1936 GM Streamliner

Eight huge chromium trimmed streamliners, specially built in the Fleetwood plant of Fisher Body, transport this mobile world’s fair from town to town. The caravan trucks are piloted by a group of carefully selected and rigidly trained young men. The 233-inch chassis and the engines which are encased in insulated steel are built by General Motors Truck Company.

Six of the great carriers form public exhibition space at show locations. Another converts into a stage and still another carries various show properties.

Every precaution is taken for safe driving. Navigation lights, dual rear-vision mirrors, and directional arrows are auxiliary aid to highway safety. In traveling, the units are spaced at 200-foot intervals as a courtesy to other motorists.

Billed by GM in their 1936 promotional literature as "Silver-Topped Streamliners" and refereed to as the "World's Largest Highway Leviathans" at 33 feet from stem to stern, the 28 vehicle caravan, including   nine support semis, was an impressive site.

The caption that came with this photo states:

"This is a photo of the crew lowering tire pressure so the Streamliner would fit under a bridge. They would let the air out of the tires right before the overpass and once on the other side, they would have to refill all the tires with air before proceeding."

Though with all the dirt piled up behind the man in the coveralls, it looks like there might be something else going on here as well. Remember, this was 1936 and paved roads were not the norm.

This photo, provided by Michael Strainic, shows a Streamliner in a Brownsville, TX parade in 1938. The photo is captioned, "The Charro Days Parade, February 24-27, 1938."  This may have been the first parade for that years festival, as the first parade featured horse-drawn, hand-made floats, charros and chinas on horseback. Most of the downtown store windows were decorated for the occasion.