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2026 Chevrolet Tahoe ReviewAutomotive History at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is all about the bands, balloons, and some extravagant floats, but we’re looking at the vehicles of this parade.
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
Every year millions line up along two and a half miles of New York City sidewalks for the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Meanwhile, tens of millions more across the nation gather around the television to watch the same parade live from the comfort of their homes. A promotional event started by Macy’s store employees 100 years ago has ballooned into a media phenomenon and a tradition celebrated by Americans every Thanksgiving morning.
Between Tom the Turkey, giant character balloons, marching bands, and Santa Claus, there are the floats of the parade towed along by trucks. Vehicles have long been a factor in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, but their part puts them just outside the limelight as the surrounding fanfare takes precedent. Today, we’re acknowledging those often-overlooked parade vehicles by taking a look at the automotive history at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Cars, trucks, and SUVs have all been a part of the annual event ever since the parade first took place back in 1924. See which American auto manufacturers have made their mark at this historic parade and find out which one has decided to celebrate their own parade in Detroit.
Vehicles Have Been Present Since 1924
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade started back in 1924. That event was very different to the one we know today as it not only had bands and some balloons, but zoo animals also roamed the streets of New York City. That inaugural parade also featured a couple of flatbed trucks decorated with flowers and signage that carried characters from popular nursery rhymes for kids to enjoy. Sedans also travelled along the early parade route, whether they were a part of the show or a misplaced commuter is hard to decern from photographs of the event though.
As the years progressed, floats slowly took on a larger role in the big parade. These early float designs were built by Macy’s workers, a trend that continues to this day, and were either built on top of an empty four-wheeled chassis to be towed along by another vehicle or encapsulated an entire vehicle with the driver positioned in such a way to hide their presence. The true pinnacle of float design didn’t occur though until 1969 when Manfred Bass began creating the floats for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Bass designed the floats in such a way that they could be flattened for travel from New Jersey to New York via the Holland Tunnel and then set up in the early hours prior at the staging area of the parade route. This helped keep the arriving floats more of a spectacle rather than travelling through the city on full display the days prior.
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Trucks
Early floats were pretty light in construction, so basic passenger cars could be used to tow most of them through the streets. Everything from the Chevy Caprice to the Camaro SS could be found hauling around a float at some point during the parade in the ‘60s. Since Bass’s design in ‘68, a vast majority of floats from that point forward have utilized a pickup truck or SUV to tow them through the streets of New York. While the folding construction made for easy towing through the tunnel from New Jersey, the new float designs added weight and it wasn’t practical to use passenger cars to haul them around.
Entering the 1970s, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade predominantly utilized working classed 4x4s and semi-trucks. The International Harvester was the star hauling brand throughout the ‘70s with their Scout, the later Scout II, and Loadstar models to pull floats. While IH was seen throughout the decade of parades, there wasn’t a clear promotion of the brand in effect.
It wouldn’t be until 1980 when General Motors took over as the official automotive brand of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Large towing duties were handled by GMC C/K 1500 pickup trucks and GMC Suburban SUVs while lighter floats were hauled around by passenger cars like the Oldsmobile Cutlass. The following years featured GMC products towing floats throughout the parade, a trend that continued for over 30 years.
It wasn’t until 2015 that GMC decided to bow out of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, leaving an opening for one of GMC’s direct competitors to take on the mantle. Since 2015, Ram Trucks have carried the honor of the official truck of the parade. The Ram 1500s seen during the parade can tow up to 12,750 pounds, which comes in handy when you consider that the floats their hauling along with the dozens of performers riding along can add up to nearly 8,000 pounds alone. Ram is back again as the official truck for 2024 and doesn’t show signs of leaving yet, but the powertrains their trucks use might start to look a little more electrified.
The Other Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Vehicles
Float haulers aren’t the only vehicles on display at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, there are also some fun vehicles that have made appearances to promote a show, movie, or product. One of the largest parade vehicles is the Santaland Express, a driving school bus chassis decorated to look like a holiday inspired Christmas locomotive. Macy’s has also included their own Red Delivery Truck, a classic running example of the REO Speedwagon.
Here are just some of the notable other vehicles that have been featured in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade since 1924:
- Grand Prix BRM P261
- Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
- Car 54 Where Are You?
- Half-Baked Delivery Truck
- Big Red Shoe Car
- Munsters’s Koach
- Bugaloos
- The Flintstones Flintmobile
- Speed Racer Mach Five
- Countmobile and Sloppy Jalopy
- The Muppets Electric Mayhem Bus
- Mickey’s LiMOUSEine
- James Bond’s BMW Z8
- Pikamobile
- Planters NUTmobile
- Good Burger Burgermobile
- Back to the Future DeLorean
Ford is Noticeably Absent – What Gives?
Ford hasn’t made much of an impact at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade ever because they’re too busy at America’s Thanksgiving Parade over in their home of Detroit, Michigan. This is another annual parade that was started back in 1924 by a different department store, meaning it and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade share the same centenary this Thanksgiving. Ford has long been associated with America’s Thanksgiving Parade, and it’s basically become a staple event for the manufacturer. Nearly 50 Ford trucks and SUVs straight from the Wayne Assembly Plant drive down Woodward Avenue either hauling floats behind them or acting as a part of the show.
