It's Autumn!

Japanese Maple Leaves



(Photo credit: iStockphoto)

Tucker Road Trip, Day 3

On our next stop on the Tucker Road Trip, we'll be visiting Tucker No. 1004, but make sure that your passport is in order first.  We'll be visiting one of five Tuckers known to be on foreign soil, and the only one on public display at this time!

Tucker No. 1004

The Toyota Automobile Museum in Aichi prefecture, Nagakutecho, Japan proudly displays No. 1004 along side vintage Toyotas, as well as other examples of American and European automotive ingenuity.  Oddly, Tucker No. 1004 does not appear on the museum's list of possessions on its website, but eyewitness reconnaisance in Spring 2010 confirms that the car is there.

The museum is near Nagoya, between Osaka and Tokyo on the main Japanese island of Honshu.  Check the Toyota Automobile Museum website for more information.

(Sources: http://www.tuckerclub.org/, www.Toyota.co.jp/Museum, TACA message board)

(Post credit: Kit Fox; photo credit: TACA website)

Happy Birthday, Preston Tucker!

Preston Tucker
1903-1956

Preston Thomas Tucker was born 107 years ago today--and the automotive world has never been the same since!  Read more about Preston Tucker on the TACA website and on Wikipedia.

(Post credit: Kit Fox; photo credit: Wikipedia)

Tucker Topics, Volume 38, No. 8

The latest issue of TACA's award-winning monthly printed newsletter, Tucker Topics, includes information on the upcoming Midwest Mini-Meet; an entertaining article by Australian TACA member Brendan Edgerton; and 2010 TACA Convention photos from Atlanta, GA.  Tucker Topics is a benefit of your membership in TACA.  Also, we're honored to announce that Tucker Topics has won yet-another Golden Quill Award  from Old Cars Weekly.  Congratulations to Bill Pommering and Patty Fortin!

(Post credit: Kit Fox)

More Details about the 2010 Midwest Tucker Mini-Meet

Fairfield Inn-Louisville North

This year's Midwest Tucker Mini-Meet is scheduled for October 1st & 2nd, 2010, with the Fairfield Inn-Louisville North serving as headquarters. The hotel is located at 619 N. Shore Dr., Jeffersonville, IN 47130.  For the special "Tucker Automobile Club" rate of $79/night, call the hotel directly at (812) 280-8220.  According to hosts Millie & Brent Morris, there are three good restaurants near the hotel for your Friday night meal.

Brent says, "As usual, there will be a lot of 'talking Tucker', and I feel certain that there will also be a good sing-a-long with some pickin' and grinnin'!"  It certainly wouldn't be a Mini-Meet without a sing-a-long.  Brent also tells us that TACA members Keith & Eileen Carpenter (owners of Tucker No. 1017) will be bringing one of their FASCINATION cars to the Louisville concours, and will be glad to show it to Mini-Meet attendees on Friday the 1st.

Schimpff's Confectionery

Saturday activities will include the exploration of historic downtown Jeffersonville, IN. Highlights are expected to include Heuser Hardware and Schimpff's Confectionery before lunch at a downtown restaurant.  After lunch, attendees will travel a short distance to see the Indigo Classic Cars Collection in Linden, KY.  Then it's back to the Fairfield Inn for supper and more "talkin' Tucker."

For those who can stay over on Sunday, the third annual Louisville Concours d'Elegance will be held on October 3rd at historic Churchill Downs, home of the legendary Kentucky Derby.  Some of the rarest, most elegant cars in the country will be displayed at this year's event.  Proceeds will benefit Brooklawn Child & Family Services, a non-profit home for children who suffer the effects of abuse, neglect or other severe trauma.  Advance tickets to the Concours d'Elegance can be purchased for $15 at http://www.concourslouisville.com/ or for $20 at the gate on Sunday.

(Post credit: Kit Fox and Brent Morris; photo credits: Marriott, Schimpff's and Louisville Concours websites)

TACA Honors Patriot Day

TACA encourages you

to remember the sacrifice

of those who we lost

9 years ago today.

(Post credit: Kit Fox; photo credit: Wikipedia)

Tucker Road Trip, Day 2

Tucker No. 1001

The next stop on the Tucker Road Trip is Alexandria, VA, home of The Cammack Collection.  Dave Cammack's wonderful collection--open by appointment only, but free of charge--is located in a non-descript warehouse tucked into Old Town Alexandria, just minutes from Washington, DC off I-495.

Tucker No. 1022

The crown jewels of the collection are three--count 'em, THREE--Tucker '48s: No. 1001, No. 1022 and No. 1026.  The Cammack Collection also includes Tucker parts, engines, original blueprints, photos and other articles.  It is by far the largest and most complete collection of Tucker automobile memorabilia in the world.  TACA members will recall visiting the collection during our 2007 convention in Washington, DC.

Tucker No. 1026

Contact information for The Cammack Collection can almost always be found in the most-recent issue of our monthly printed newsletter, Tucker Topics, available to TACA members as a benefit of their annual membership.  You can also contact us here at our blog (Tribune@TuckerClub.org), and we'll get you the information you'll need to arrange a visit.

(Source: http://www.tuckerclub.org/)

(Post credit: Kit Fox; photo credits: TACA website)

TACA Salutes Labor Day!

Tucker No. 1034 at the High Museum in Atlanta, GA
Summer 2010

Enjoy the "unofficial" end of summer!

(Post and photo credit: Kit Fox)

Tucker No. 1045 in Melbourne, Australia

Tucker No. 1045 at the Monterey auction

TACA member Brendan Edgerton reports that Tucker No. 1045, after selling for a record price in Monterey, CA last month, is making its new home "down under" in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.  Brendan tells us that No. 1045 will be going on display on October 22nd.  Perhaps a southern hemisphere TACA convention is in our future!

(Post credit: Kit Fox and Brendan Edgerton; photo credit: RM Auctions website) 

This Month in Tucker History

1947 - It was September 12, 1947 that the court ruled on behalf of the Tucker Corporation. The agreement Tucker was able to reach with the War Assets Administration requiring an initial payment of $15,000,000 to lease the Chicago plant was ruled valid. Tucker gained formal control of the former Dodge B-29 engine plant and showed $15,007,000 had been raised by the sale of stock, yet both came six months behind schedule due to court delays.

1947 - September also saw the resignation of Tucker Corporation Board Chairman, Harry Toulmin, who cited “Preston Tucker’s hard sell tactics” as his reason for leaving.

1947 - While a lawsuit by Tucker stockholders asked the court for receivership of the corporation, six Tucker cars began testing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway—the famous “Brickyard,” best known for the Indy 500 race.

1949 - The September 1949 issue of Reader's Digest carried a reprint of the June Collier’s article that had attacked Tucker and called the car a fraud. Bad press seemed to snowball and, on the 22nd, a reorganization hearing was held on Tucker Corporation.  One year later, Preston Tucker and Corporation, now acquitted of all charges, sued the publishers of both Collier’s and Reader’s Digest for damages totaling $19 million.

2000 - The Tucker Historical Collection and Library (HCL), the Tucker Automobile Club of America’s archive collection and exhibit, was established on the grounds of the Gilmore Car Museum located in Hickory Corners, MI. The display features a recreated 1948 office, reminiscent of what one may have found at Tucker Corporation, along with Tucker #1047. On September 30, 2000, Mary Lee Tucker-McAndrew proudly dedicated this new venture in the memory of her parents—Preston and Vera Tucker.

(Post credit: Jay Follis)