1950 General Motors Futurliner
Offered by Barrett-Jackson | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 17, 2015
This is another one of the stars of the annual Barrett-Jackson show in Scottsdale. And it’s been there before. It sold for $4 million back in 2006. It also comes from the Ron Pratte collection. And it is cool.
The Futurliners were originally built in 1940 and used until the outbreak of the war. But in the early 1950s, they were restyled and made a comeback: the stars of GM’s Parade of Progress. They transported GM’s jet age concept cars around the country to show them off to millions of people. Both sides of it actually open up and can hold a car. It’s the perfect place to park your 1950s-era GM concept car.
There are some really cool pictures out there of these things – especially when they’re all lined up. In total only 12 were built and nine are still known to exist (one was destroyed, two are “missing”). Originally, they were powered by a 4.9-liter straight-six, but this one was upgraded during restoration and uses a 6.6-liter six.
The remaining Futurliners exist in various states. This is one of the more correct examples out there (minus the engine). It’s one of the coolest buses ever built (if that’s what you want to consider it). It brought $4 million last time, what’s your guess this time around? You can read more here and see more from Barrett-Jackson here.
Update: Sold $4,000,000.
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