The Great Tucker Tour - 30 Tuckers in 3 weeks - For Real!

Your memory is a little fuzzy but you got most of it right. The Museum is the Pioneer Auto Museum at Murdo SD. The car was Tucker #1031 which has always been Waltz Blue. Here's a photo of it in the spot it occupied while it was there.

 

Dang, I wish I had caught this earlier- I live in Hartland and could have showed you some WI hospitality. I found the museum in Hartford about a year and a half ago- a friend was getting married in the upstairs reception hall. I almost shit a kitten when I saw the Tucker downstairs! Glad you got to see that amazing car!

 

Great story in this old s-i auto mag it has a drive report on the 4dr sedan

 

I'm not sure I would have put the Packer logo on it but I suppose it does go with the green

 

where is this show by chicago, i live 3 miles from the factory (totsie roll ford city mall.) my dad's friend has a radio from the tucker in vagas also.

 

I geatly appreciate your post, and I am envious of your tour! I live in michigan, about a half-hour from Ypsilanti. What is the address of the Tucker Home in Ypsi? My Dad lives there, and I am pretty sure my Model A coupe decided to die in front of the house next door to the tucker home last year after Billetproof. I did not know it was the tucker home however. The neighbors (older couple) were quite helpful.

Thank You, James

 

110 Park in Ypsilani.

 

Thank You GTT!

James

 

I have some pictures of the Tucker at the Nethercutt Collection in Socal and the first I had seen in Person then the same year a nice Gent bought one to Australia (as you mentioned) to join his Cord Collection and he had it on display at Motorclassica last October , do you want some pics of it here for your collection ?

cad

 

Yesterdays trip included stops at a couple cars that are in private collections. There cars are in facilities where they could not be photographed however I will post a few photos of the cars from when they were shown publically.

We stopped in Frankfort IN to see Tucker #1025. This car is taken regularly to car shows in the area and is DRIVEN to the events. Last year i was in Kentucky and just a few weeks ago it was on the track at the Indy 500. The car is in great shape and runs well. No doubt due to Bill Hamlin's adjustments to the car many years ago.




A quick detour back to Chicago was next and a look at Tucker #1008. The color on this car, while not original to this car, is absolutely striking. This is the same car that spent many years at the Imperial Palace for those that might have seen it there.



After leaving Chicago we headed for Metamora IL. After the Tucker Plant auction in October 1950, several of the cars and a few of the unfinished bodies were sold to a gentleman that lived in Metamora. For years there has been an urban legend that some of the bodies remained behind his shop rusting away. Our mission today is to see if they really are there. If they aren't, we can put this legend to bed. If they are, we are about to become very wealthy and you'll see the bodies on E-Bay next week.

We arrived in Metamora and quickly found both the business locations the gentleman operated as well as his former home. Sadly a search of all the properties came up empty with the exception of a couple of old hubcaps from a 70s Buick. A visit with the long time neighbors confirmed that all the Tucker parts left the properties back in the early 50s. We can say with certainty that there are no Tucker bodies in Metamora.





Now that we've wrapped this up we head off across Iowa to Nebraska and Tucker #1024.

 

Great pictures and stories, thanks for sharing.

 

Great trip report. No one today is a greater expert on the history of the Tucker cars than you. And now with your actually seeing so many you are fulfilling the fantasy of many of us Tucker car lovers. Preston Tucker's dreams for his car may have ended differently than he hoped but would he be proud today if he could see how many people on this site are following your trip about his cars. Safe travels.

Larry Clark

 

Fuzzy checking in here. Loved the photos from Metamora, Ill. and the photos of the Tuckers. Any possible contact with Tucker #1011 up in Montana. I talked to a guy in Missoula few years ago who had seen this car who knew of the car and said the guy kept it in an underground garage at his commercial business, but wouldn't let anyone see it. Any info on it?

 

Have you thought of writing a book about your travels and encounters with the Tucker saga and all the new info you have or have gained in your travels, especially maybe the insights of oral histories you're bound to come across. Your're an adventurer in the same vein as Lewis and Cark, to go where no man has gone before. A real explorer in every sense of the word, where most would not venture. You could self publish as alot are now doing these days to target a selected audience.

 

There was a Tucker engine for sale in Chico Ca. about a week ago. Don't know if it's
still available. Craigs list

 

On E-Bay as well. It is not a Tucker engine. It is a Franklin helicopter engine. They are simular in a few areas. Probably even share a part or two but it would not fit in your Tucker unless you wanted it to go up.

 

1. Tucker #1008 will be at the Oak Brook Mall on Sunday June 19th 2011. I'm told it will be there most of the day. A quick Google search shows 100 Oakbrook Center, Oak Brook, IL 60523 as the address. You might want to check that yourself.

2. I'd love to hear more about this radio. Can you get a photo? I'd love to see it. I'm very interested.

 

Just to save you the airfares, here's a few pics of the Tucker that's in Australia. took these at the Melbourne Concours De Elegance in Oct 2010. Until then was not aware there was one over here, and obviously had never seen one in the flesh before. My wife had no idea what I was giggling about....




You guys will obviously know all about this one. Would love you to post the story!

 

I wouldn't want to miss a chance to see it in person. Tucker #1045 was sold in August of 2010 for 1.1 Million US. That is the highest amount paid for a Tucker. The new owners are really great people and plan to show the car a lot.

Tucker #1045 was on display for many years at Bellm's Cars and Music of Yeasterday in Sarasota FL. Here is a photo of the car back then.

For some reason several different owners thought this was a good color for a Tucker back in the 50s.

 

Yesterdays stop brought us to Lincoln NE. and Speedway Motors. This is an incredible collection of cars, motors, toys, and a lot more. If you get to Lincoln make sure to take their tour. It takes a couple hours but is worth it.

Tucker #1024 is another car that is still in beautiful condition. They recently acquired a Tucker motor which has been added to their display of unique items. They also have the data plate from Tucker #1023 which was destroyed in a fire in the 70s.






Our trip continues across Nebraska and into Colorado to see a car that was at Amelia Island a few months ago.

 

May have a lead on the Tucker Convertible #1057. apparently it is not in Boise, Id., but in Sun Valley, Id. where the the mega rich reside at the resort there. Will try to get some more info on it.

 

We've enjoyed our stops in Nebraska and made it to Denver, the home of Tucker #1017. Keith & Eileen own this wonderful car and made sure we saw everything about the car. It was restored about 5 years ago in Florida by a former owner who spared no expense. The car is in perfect condition. Preston Tucker would be proud of this car and how it looks.

Even more exciting is that the car can be driven. It fired right up. If you ever get the chance to hear a Tucker run don't miss it. There is no other sound like it. You can hear the helicopter roots in the Franklin engine as it idles. Keith & Eileen even gave me a short ride in the Tucker. There is plenty of legroom on the passenger side and I even checked out the crash compartment.









I believe Tucker #1017 will be in Florida later this year. Be sure to check it out.

Tomorrow we'll leave and cross the Rockies heading into Arizona, Nevada, and California. The Tucker Convention takes place next weekend and there will be several cars in the LA area for that. There are also some special things planned for the convention. I believe you can still register for a few more days. Contact the Tucker Club for more info and cost.

 

I talked to some car clubs in the area and found a guy who has a friend that knows the guy who owns the Tucker Convertible in Sun Valley. He said he guy has several cars in his collection including old Vettes, some old Shelbys and and early 50's Buick Skylark. He said the guy doesn't care about all the questions on the car, only that it is #1057, which he feels strongly that it is. The topless part doesn't matter and will leave that the debaters. He feels time will prove that out, just like the Tucker Motorolla Radio Display Case that sold on Ebay last year. There were no records concerning this case in the Tucker archives that these ever existed, but later the buyer found a letter on his own written by the Tucker Corporation ton th future Tuckers dealers on how to dispay the case in the showroom to get the best appeal. More to come...

 

The guy who owns the Tucker convertible, said that he thinks the converitible is worth alot more than a regular sedan, because he said if take the Ferarri Daytona made back in the early 70's, that these cars are worth alot more as convertibles than coupes, even if you cut that top off today. When they do that, they bring higher prices that than they would in their original factory coupe design, simply because of their new convertible conversion. I went to research that online and found that to be true.
But I personally jI ust like the looks of the Tucker convertible. In my opinion, it takes the part of the Tucker sedan that I least like from the top of the fron windsheild over the top to the rear window. The rear side window to me never seemed to match in simitri to the side door windows. When you replace that part with the convertible top, it takes that funky part away. It makes the car long and sleek, and oh, so neat. That's my opinion.

 

We're glad you like your car

 

wouldn't be cool to blow some molds off of a tucker and create a wild, pro mod Tucker for shows and race dates??? What engine/layout would you put in? old school funny car with a screw driven blown rolls royce P51 motor running into a Lynco with slipper clutch?

Ok.. i MUST whip up a rendering that suits my perverse and almost pornographic look at the modern version of a Tucker in pro mod trim..... maybe tomorrow...

TO THE BAT CAVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

to cool

 

Yes, Mustangs rock!! But that's another subect!

 

Do you suppose that this was a common color at Earl Scheib's back in the 50's???

An Earl Scheib $29.95 paint job on a Tucker? Geez... now I'm kinda sorry that I even mentioned it.

 

Neato! Sounds like quite the road trip.