This Might Be Your Only Chance to Own GM's Ultra-Rare Pre-War Creation

Only one of 12 built, I took a ride in the massive 1939 Futurliner back in 2021, which was a good time.

General Motors Futurliner For Sale

Photo by: Peter Holderith / Motor1

Peter Holderith

By: Peter Holderith

Aug 6, 2024 at 1:11pm ET

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Few vehicles turn heads like General Motors's Futurliner. Built in the 1930s, the fleet of a dozen streamliners showcased American industrial might and GM's technological prowess. They toured across North America, taking a break for WWII, with the fleet of buses parked for good after 1956. From there, each Futurliner had its own journey to eventual restoration, dilapidation, or obscurity.

Two of the Futurliners were obtained by Springfield, Massachussets-based Peter Pan Bus lines in the 1990s, and one of those is for sale today on Facebook, of all places. The price? Right about a million bucks.

An unusual turn of events led me to take a ride in and drive this behemoth back in late 2021. According to the company, it was for sale then, but only really through word of mouth. Now it seems Peter Pan is more anxious to get rid of it. The company currently uses it for special events; This space, once reserved for an exhibit on technological progress, is now a small stage where bands typically play.

General Motors Futurliner For Sale

Peter Holderith / Motor1

Its original drivetrain has been replaced with a diesel engine, which has enough power to pull the Futurliner along at a reasonable pace. It's a strange thing to drive, sitting so high in the air. A narrow staircase leads up to the cab which has a single central seat for the driver and a small bench behind for a few passengers. I have never driven an old bus, but that's the best way I can describe the experience. The steering is about one million turns lock-to-lock.

It was in pretty good shape when I drove it, and it seems it's doing even better now. The worm-screw system that raises the light bar above the vehicle needed some love a few years ago, but it seems that's been addressed. As I previously mentioned, Peter Pan actually has two Futurliners, although one of them is in a pretty sad state of disrepair. I was told the company planned to swipe the worm drive out of that one in order to get its functional beast working better, and that may have been done.

General Motors Futurliner For Sale

Peter Holderith / Motor1

In 2021, Peter Pan claimed that anyone who wanted to buy the restored machine also had to remove the rusty hulk of the non-functional Futurliner, although this new listing does not mention removal of the old husk.

My intention here is not to help sell this thing, but I will highlight that it's a very interesting part of history and other Futurliners have sold for much more than what Peter Pan is asking. If you're curious, Peter Pan's restored bus was likely bought from a group of several gathered outside Chicago in the 1990s by car collector Joe Bortz. Its history before that is very hazy.

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The second Futurliner the company has, the rotting hulk, is actually far more interesting in terms of its past. It was formerly owned by famed televangelist Oral Roberts, who used it to tour Central America on a mission to promote Christianity. Over a few decades, it somehow made its way to Mount Vernon, New York, before allegedly being deposited in a scrap yard, and then finally landing in a farm field in East Meredith, New York. That's where Peter Pan found it, identifiable by several modifications made to its steel skin over the years.

General Motors Futurliner For Sale

Peter Holderith / Motor1

In any case, just know that, yes, the unit for sale actually does run and drive just fine. It could certainly use a little love—even the restoration it received is a few decades in the past at this point— but it's unlikely there will be another opportunity to buy a Futurliner anytime soon.

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