General Motors Futurama Building Canopy Soars 110 Feet

BEHIND THE 10-story canopy of the General Motors Futurama at the New York World's Fair, the display plazas form an integral part of the exhibit. Designed by GM's Styling Staff, the 230,000 square foot pavilion houses a display of GM research in science and engineering along with a display automotive and household products made here and abroad by General Motors.

Night view of illuminated GM Building

Outdoor Product Plaza

On the Avenue of Progress

THE AVENUE OF PROGRESS in the General Motors Futurama at the New York World's Fair offers the visitor a view of the latest scientific and engineering developments in aerospace travel. Throughout the 18,500 square foot display area are animated depictions of the pure and applied research conducted by GM scientists today.

Model of a Futuristic Containerized Freight Terminal

Runabout Experimental Car

Firebird IV Experimental Car

THE FIREBIRD IV, newest in a series of GM gas turbine-driven cars, anticipates the day when the family will drive to the super-highway, turn over the car's controls to an automatic, programmed guidance system and travel in comfort and absolute safety at more than twice the speed possible on today's expressways. Upon reaching the express exit closest to his destination, the driver will resume personal control and continue along conventional streets and highways.

Lunar Rovers Float Magically Over Powdered Plains

Antarctica is now a Land of Growing Communities

AN ATOMIC-POWERED SUBMARINE surfaces within an all-weather port to supply scientists turning Antarctica into a world-wide weather eye. The port, kept free of ice the year-round, is cut through the ice shelf which extends from the shore into the ocean. Domed warehouses handling containerized freight shipments stand in the background of this scene from the General Motors Futurama ride at the New York World's Fair.

Probe for the Earth's Secrets Through Countless Centuries of Ice

WORKMEN, clad in specially designed clothing to protect them from the shattering Antarctic cold, install an under-ice laboratory along the General Motors Futurama ride at the New York World's Fair. An excavating machine, powered by fuel cells, carves a passageway to the next installation after holing out the laboratory site. The Futurama attracted almost half of those who visited the Fair.

In Mobile Laboratories Form Expeditions into the Vast White Wastelands of the Still Unknown

In Aquacopters ...

... Search the Ocean Floor to Find, Miles Deep, Vast Fields of Precious Minerals and Ores

AN AQUACOPTER, a two-man undersea personnel carrier fitted with claw-handed arms and capable of operating on the ocean floor, is one of the futuristic vehicles featured in the undersea set of the General Motors Futurama ride at the New York World's Fair. In an aquacopter geologists, according to GM designers, would be able to explore the bottom of the sea for minerals, chemicals, petroleum and other natural resources not attainable with the undersea craft available today. The "fans" at the top and bottom of the aquacopter are for vertical ascent and descent and the duct in the rear houses the power for forward motion.

While Trains of Submarines Transport Materials and Goods Along the Waterways of the Undersea

THE LIMITLESS TREASURES of the sea are being extracted in this scene from the General Motors Futurama "ride into tomorrow" at the New York World's Fair. A drill (left) pierces the ocean floor near a number of previously capped-off oil wells while an atomic-powered submarine train passes in the background.

A Weekend if you Wish at Hotel Atlantis in the Kingdom of the Seas

A Holiday of Thrills and of Adventures; of Beauty and Enchantment

A Jungle Road is Built in One Continuous Operation

First, a Searing Ray of Light, a Laser Beam, Cuts Through the Trees

Then a Giant Machine, a Factory on Wheels, Cuts Up the Stumps and Jungle Growth...

These Forest Highways now are Bringing to the Innermost Depths of the Tropic World the Goods and Materials of Progress and Prosperity

DEEP WITHIN THE JUNGLE a freight depot lies athwart an electronically controlled highway. Inside the depot are containerized shipments of lumber, chemicals, minerals and other raw materials which trucks will carry to processing centers and return with finished goods. In this scene from the General Motors Futurama "ride into tomorrow" at the New York World's Fair the highway takes the place of the river as the new jungle thoroughfare.

And Offering to us All Enchanting Tours Through the Storybook Forests of Tropic Lands

MOBILE, SELF-PROPELLED HOMES provide workers a haven from equatorial heat and humidity while a road-building machine creates a multi-lane super highway of concrete and steel in one continous operation throgh the heart of the jungle. These trailer homes of the future featrue expandable compartments which, when extended, enlarge the living area to 400 sq. ft. The units move with the progress of the road-builder providing living quarters for five persons. These and many other vehicles feature dramatic and exciting styling innovations by the General Motors styling staff in the GM Futurama "ride into tomorrow" at the New York World's Fair.

And for our Deserts a New Technology: Waters from the Sea Made Fresh as Rain to Nourish Crops Planted in the Sand

A FOOD PROCESSING PLANT stands amidst the once-barren sands of the desert which are made to bloom with desalted sea-water brought over the mountains by atomic-powered pumps within the General Motors Futurama ride at the New York World's Fair. Highly-sophisticated farming and processing techniques, coupled with rapid rail and roadway transportation, are expected to reduce drastically the time between farm field and dining room tables.

Produce from Seed to Shipment, Programmed and Processed by a New Agriculture

A Science of Plenty for an Ever Growing World

THE DRAB EXPANSE of the barren desert is broken by the lush green of ripening crops and the sparkling machinery of an automated farm in this scene from the General Motors Futurama "ride into tomorrow" at the New York World's Fair. Transportation innovations such as the containerized trains at the tunnel mouth (upper right) promise overnight delivery of farm products to metropolitan markets. In foreground are solar units providing auxiliary electricl power and (above them) a rotating irrigation system utilizing desalted sea water.

People Live Today Where they Will, Neither Terrain nor Distance a Deterrent to Where the Men of the City Build their Homes

A CIRCULAR SWIMMING POOL becomes an integral part of this futuristic home displayed in the General Motors Futurama ride at the New York World's Fair. The garage at right contains an electronic auto repair center; household service facilities are located in theater; moving walls enclose the open-air kitchen in inclement weather.

The Continental Highway Now Leads Us to the City of Tomorrow

Plazas of Urban Living Rise Over Freeways

Towering Terminals Serve Sections of the City; Make Public Transportation More Convenient; Provide Ample Space for Private Cars