A Man and His Dream

Don Mayton, a consummate professional and a superb ambassador for General Motors, dreamed to restore a Futurliner. In 1998 Don began his quest with an adjunct that it be shown at his favorite car show, the AACA Regional Meet in Hershey, PA. On October 7, of 2006, Don’s dream was realized as he stood before it on the Hershey show field and AACA judges went over it from stem to stern.

It was 1953 when John Falter rendered a cover for the GM Annual Report depicting the Parade of Progress with the GM Futurliners showing off their displays of technological marvels to a large crowd of onlookers. The painting was entitled, "We hope to set a boy to dreaming." One can’t help but see the correlation between a visionary dream of the future and a visionary dream to preserve the past. The Futurliners and the Parade of Progress captivated Don Mayton to dream of preserving its historical significance and show it off for the world to see and remember and maybe even be inspired by it.

As with many visionary leaders there are men and women who will tirelessly work along side them to bring their dream to a reality. The all-volunteer restoration crew sometimes joked that it could never be done, but they plodded on, week after week and year after year. They met their obstacles head on and conquered them one by one. Don’s unfailing leadership never faltered and the volunteers began to envision not just the restoration of Futurliner #10 but the lives of the men who originally navigated the behemoth over the back-roads of North America and brought technological wonders to common people whose lives would be changed and challenged forever.

When Don first spotted Bob Valdez’s Futurliner in California, converted into a customized motor home, he dreamed to restore one. Don, probably more than any of us, grasped the historical significance of the Futurliner in GM’s history and the impact the Parade of Progress must have had on those that viewed it and those that worked on it. The Futurliner wasn’t the only marvel on the Parade of Progress and maybe, because of its restoration, more of its history will be remembered and told. A man standing in the shadow of the Futurliner on the Hershey show field turned and said to me with a look of resolve, "GM doesn’t do that anymore."

For those that supported Don’s dream the occasion was very special as they realized the magnitude of what they had all accomplished together.