Futurliner #7 has been the official mascot for Peter Pan Bus Lines since 1997, when company owner Peter L. Picknelly rescued it from an upstate New York cornfield where it was languishing in disrepair. Remembering the awe and excitement he felt as a boy when his parents took him to the Parade of Progress, he recognized how rare and historically significant this find was. He immediately bought the bus and handed it over to master restorer Bill Sinico at Peter Pan’s Coach Builders garage in Springfield, MA. Three years of painstaking work later, the Futurliner was beautifully repainted and refurbished to its original glory.

As a mom-n-pop operation that eventually made it to the big leagues, Peter Pan Bus Lines is a classic example of the American Dream. The company began in the depths of the Great Depression when Peter Carmine Picknelly managed to buy four 1933 Buick Jitneys with which to chauffeur people around. Named after his children’s favorite bedtime story, Peter Pan survived the Depression to eventually become the third largest bus company in the U.S. Family owned and operated since its inception, when Peter L. Picknelly passed away, the company and his beloved Futurliner were entrusted to his son, Peter A. Picknelly.