held starting in the late 1930s, and again from 1953-56, when GM had reached the apogee of Motorama-era showmanship. It made about 150 stops around the U.S. and Canada.
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Gessler said the 30,000-pound Futurliner No. 10 was restored in Zeeland, Michigan, by a group of about 30 volunteers over a period of five years. They rebuilt the body, replaced or refabricated all of the custom trim pieces, and replaced the engine with a military version of GMC's 302-cubic-inch inline-six. More information about the Futurliner can be found on YouTube at the HVA's ThisCarMattersFilms.
from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/nSHy27
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