Traverse City, MI. –In conjunction with the 2008 National Cherry Festival, Hagerty Insurance—the nation’s leading provider of collector car and boat insurance—will be hosting a recently restored General Motors Futurliner at the annual Hagerty Family Car Show. The GM Futurliner is an extremely rare vehicle designed by Harley Earl in the 1940s. The 12 buses were manufactured by General Motors and used for their “Parade of Progress”, which toured the United States through 1956 to demonstrate advances in modern technology. The 33’ foot long Futurliners contained futuristic technology such as jet engines, microwave ovens, television sets, and many other rare advances […]
Traverse City, MI. –In conjunction with the 2008 National Cherry Festival, Hagerty Insurance—the nation’s leading provider of collector car and boat insurance—will be hosting a recently restored General Motors Futurliner at the annual Hagerty Family Car Show.
The GM Futurliner is an extremely rare vehicle designed by Harley Earl in the 1940s. The 12 buses were manufactured by General Motors and used for their “Parade of Progress”, which toured the United States through 1956 to demonstrate advances in modern technology. The 33’ foot long Futurliners contained futuristic technology such as jet engines, microwave ovens, television sets, and many other rare advances in technology for the time. The Futurliner that will be displayed at the Hagerty Family Car Show is the tenth of 12 produced.
“Of all the surviving Futurliners, this bus is said to be the most accurately restored example. It is the most reminiscent of its former glory when it traveled from town to town,” says McKeel Hagerty, CEO of Hagerty Insurance Inc. “We are excited to have this vehicle featured at our annual car show as part of the 2008 National Cherry Festival.”
In 2006, the eleventh Futurliner was auctioned off at the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction for over $4 million dollars in Scottsdale, AZ. The other surviving Futurliners have been converted into either private motorcoaches or other types of promotional vehicles.
The show is located at the site of the Hagerty Insurance building and is open to anyone wishing to exhibit their collector car, truck, motorcycle, or boat. Registration is from 8:00 to 11:00 am and there will be goodie bags for the first 150 entrants. The show is open to the public from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm with the awards ceremony starting at 3:00 pm.
For more information, please contact Bob DeKorne at 231-933-3766 or visit www.cherryfestival.org/carshow.
Hagerty is the leader in collector car and boat insurance, providing coverage to collectors in 48 states, and host to the largest network of collector car owners. Hagerty offers collector car insurance, financing and roadside assistance, as well as a variety of useful information resources. The company works proactively on hobby legislation and supports the Collectors Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preservation of the hobby. For more information, call 800-922-4050 or visit www.hagerty.com
