I was slightly disappointed at the 63rd Annual California RV Show at the Los Angeles Fairgrounds yesterday. I was hoping to see the somewhat elusive Meerkat FGRV that was promised in the web advertising and the show guide, but the dealer that was supposed to be showing it claimed that it was at a different dealers location in the show and didn't know where it was at !!!! If any one find it be sure to let the rest of us know. Maybe it's hidden inside one of the many behemoths that were on display.....
But there were FGRV's on display and here are some pics of both of them as well as a very cool TV. Click on pics to enlarge
More non-FGRV pics in the next post.
The display signs indicated that it was built by GM as a one off transporter. It was a bit confusing, but it was actually built in 1941, several years after the original Futureliners were built. Could have been from spares or maybe there was a damaged unit. That wasn't mentioned. Needless to say, anything done in 1941 didn't get seen much, if at all, until after the war.
But the curved stairs to the cab is about as cool as it gets. Driver sits in the center and there is a two person bench seat behind the driver
The antique truck on the back is all electric, with original, individual, motors at each weel.
According to Wikipedia there were only 12 built and they toured the United States as the General Motors Parade of Progress. Very nice vehicles and I guess you noticed that the steer axle had 4 tires. There are a lot of pictures of these on the internet but this is the first one that I have seen that's been turned into a giant pickup truck.
Saw a Futureliner at a car show a few years ago that was all restored. One of the crew with it said you get a weird feeling driving it when you come to an overhead bridge because of sitting so high up. Said you get the feeling you want to duck your head. Rumor has it one was driven to Mexico as it was being used as a motor home, never seen again.
I guess I should have captured an image of the information sign as well. I thought that the VDub trailer would have gotten most of the chatter and only included the Futureliner as it was sooooo cool. I'll ask someone going to the show to try to get more info for me.
Here's a bunch of pics the transporter and it is suggested here that it was a later conversion. The owner is in Chatsworth CA if anyone wants to chase it down.Flickriver: Photos tagged with futureliner
Also google 1941 Future liner images.
Now if someone only knew where the 1954 Waldorf Corvette/Nomad went.....
Here's another pic of it in the show catalog, and a pic from the catalog showing the Meerkat that wasn't there. At the bottoms the ultimate FGRV, the Waldorf Nomad, 1954 GM Motorama
Yep, and Little Guy Trailers was supposed to have a Meerkat at the show, site 3022, and blew me off when I asked where it was at...he said it was here, but he didn't know where.... It was also supposed to be in the Exhibitors tent... will now refer to it as the "Phantom Meerkat".
Good to here thought that someone has actually seen one. did they mention a price and delivery time.
At the auto swap I was at it was just parked as display. There was a posted price and referral to Little Guy but I didn't pay attention. It was much smaller than my 13 Scamp and perfect for the people going really lightweight. It was very basic but I did like the small pop top. Other than that I didn't take much note. There wasn't a salesman there but I think it was borrowed for the weekend by one of their employees and a stack of fliers went with it.
The '54 Waldorf Corvette Nomad probably went to Warhoops junk yard along with many others of the GM Motorama cars. Guess Joe Bortz didn't get that one. It's an amazing story of what he did get though. I think at one time he owned two of the Futureliners. One of those Dub Box campers was just at a KOA campground in Vermont where we go for vintage rallies, but not the rally weekend. The KOA owner put up a couple photos of it. Looks like the tongue is real long, what did you think of it, Bob Miller
The '54 Waldorf Corvette Nomad probably went to Warhoops junk yard along with many others of the GM Motorama cars. Guess Joe Bortz didn't get that one. It's an amazing story of what he did get though. I think at one time he owned two of the Futureliners. One of those Dub Box campers was just at a KOA campground in Vermont where we go for vintage rallies, but not the rally weekend. The KOA owner put up a couple photos of it. Looks like the tongue is real long, what did you think of it, Bob Miller
I think that it's well made and functional, but for $22,000 doesn't fill the job that other FGRV's do for less. If you look carefully , it's also built so it's towing backwards.
But if one wants attention and/or is a real VW nut it may be just the ticket.
Hmmmm... Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I just noticed that this one has the entrance on the left side, Brit Caravan style.... Didn't notice that at the show.
Restored and completely intact Futurliners are selling in the $4-5 million range. There is a story of one in South America that was converted into a motorhome, and one in Sweden being restored. Of the 12 built, the whereabouts of 9 are known, 3 are still MIA.
I talked with my local RV dealer today, who had a major presence at the above mentioned show, and got the following sales info:
Tent trailers sold: a few
$300,000+ Motorhomes sold 5
Trends:
Large trailers (2 axles) UP
Small trailers (single axle) DOWN
Class "A" motorhomes: UP
Class "C" Motorhomes: about the same as last year
They do not have a line of FGRV"s (But who does?) Total Units sold: 217
Ironically last years show sales were heavily tipped towards smaller trailer sales, this year towards the larger ones. (Gas Prices are Down - DUH!)
They are looking to move their service and Parts departments for this location to a larger facility to be able to handle the increased volume of orders.
Its Bigger On The Inside
Linear Mode
