For generations, visitors to America’s national parks were chauffeured through breathtaking landscapes in iconic open-air buses produced by the White Motor Company of Cleveland, Ohio. During the mid-1930s, White developed a 14-passenger tour bus in collaboration with coachbuilder Herman Bender of the Bender Body Company and industrial designer Count Alexis de Sakhnoffsky, who had previously worked for the Hayes Body Corporation creating designs for Auburn, Cord, and other clients before later working at Packard. The bus would become an enduring symbol of park travel in the 1930s and beyond, with approximately 500 examples designed for use in the United States National Park System from 1935 through 1939.

De Sakhnoffsky’s elegant Art Deco-inspired grille set the tone for the bus’s sleek, aerodynamic look, while Bender’s craftsmanship carried through the rear with gracefully tapered lines and distinctive double doors. Built on a heavy-duty 190-inch-wheelbase chassis and powered by a rugged six-cylinder engine, the buses earned the affectionate nickname “Jammers” from the colorful drivers known for “jamming” gears while navigating steep mountain grades. The feature that truly set the White 706 apart, however, was its roll-back canvas roof which allowed uninterrupted panoramic views of the majestic scenery.

Benefiting from a meticulous restoration to factory specifications, the White 706 offered here was reportedly delivered new to Yellowstone National Park before being sold as surplus and acquired by Edwin “Skeeter” Carlson, a WWII pilot and collector in Spokane, Washington. Fondly used to shuttle friends around his ranch, the bus remained in Carlson’s care until 2011, when it was entrusted to the Historic Flight Foundation which, drawing on its deep expertise in vintage aircraft restoration, undertook a comprehensive, body-off-frame restoration, addressing nearly every mechanical and cosmetic component. The bus was subsequently refinished in the iconic Glacier National Park livery of Ripe Mountain Ash Berry and, since completion, has enjoyed sparing use primarily in parades and at special events, including shuttling Boeing VIPs during official ceremonies at the company’s Everett, Washington location.

With all 35 of the original Glacier National Park “Jammers” reportedly accounted for, this beautifully restored White 706 offers a rare opportunity to acquire an artifact of America’s treasured national parks, a machine equally suited for ceremonial use, public exhibition, or unforgettable open-air touring.