Page 156 - Demo

156 BARRETT-JACKSON EXPERIENCE FALL 2024Futurliner was imported to Canada, restored with a FIDO blue and white paint job, and was used as an exhibit vehicle to sell cell phones. In 2005 it was restored to look like an original Futurliner with a red and white paint scheme.In 2006 at BarrettJackson%u2019s 35th Anniversary Scottsdale Auction, this grand bus %u2013 now known as the %u201cBarrett-Jackson Futurliner%u201d %u2013 was added to the docket and crossed the block on Saturday, January 21. It was well known at the time of sale that the consignor was hoping for a mid-six-figure winning bid. When the hammer fell, it was a shot heard around the world. After a heated round of bidding, renowned collector and philanthropist Ron Pratte won the Futurliner with his $4.4 million bid, making it the second-highestselling American-made auction vehicle at that time. The shock and awe of everyone in attendance reverberated throughout the giant tent that housed the auction arena.Fast forward to 2015, when - after a painstaking concours-quality restoration - Pratte sold the Futurliner during the Scottsdale Auction in front of an equally ecstatic audience that went wild when the hammer dropped on a bid of $4 million. This time, illustrating the incredible generosity for which Pratte was known, 100% of the sale benefited America%u2019s military through the Armed Forces Foundation.According to the National Auto and Truck Museum (NATMUS), the Michigan State Police received two Futurliners: the BarrettJackson Futurliner and a second one intended to be used for parts. According to Hemmings, in 1956 the second example had been rear-ended by another Futurliner that had lost its brakes on a mountain road. The damage was significant enough that GM opted not to repair it, and it was decommissioned. After spending some time alongside the BarrettJackson Futurliner in the same junkyard, it changed hands in the mid-1980s and was later discovered in a Yuma, Arizona, junkyard in the late 1990s. After two subsequent sales, it was acquired by a collector in Sweden in 2007. As of March 2018, this twin to the BarrettJackson Futurliner was undergoing restoration in Sweden. After it was decommissioned by GM, another well-known Futurliner that once displayed the %u201cPower for the Air Age%u201d exhibit seemingly disappeared until the 1980s, when it reemerged in the possession of a concept car collector. A decade later, it was acquired by a truck collector in California, and was sold at auction to an anonymous buyer in 2011. Following the sale, its new owner commissioned a full restoration - including its cutaway Allison J-35 jet engine display - by Dave Kindig of Kindig-it Designs at his Utah-based shop.Two more Futurliners belong to Chrome Cars in Germany. According to a 2013 Hemmings article, one of the Chrome Cars Futurliners underwent modifications to become a car hauler while NATMUS reported the other was converted to a motorhome complete with an Art Deco-style bar. The motorhome Futurliner received a distinctive %u201cStars and Stripes%u201d paint scheme in the 1980s, which it still wears today. Both Futurliners can be seen on the Chrome Cars website and social media platforms. Peter Pan Bus Lines, an intercity bus service in the Northeastern United States, also owns two Futurliners, one for parts and one that previously wore Peter Pan%u2019s green and white colors but has since been returned to its original 1953 red and white scheme. NATMUS has a Futurliner of its own within the museum. According to their records, the Futurliner displayed the %u201cOpportunity for Youth%u201d exhibit, which included winning model cars from the Fisher Body Craftsman%u2019s Guild contest, and it displayed the %u201cThree Dimensional Sound%u201d exhibit in the Parade of Progress. It later toured the Midwest promoting Goebel beer and then Dreisbach and Sons Cadillac-Chevrolet-Oldsmobile in Detroit. The Futurliner was