History Searching for 1948 Tucker photos

YEP, i was incorrect, it is #1039, and was on traveling display. i got a hold of a very nice fellow at the museum today. he did say they had a sculpture/ashtray that Preston Tucker gave to President Truman. it is not currently on display, but he said it is viewable by appointment, and sent me a picture, if you would like to see it.

 

Hey this popped up on e-gag its supposed to be out of #21

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1948...ptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

 

Of course we'd love to see it !

 

I love that something like this has come up on this thread. One of the things I get asked about all the time is Tucker parts. There are a lot of accessories that are floating around as well as some parts that came off of actual Tucker cars. For the most part, anything that came off an actual car is pretty well documented. Other parts that come up are usually easy to figure out if you know what you are looking for. Those parts can be labeled SCAM.

This listing is a great example of that. Here is the listing from E Bay:

THIS IS AN ORIGINAL 1948 TUCKER RADIO HEAD. FROM ONE OF THE RAREST AUTOMOBILES IN HISTORY. THERE WERE ONLY 51 OF THESE CARS EVER PRODUCED, AND THIS UNIT IS FROM ONE OF THEM .THIS RADIO IS A USED UNIT, TAKEN FROM TUCKER 21 WHEN IT WAS BEING RESTORED. THE OWNER FOUND A NOS RADIO TO USE IN THE RESTORATION. SO THIS RADIO HEAD DOES SHOW SOME WEAR, BUT STILL SEEMS TO BE IN VERY GOOD CONDITION. ITS BEEN SITTING FOR YEARS UNTILL NOW.THIS IS A GREAT AUTOMOTIVE TIME CAPSULE PIECE TO DISPLAY IN YOUR COLLECTION. WE GUARENTEE THIS IS THE REAL THING. YOU MAY NEVER BE ABLE TO OWN A TUCKER,AS THESE CARS BRING MULTI MILLIONS OF DOLLARS,WHEN ONE RARLY COMES UP FOR SALE. BUT YOU CAN OWN A PIECE OF ONE THAT HAS ITS NAME ON IT! THE BEST CHRISTMAS GIFT EVER!

There are a few problems with this. First, Tucker #1021 is a very original car. It had a mild restoration and has had the same owner since 1967. The other real problem is that you need to know that these cars were all prototypes. As each car was built there were improvements made to them. The first few cars had no glovebox. Some had no ashtrays. Other had different door handles. Many had different radios. Tucker #1021 is one of those cars. The radio in Tucker #1021 was a factory radio with the volume and tuning controls in the dashboard. The selector switch had only buttons on it for the presets. They were labeled 1-2-3-4-5-M. (M for Motorola). Tucker #1021 still has this type of radio. Here is a photo of the real Tucker #1021 radio. My advice is be careful when buying Tucker parts as there are a lot of SCAMS out there.




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Looks like that radiohead mounts differently anyway.

 

i guess these were dealer promo's also, pretty neat, though.

 

This thread is really cool, I am learning something every time I open it up.

Keep at it fella's, great stuff being posted.

 

http://www.tuckerclub.org/html/display_car.php?car_number=1034&

 

Thank you everyone for all the compliments. I do have to point out that much of Tucker history would be lost if it were not for the efforts of 14 people that met in July of 1973 and decided to form a club about 50 cars that at that time not a lot of people cared about. There are others that jotted notes and made lists of where the cars were before that time that also deserve a lot of credit. There was a guy in a little town called Metamora IL that went to the Tucker Plant auction and came home with several cars and a bunch of bodies (including #57) and kept them away from the scrap dealers that were also there waiting to haul them off.

Without those people we wouldn't know much about where the cars were or how to keep them running. I'm sure we'd still have some Tuckers around but there would not be as many, I doubt there would have been a movie, and none of us would probably care much.

Finally there is a gentleman by the name of Richard Jones that has spent a lot of his life, in between working and raising a family, chasing down every scrap of information he could find. Richard was one of those 14 people that formed a club. He helped restore several cars and has had his hands on over 40 of the cars. He was hired by Coppola during the movie to make sure the cars were running and were not abused in making the movie. Without Richard I wouldn't know a fraction of the information I do today. I'm glad I can pass on some of that to others that share an interest in a strange car with three headlights.

 

This was the house in Sonoma, Ca. used for
Preston Tucker's home. Also, they built a large brick style warehouse next to it, only to tear it down after the movie was made.

 

According to my information from Mr Jones, there were 22 Tuckers in Richmond CA. for the making of the movie. Only 19 were actually used. There were 4 replicars built on 1974 Ford LTD frames and the Studetucker which was used in the rollover scene. Most people miss it in the movie unless you run it in slow motion and notice it. The Studetucker still exists and is on display at The Tallahassee Automobile Museum with Tucker #1005.

 

This is a great thread.I really like the Tucker.

 

Haha...I made that story a long time back
Sat in my dorm room with an old hack of an computer and photoshopped those photos...the funny part is that a couple of years later I bought one of the fiberglass movie cars, and we are building that car into a two door late 40s custom. Progress has been slow the last couple of years, but it will be done one fine day






And this is a image Zombie made for me after my own sketches....I have photochopped that one a little too:

 

Anyone have any photos of the Tucker that Joe Bailon painted for Al Slonaker?
Spencer Murray told me that when he wrote the story on Joe Bailon for The Rodders Journal he went through all of joe's boxes with photos. One of the photos he came across was a Tucker that Bailon had painted for Al Slonaker (Yes, the daddy of the GNRS). He sent the photo to TRJ, but they never printed it, and now Spence can't get it back for some reason.... anyhow according to Tuckerfan48 this is Al's old Tucker:



It was most likely repainted after Al sold it. If anyone have any photos showing the Bailon painted Tucker, I would love to see those. On a sidetrack, it seems like Joe Bailon was a little inspired by the Tucker himself when he built Miss Elegance....look at the extension on the doors and the rear fender scoops:

 

The guy who owned "Whitey's" junkyard here in Ham Lake had a yellow one. I remember it was always a "special attraction" at the Hudson clubs swap meets here in the spring. He had a very large collection of orphan cars in a shed in the middle of his Junkyard. Too bad its all gone now, since I only live 1/4 mile from where the yard used to be!

 

Don't have any tucker pics just some info. I had chance to buy on off a car lot in Sharon,Pa back in 1952/53. It was black & I was impressed with all the safety features but it just wasn't my style back then being a young hotrodder. Never did see that car again after it was sold. I had a 48 ford vert with a cam/carbs & dual pipes. Traded that for a 50 chevy vert that I put a hot 270 jimmy in. Yep that's a 37 hupmobile under the old oak tree.

 

In 1948, I went to the Tulsa, Oklahoma showing of the cars with my father. He made a $500 deposit on a car; my younger brother has the canceled check. I'll ask him to look for any promotional materials which might have survived all these years.

 

Google: Swigart Auto Museum. They have a '47 & a '48 listed in
their collection. I saw them a couple of years back, but I know
the AACA has auctioned some of their stuff in the past year.

john

 

A friend of mine owns the one in the Wisconsin auto museum outside of Milwaukee. They get it out of the museum a couple times of year and drive it. I am not sure what number it is but it is green with a bunch of accessory stuff on it.

 

I didn't know that. Cool!

I would love to do the same.

 

Thanks Bob. I'd like to pick your brain for anymore information. Can you pin down the location of the lot in Sharon? If you can recall for example it was on E. State St. Anything like that. A google earth shot of the lot now would be really great if you have the time. That way I can do an ownership search on the property address. Anything else you might remember would be helpful.

I believe the car you saw had been owned by a Bank President in nearby Farrell, PA. The information you have provided will be very helpful in completing this cars history. Again, anything additional no matter how small will be helpful.

Thanks !

 

You are correct about Whitey's in Ham Lake. It was a wonderful place. Most of his cars were intact and older than other yards. Whitey's Tucker was #1011. There was another yard called Sid's over on Radisson Road that is now airport property that had a lot of older cars. I remember seeing an almost new Superbird there. It was strange because the front clip, the doors, and the rear quarters were in three different areas of the yard but none of the parts had any damage. It turned out Sid "borrowed" a lot of his cars from people that didn't give him permission and he ended up in a state run hotel.

The Swigert Museum has the Tin Goose and Tucker #1013. They've had them both since about 1998.

The one in Wisconsin is Tucker #1048. It has a lot of extra embellishments that were added by a former owner. I thought the big slice of cheese on the roof and the Packer logos on it were a little much though. (just kidding)

Thanks for the post about Tulsa, OK. I'm still hoping to find some that remembers seeing a Tucker in that area in 1950. Anyone with information on the car below please call CrimeStoppers at 1-800-MISSING TUCKER HISTORY.

 

So I'm guessing you lived in the area at some point!?!
Most of it was intact because his prices we high, and he'd never let anyone into the yard to "look around". I was able to get into Whitey's twice. Once was in the early 80's to look at a 40 ford that was in there. The 2nd time was a few years ago right before it got sold/crushed out. Both times it was because his son was trying to save some cars/make some money while the old man was away. The 1st time resulted in most of the Ford/Chevy stuff being crushed. Most of the stuff left when they closed was the oddball stuff. I know there was a 33 Pierce Arrow that went to French Lake auto parts out in Annandale.

 

I remember when i was about 10 ( late 70's early 80's ) , there was a burgandy Tucker at a local car show in Rockville , Md . I remember dad telling me to come with him to look at it cause i may never see another .... and he was right ! The car then was in very nice shape and driven to the show i believe . Have never seen the car again . Is this one accounted for ? It was/is a small show , so i'm sure the owner lived relatively close by at the time . Thanks for the thread , very educational . Mike

 

I'm going to guess that you saw Tucker #1044 which was owned by a gentleman in Steelton PA which looks about 80 miles away. It won several awards and was owned by a guy that knew them inside out. The attached picture shows it a little darker than it really is.

 

Looks like Chrysler wire wheels with Tucker emblems added to the spinners?

 

TuckerFan 48, I don't have any pics or info, but a question I've wondered aboutfor a while. The former governor of my state, Winthrop Rockefeller, lived about 20 miles from my house and owned a Tucker, which he allegedly drove to the Capitol regularly, about a 55 mile one way trip. Any idea on what # his Tucker was, and where it might be now? I thought it was really cool to know that one of the rarest cars built used to drive the roads of my little county even though it was before my time.

 

Tuckerfan 48. I don't have anymore info & can't even remember what the car lot name was or the asking price. It wasn't a big lot as it was in someones front yard. The location was at the top of the hill as you drove out of sharon towards the ohio stateline.It was on the river side of the road. The road followed along the shenango river past westinghouse. I'll talk to my younger brother for street names as he has a much better memory than mine. I was born in sharon & we moved to Hartford/Burghill Ohion in 47 & left the area in 57 for calif hotrod scene.

 

Tucker #1029. It was originally owned by Preston Tucker himself.

 

Great I'd love to hear more. You mentioned taking the road out of Sharon toward the Ohio stateline. It looks like there might be two ways out of town. One which goes straight west and the other that heads south toward Farrell and winds around toward Ohio. The road straight west is State St and goes up a hill with a bunch of old Churchs on it. Looks like Scared Heart School is at the top of the hill right at the state line.

From the information you mention here about Westinghouse and the river it would be very close, less than a mile, to where the Tucker owners bank was at 823 W. Broadway Avenue (now 823 Pennsylvania Hwy 718) in Farrell. Hwy 718 runs along the river from Farrell to Sharon and turns west right at the Westinghouse plant.