The holy grail of barn find buses

Seayfam · April 22, 2014, 06:50:46 PM

I'm so bummed!!! The holy grail of bus finds jumped out in front of me and got away really quick. I looked on the local classifieds and found an ad that was just posted maybe an hour before I looked. The add said, 1950 GM Futurliner for sale. 5,000 needs restored and has been siting in my grandpas barn for 20 years.

The ad didn't have a phone number, just an email. I messaged him immediately and it was sold. From the picture, it looked to be all there and unrestored. It had the usual rust for a 60+ year old Futurliner and the glass was all gone.

I wonder if it was one of the three that are missing? Just crazy to know there was one in Alaska and so close.

gumpy · April 22, 2014, 07:53:15 PM

Wow! That would be cool. Especially if you had $250K to restore it!

It's amazing one would be in Alaska. Wonder what the story is on it. How did it get to AK? Seems unlikely it was driven there.

Oonrahnjay · April 23, 2014, 06:42:46 AM

See the thread "Futureliner #5 for sale", posted today. A rusty shell for a Futureliner on sale for $5000??? ... something not right here.

chessie4905 · April 23, 2014, 07:02:14 AM

http://www.futurliner.com/other.htm

harleyman_1000 · April 23, 2014, 09:10:43 AM

I have one in my Garage. You mean it's worth money

Seayfam · April 23, 2014, 09:14:29 AM

Quote from: gumpy on April 22, 2014, 07:53:15 PM
Wow! That would be cool. Especially if you had $250K to restore it!

It's amazing one would be in Alaska. Wonder what the story is on it. How did it get to AK? Seems unlikely it was driven there.

That's what I thought, I'd like to know more about it but it was on Craigslist and I could only reply to him through Craigslist. He gave a general area that it was at and had just took the picture of it outside of the barn. I believe it was a legit pic because of the type of trees and the amount of snow in the background.

From what I'm seeing on these, 250k for a resto would be a good investment

Boomer · April 23, 2014, 10:14:40 AM

This is the Liner that was damaged in the rear and restored by Brad into a ramp hauler. It has been repowered with a Cummins which is located just behind the cab. Clam shell doors open up in the rear to expose the ramp. Very nice job. I took this pic at the ATHS antique truck convention in Yakima, WA last year. He hauled in the vintage Yellowstone Park White coach on the Futureliner. Very cool.

Mark

Lin · April 23, 2014, 10:44:29 AM

I know that lots of folks are enthusiastic about things like this, but I really don't think it's all that pretty. I'm sort of glad the future did not turn out looking like that.

luvrbus · April 23, 2014, 10:54:57 AM

I looked at Mike's not a project for the weak for sure he will never do his someone comes along with the right amount of cash it will be gone JMO

eagle19952 · April 23, 2014, 01:23:44 PM

Not trying to be a naysayer....why don't you post the Craig's list picture ?

Seayfam · April 23, 2014, 02:19:43 PM

Quote from: eagle19952 on April 23, 2014, 01:23:44 PM
Not trying to be a naysayer....why don't you post the Craig's list picture ?

Trust me, I really wanted to. After I messaged him a second time, I went back to Craigslist to take a snapshot of the add but it had been deleted. He was probably getting hammered with messages. It was at a small community just down the road from me so I'm looking on google earth to see if by chance I can find it. I got my eyes out for it just in case it is being moved. I would like to see it in person just to see what I missed out on.

luvrbus · April 23, 2014, 02:37:32 PM

If it was a 1950 model it would not have a FutureLiner Gary,the preacher in Tulsa O Roberts had photos of one in his office he said he owned it was a 1939 model

good luck

Oonrahnjay · April 23, 2014, 02:45:23 PM

Quote from: luvrbus on April 23, 2014, 02:37:32 PMIf it was a 1950 model it would not have a FutureLiner Gary
good luck

Yeah, the whole "$5000 FutureLiner" in the barn but he took the pictures down thing just feels wrong to me. (Not saying that Gary isn't reporting just what he saw and was told, but the rest of it is fishy.)

Scott Crosby · April 23, 2014, 03:32:06 PM

I did see the text of the add today, so it was there. But when I clicked it, it said the user had deleted it, and when I click back even the text was gone. He is reporting what he saw. Weather or not it was real is something else entirely.

Seayfam · April 23, 2014, 04:02:41 PM

Quote from: luvrbus on April 23, 2014, 02:37:32 PM
If it was a 1950 model it would not have a FutureLiner Gary,the preacher in Tulsa O Roberts had photos of one in his office he said he owned it was a 1939 model

good luck

Clifford
There was actually only 8 of them built in the late 30's when they did the first run of the parade of progress. Later on in the late 40's early 50's they built 4 more. The early ones had a Diesel engine and the later ones were gas. The earlier ones had a different cab configuration then the later ones. The drivers were complaining about getting too hot so they rebuilt the driver portion to look just like the later ones. There is no way to tell which one was built when because they didn't have any serial numbers. The only way was a stick on number from 1 to 12. So if that wasn't in the truck when the new owner got it, there would be no way to tell them apart.

It was defiantly a Futurliner and the pic was definitely taken in Alaska just recently because the amount of snow and the black spruce trees and also the swamp in the background.

The truck was all stock and was red in color. You could still make out the old writing in the side of it. The rear wheels were still the big white walls and the front was still duels.

I'm going to find it