History Searching for 1948 Tucker photos

I am pretty much laid up awaiting knee surgery so I got bored and surfed the web for old newspaper articles etc. Thought you guys might find these interesting?
The links below should bring you right to the articles in the old papers that have been scanned to digital.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...90,4642166&dq=tucker+dealership+torpedo&hl=en
http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...89,1604786&dq=tucker+dealership+torpedo&hl=en
http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...48,4234115&dq=tucker+dealership+torpedo&hl=en
http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...855,842020&dq=tucker+dealership+torpedo&hl=en
http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...09,6491481&dq=tucker+dealership+torpedo&hl=en
http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...=5662,1644570&dq=tucker+dealership+1946&hl=en

 

A friend has a rebuilt front-wheel-drive Cord gearbox (transmission!) that he wants to sell, and someone told him that they were used in Tuckers. Is that true? Are there any Tuckers in the UK or Europe?

 

This car had been sent in Brazil to the person who had requested the representation Tucker for this country. In 1951, he organized a tombola with this Tucker as a first prize. The car was taken away by an old widow who was incapable to drive it. The old lady made it resell by her garage owner. The car was bought by a Luxemburger living in Brazil.
This man travelled in Europe with his Tucker in 1952.

 

Yes, it's true that the Cord transmission was used in some Tuckers;

Tucker now needed a transmission to mate with the Franklin O-335. They decided to try adapting designs intended for Front Engine/Front Wheel Drive use. The Cord 810/812 4-speed electro-vacuum manual transmissions fit the design requirements and were used initially. The Cord 810/812 could not handle the power and torque of the O-335 engine, shearing off the teeth from first gear if the engine was gunned off the line. In an effort to solve this problem, Tucker and his engineers modified the Cord 810/812 by installing stronger gears and lengthening the case. The modified Cord was named the Tucker Y-1 (Ypsilanti-1) and was installed in most Tuckers. The Cord 810/812 and Tucker Y-1 used a Bendix electric vacuum shift mechanism, with no mechanical linkage to the steering column shift lever. These versions had problems with electrical connections and vacuum leaks which hindered shifting, so a new design was needed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Tucker_Sedan

 

Hey, thanks for the information, SUNROOFCORD, I will pass it on to my friend.

 

It is possible that the owner of the Tucker seen in the Luxembourg in 1952 is a Director(Manager) of the Brazilian company Belgo-Minerai which belonged to the Luxemburg group Arbed.
Information to be verified.

 

It was the owners uncle that was a director of Belgo-Minerai. He was also Honorary Council for Luxembourg in Brazil. The cars owner also worked for an arm of Arbed for several years.

 

I don't think the Oldsmobile engine was installed in the car until a year or two after this photo. This car was clocked at Sebring doing 131.8 MPH on the day the photo was taken. It still had the original Tucker motor and even had the original factory spark plugs in the motor.

 

And no Olds 303 had enough oomph to do 131 mph.

FrankC

 

Thank you to all who have made this a most educational thread. I'm really fired up about learning Tucker lore. Tomorrow I am going to the Tupelo Auto Museum to see number 1028. Are there any photo's taken or questions anyone would like asked?

 

Tucker #1028 will always be remembered for the 1993 Snap-On Calendar. Playboy Playmate Brittney York, AKA Alison Armitage, posed in front of Tucker #1028 with her feet resting on Tucker Radio #55271. While I still don't own a Tucker I do own the most famous Tucker Radio ever photographed. Unfortunately Brittney did not come with it.

Brittney/Alison was a Playmate in October 1990. She went on to become an actress starring in the TV show Acapulco Heat. She also had a small part in Jerry McGuire and appeared on an episode of Seinfeld.



If you get a chance, see if the Museum will pop the luggage compartment open and let you take a photo of the data plate. It will look like this.

 

Today was a very fun day. I saw some pretty amazing auto's and had a great time. The lady at the counter was most helpful. She offered to take my camera back and took what pictures I asked from behind the barrier.

Data Plaque



Odometer



Engine Codes

 

Glad to hear you had a great time. Hope you enjoyed seeing Tucker #1028. Thanks for the photos

 

Don't think I've ever seem this shot of some dusty old Tuckers stashed away in a warehouse somewhere.

 

The really cool part is that the whole collection would fit on your kitchen table.

 

Haven't read all the thread so excuse a repeat. I saw the Ida film shoot at
Bonneville in August. I thought the Tucker was the real thing, it was in oxide primer complete with faux rust out on the doors. Turns out it was fiberglass replica on a Pontiac chassis. It was a movie prop for some TV series.
As a bonus we met the twin Tucker grandsons who part of the shoot. Great young guys and one is an automotive engineer.
Also saw the Tucker at the Gilmore last week, nice display with a replica of his office.

 

This is the only photo I can find of my father's Tucker from back in the day. It's #1024.

 

Curious if anyone knows more about this story and why they had a fake Tucker at Bonneville.

There is an urban legend about Tucker #1010 running at Bonneville but it never happened. Tucker #1010 did run at El Mirage but somewhere over the years the story got twisted and now some people swear it was at Bonneville. There is however zero proof it ever ran there. It was said to have happened in the early 50s. This was at a time when every car magazine camped out at Bonneville yet not a single person snapped a photo or reported it. It also was right after Preston Tucker was found not guilty of fraud. Surely one of his prized cars running at Bonneville would have vindicated him yet Tucker never mentions it either.

 

"Curious if anyone knows more about this story and why they had a fake Tucker at Bonneville. "

The Tucker was the tow car for Rob Ida's Gyronaut X-1 Race car.
Some good pics on facebook at Preston Tucker LLC.
https://www.facebook.com/PrestonTuckerLlc

 

Differant fake car Painkiller. The car you speak of from this year is glass, from what i've heard. Tuckerfan is talking back in the 50's.

 

No, actually I was curious about the Ida Tucker. Thanks for posting the story link. I like the look of this car. Usually Ida hot rods his Tuckers.



I need a little help from the Ford guys. I seem to only do well with cars that start with the letter "T". Is the car next to the Tucker a 1949 Ford? Seems like the 1950 model used a different truck emblem.



If the car is a 1949 Ford then the photo could have been taken anytime after August of 1948. Tucker #1024 was not completed until early August of 1948 so the photo does not seem to give any clues as the when it was taken. I can't make out the license plates but I would guess they are from Texas. Looks like a Willys in front of the Tucker?

 

Yes, that's a 49 Ford, the 50 had a different trunk handle.

Mick

 

Both the Tucker and the Gyronaut were designed by my Uncle, Alex Tremulis, with 17 years separating the two. Rob Ida offered his help to the Gyronaut in fixing its fiberglass body. As you may know, his Granddad, Joe Ida, had signed up to be a Tucker dealer and was always disappointed at never realizing his dream. Rob made his first Tucker to pay homage to his granddad. In any case, as Rob was working on the Gyronaut's canopy and the missing engine cover, he calls and says he's got Sean and Mike Tucker (Preston Tucker's great-grandsons) working on the Gyronaut's fiberglass.

There's no better tribute to Alex's work on Preston Tucker's car than to have his great-grandsons repair the broken body on Alex's motorcycle.

So now we had third generations of Idas, fourth generations of Tuckers and second and third of the Tremulis family all involved with the Gyronaut restoration. Tucker was the bond that re-united all the families 63 years after our forefathers first followed Preston Tucker's dream.

During the Gyronaut's stay at Rob's shop, it resided under one of the upcoming twin-turbo Tuckers in the works, and was watched over by both the "Lower '48" as well as a derelict ex-movie Tucker.

Then the Gyronaut was invited to be the historic vehicle to kick off SpeedWeek 2013. Soooooo, what better way to showcase the Gyronaut-Ida-Tucker-Tremulis connection than to use a Tucker on the salt. The rumor was #1010 had been there, so why not bring one back to Bonneville? Even if #1010 never was there, surely no one had ever seen a Tucker on the salt.

It happened that Rob had an "extra" Tucker lying around that was just collecting dust. It had been used for the upcoming movie "Sin City II", so it wasn't up to his build standards, but would be perfect for the corrosive salt at Bonneville. Rob painted it up just before SpeedWeek to appear as if it was a rusted barn find of a Tucker that would have looked like it towed the Gyronaut when it set its speed records almost 50 years ago. It had always been a dream of Alex's to bring one out to Bonneville to see what one could do flat out. The whole story came together perfectly.

We've been calling it the "cycle of Life tour" for the Gyronaut, as its brought together the current generations of the three families. And the fun is only just beginning as we've all got more joint effort surprises to come. It just doesn't get much better than this...

 

Steve,

Thanks so much for sharing your story. Nice to see the Gyronaut looking sharp again.

 

I have a copy of a "Tucker Times", I think that is the title of the company publication. It shows on the cover a WW-II army general (I forget his name, maybe Wainwright) taking possession of a Tucker. Would you like to have it? PM me.

 

I'm pretty certain the Ford next to the Tucker is a 1950, not a '49, as I seem to recall the '49 having a chrome license plate holder/light on the rear. The '50 was body color.

FrankC.

 

Wow...I literally just spent the last 3 or 4 days (off and on) reading this thread in its' entirety and I have to say...I am absolutely blown away by the amount of knowledge, history, and passion represented here. I feel almost like a Tucker owner now that I have seen them from nearly every angle, the engines, and even how to shift one! One of my most treasured memories as a car enthusiast occured at Hershey about 10 years ago. I took my pink and white 1960 AMC Rambler Cross Country to the Hershey show on a Sunday, I toured the chocolate factory for the bazillionth time and walked the show field about 3 times....then I saw it....a real...REAL Tucker!!! It was blue...now I know it was Waltz Blue...and the fellow who owned it was letting people sit in it and take pictures with it! I knew a little about them and knew they were extremely rare and special, so I sat in the driver's seat (I took everything out of my pockets to prevent ripping the upholstery) with my sweaty hands on the wheel and had my picture taken. I stared in awe at that helicopter engine, the 6 tailpipes looming out of the rear bumper, the mile deep paint that looked just like the sky it was reflecting. I asked the guy about a million questions and he was so happy to answer every single one....but that was a long time ago and I have suffered a few TBIs (traumatic brain injuries...thanks Taliban!) since then so I dont remember much of what he said. I remember he was an older gentleman and was just the nicest guy in the world. I do remember asking him why he would let the general public touch and sit in such a rare car, wont they damage it? His answer went like this "There are only so many of these in the whole world, and most people never get to see one let alone sit in one...if I dont keep the history of this car alive it will die forever and be forgotten." That stuck with me...and to this day I refuse to put that "look but dont touch" sign on any of my cars at a show. I encourage people to open the doors, sit behind the wheel, honk the horn, etc. This particular year at Hershey had to be maybe 2004? I dont remember, I joined the Army pretty soon thereafter and got to take a few "vacations" to the desert.

I dont know the serial number or the owner of that particular Tucker, but I sure would like to send him an email and express my thanks for letting me experience that. This thread is truly a gem, and I really hope there will be more in the future.

 

That is a great story. I'll see if I can figure out which Tucker was there in 2004. Unfortunately owning a blue Tucker has not been beneficial to a lot of owners health in the last few years so there may be a new owner of the car. Was the blue a light blue, bright blue, or dark blue? There are several Tuckers that have been repainted various shades of blue. Of the 12 original waltz blue cars only 7 remain that color. Two of the green cars and two of the gray cars have been painted blue.

I notice you live in Tacoma WA. You probably know that Tucker #1007 is at the LeMay Family Museum in Spanaway. They do loan it out to the Americas Car Museum in Tacoma from time to time.

 

Just in time for halloween....THE CURSE OF THE BLUE TUCKER (insert sinister music here!)


I seem to remember it being a lighter blue rather than a darker blue...I just really remember the paint looking a mile deep. I have seen car 1007 a few times at the museum since I have lived here. It really sucked during the time that they were building the new museum I would have to drive by it every day asking myself "is it open yet?!?!?!?!"

 

Yep, you are correct. It is a 1949 Ford. I just looked at the original photo again and that is definitely a '49 truck lid handle. I used to own a '49 several years ago and a '50 is different. It is painted body color and has "wings" that drop down an inch or two on either side of the tag. Those tags by the way are Texas tags.