History Searching for 1948 Tucker photos

Hard to tell at this point. It certainly has whatever it had in 1956.

 

Interesting video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3vbfdAJHeE

 

The car didn't seem to have that characteristic low-rider stance of a car with failed torsilastic bonds.

Frank C.

 

Thanks for finding that!

FC

 

So how do you just happen to find a Tucker transmission in a Montana junkyard?

The info on this thread is amazing.

Tuckerfan and FC49, Do you guys own Tuckers?

 

I'm sure you've heard of Lumbar seats. Tucker #1010 has a custom "Lumbar" (aka wood) suspension under this rust free car.

 

The junkyards he mentioned were in Minnesota. I'm pretty sure they must have all been Cords that were found as there were less than 40 Tucker transmissions ever made.

None, don't own one unless you count the Franklin Mint ones. Came close a couple times but I doubt it will ever happen now.

 

Good candidate for the "I fixed it" website.

TF-48, any idea of how many existing Tuckers have torsilastics and how many have been retrofitted with coil-overs or some other fix? I would think that elastomer technology has progressed a lot since Tucker's day, and that new materials and processes could make torsilastic a viable system.

Frank C.

 

I don't own a Tucker, but I have ridden in one. My interest in them started back about 1950 when my dad spotted one at a Syracuse, NY gas station while we were driving somewhere. I was about 6 years old at the time. My father made such a big fuss, I asked a million questions, and although he didn't have all the details, he knew enough about it based on the Tucker engine factory being located in Liverpool, just outside Syracuse. I used to amuse adults back then by identifying cars as they went by, so I knew just by looking that the Tucker was unlike any other car I ever saw. I was hooked.

I would seek stories on the car and read and re-read every one, the best being the Tom McCahill road test in Mechanix Illustrated. In 1960 a book about Tucker and his car showed up in my high-school library, and that's when I learned Tucker wasn't a crook, the car wasn't made of junk Oldsmobile parts and it did have a reverse gear, despite what I had been told by people who "knew a guy who knew a guy who owned one..."

Frank C.

 

Watch the auction live at http://www.goodingco.com/auction/watch.g&c

The Tucker 1010 is Lot 128 and probably will go up on Saturday.

Frank C.

 

Auction description of #1010: (Italics mine)

Formerly the Property of Al Slonaker
The 1953 National Roadster Show

1948 Tucker 48

Chassis No. 1010

Engine No. 355-13

*Please note Gooding & Company has a partial ownership interest in this lot.
Estimate Available Upon Request

• An Astonishing “Barn Find”
• Single Ownership for over 50 Years
• Believed to be the Fastest Tucker in Period
• The Only Known Tucker with Special High-Speed Rear End
• Considered to Be the Famous Bonneville Tucker
• Intriguing Southern California History
• Very Solid, Complete Example
• One of the Most Exciting Finds in Recent Memory

____________________________________________________

---Considered to be the famous Bonneville Tucker - OK, so if one never ran there, and the SCTA has no record of a Tucker running there, I wonder where they base this claim? Remember the alleged Kennedy hearse that came up just this week as a very well-restored but FAKE car (see Jalopnik.com)

---An astonishing "barn find". With the same owner the past 50 years??? Did he misplace it or something???

 

I've been researching Tuckers for several years now and have heard all these stories but unlike other Tuckers, there is no documentation to back up any of it. I've spent hundreds of hours trying to find information about any Tucker running at Bonneville. The source of this "rumor" starts in late 1950 in a letter to a potential Tucker buyer. From there it was repeated over and over until several Tucker authorities later passed it to each other. I would love to validate this story but I can find no records from the SCTA, the AAA Contest Board, or any article from the period to back it up.

Much of what it stated in the Gooding auction listing conflicts with other parts of the story. I can tell that much of it was cut and pasted off discussions on the Tucker Club website and is repeated on the listing as fact. At the same time they have chosen to overlook documented facts like the car having 109,800 miles.

At this point the fastest Tucker on record that I can document is Tucker #1019. Even if someone finds evidence the Bonneville run took place Tucker #1019 likely topped the 131 MPH record.

 

#1010 SOLD for $725,000.

Frank C.

 

Somebody must have wanted one bad. Several things said about it
at auction weren't verified.

 

As someone who obviously has paid close attention to Tucker markets over the years, what would you say was a realistic price to pay for 1010, as simply being a good basis for a restoration?

Frank C.

 

$500,000 would have been fair. It'll take $300,000 and several years to restore it. There are a lot of little things missing or put together improperly. If it's done right it'll be beautiful and I'm sure the new owner will want it that way given the price that was paid.

 

One of the Gooding auctioneers said that the car was registered as a 1949 Tucker. Was that just a DMV screw-up?

Frank C.

 

Even at $725,000, realistically where are you going to find another one that is unrestored & in that good of condition to start with. Hopefully the new owner has the bucks and the drive to restore it correctly. I would hate to see it restored half assed & get screwed up.

As far as the price, an auction is always a crap shoot. if you only get one guy who wants an item it can go for well below market value. if you get two or more who want it, it can go for well above market value. they call it auction fever. Same idea as the gotta be first syndrome.

Hopefully the restoration will be well documented.

 

I would imagine that if you can drop 700k plus on a car that needs a complete restoration you would also have the 300 to 400k to restore it properly.

 

The buyer is from Nebraska. Does anyone know who it is yet?

 

Oh oh. Does Speedy Bill have a Tucker yet?

 

Yes he does. It's Tucker #1024.

 

Yes, but does his have the "high-speed rear end?" What's that all about? Did the Y-1 final drive use bespoke gears, or did they find purchased gears to do the job?

Frank C.

 

There is just no evidence of Tucker #1010 having a "high speed rear end". The car has never been taken apart to show this. I have yet to find any Tucker Corporation document showing the existance of such a rear end, let alone that it is in this car. Neither the SCRA or the AAA Contest Board has any record of a Tucker at Bonneville. I would love to be able to authenticate both of these stories but I can find no evidence that either is correct. The first mention was in a letter dated December of 1950 where a Tucker owner was offering another Tucker for sale and referenced #1010. From there the story was passed to various Tucker historians over the years until legend became fact.

Hopefully if the car is ever restored a Tucker historian will get a look inside the transmission and we'll know then.

It seems like some of these stories just got started somewhere and even though there is solid proof that shows the story is incorrect, the stories go on. Much like the convertible and the story of Tucker #1030 being Preston Tucker's personal car. There are photos and documents proving Tucker never owned #1030 (unless you count being president of the company owning it) yet that story just never dies. I won't be surprised if we don't have the Tucker ambulance that carried JFK's body up for auction soon.

 

Tucker #1035 was removed from the old Museum building in Brazil this week where is has been wasting away for over 35 years. The car is truly a "barn find" as it was kept in a real barn. The car was known to be there and members of the Tucker Club have been in touch with residents of the area the entire time. Here are some photos of the car being removed from the building.

 

whoa! Where is it now? What's the rest of the story? Will it be preserved or restored?

 

The car is now owned by the City of Caçapava. They plan to restore it and use it as the centerpiece of their new Car Museum. They have moved it to a secure storage area to prevent furthur vandalism.

 

I have several pictures and some incredible information about a Tucker that was Preston's personal car that is now in a private museum owned by a friend in California. Send me your email and I will forward pictures. [email protected]

 

Come on now. Post them up for all to see.

 

Is it a grey or blue Tucker? After the plant closed, Preston Tucker had two cars. Tucker #1029 which he sold in 1955 to Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller of Arkansas and #1031 which was sold by his wife Vera in 1962. Both cars are now in private museums in California about an hour from each other.