Luxury vehicles keep getting slicker and slimmer, but at the 2014 Arthritis Foundation Auto Show, retired General Motors manufacturing engineer Don Mayton looks to prove big can be beautiful.
Mayton will come to the Dublin show from western Michigan with his 1939 General Motors Futurliner #10 – a 33-foot-long, 10-foot-high display of early engineering excellence – trailored behind him.
“The Futurliner was built to promote the future of technology,” he says. “The idea was born in 1933 at the Chicago World’s Fair. People couldn’t afford to travel to see the fair, so the GM execs got together a way to package the events and take them around the country for a free show.”
In doing so, General Motors was able to broadcast its new advancements, as well as achieve its secondary goal of inspiring a new generation of engineers, Mayton says. Only 12 of these machines were produced, and at least one of the dozen has been scrapped for metal.
The inspiration to salvage Futurliner #10 and learn more about its history came when Mayton and his wife, Carol, were seated outside for breakfast in California.
“We saw this strange-looking vehicle roll by us,” he says. “Someone refurbished one of these and turned it into more of an RV.”
With an extensive look at the archives at Kettering University, Mayton learned more about the vehicle and how to get his hands on one.
“Over the next years, we found one in an Indiana museum, rusting to pieces, so we worked with them and agreed to restore the vehicle if they would help with the finances,” he says.
Don and his team of 18-20 friends worked to return the historic machine to its former glory. The project began in 1998 and took seven years to complete.
Since then, he has brought the vehicle to various auto shows around the nation, from the east coast to the west, but he keeps actual mileage on the Futurliner limited.
“We tow it on a trailer because, at 30,000 pounds, your top speed is only going to be about 37 miles per hour,” Mayton says. “It’s just a big vehicle and, with modern traffic, you don’t want to be driving on a highway.”
In addition to its low speeds and colossal size, the Futurliner has a centrally placed driver seat, making it difficult to see any peripheral traffic, but driving it off the trailer for the Arthritis Foundation Classic Auto Show & Cruise In won’t be a problem.
The annual event is entering its 32nd year and will be held at the Dublin Metro Center from July 10-12.
Each year, the show grows in attendance and the charitable donation increases.
“We raise about $200,000 each year and this year’s goal is $209,000,” says Stephanie Perry, Arthritis Foundation community development manager. “All the money goes directly to research on joint replacement and arthritis. Each year, there are about 1,500 cars and 5,000 people
who show up, and most are car enthusiasts.”
This year, Coughlin Cars will be the sponsor for the event, the first sponsor the show has had since its inception in 1982.
The Rolling Legends Tour to Mershon’s World of Cars, a scenic roadway cruise, will take place early Thursday. The display of vehicles and cruise-in is Friday and Saturday and will feature three new classes: non-street legal, exotic and supercars.
Judges will award 100 six-foot trophies for the most spectacular vehicles presented throughout the weekend.
Admission is $10 at the gate and children 12 and under are free.
For more information on the show, visit www.arthritisautoshow.com.
Stephan Reed is an editorial associate. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
