Sunday, February 27, 2011

Tucker No. 1017 at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance

Tucker No. 1017
We understand from Keith and Eileen Carpenter that Tucker No. 1017 ("Preston") will be on display at this year's Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance in Amelia Island, FL on March 11-13, 2011.  Click here for more information about the concours, and go see No. 1017 if you're in the area!

(Post credit: Keith Carpenter and Kit Fox; photo credit: TACA website)

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

YouTube Video of Tucker No. 1035


The narration is in Portuguese.  The footage of Tucker No. 1035 starts at about 12:28.

(Post credit: Joe Kahn; video credit: YouTube)

Friday, February 18, 2011

Last Chance to See Tucker No. 1039 This Presidents' Day Weekend

Tucker No. 1039
The rare (and all-too-brief) public display of Tucker No. 1039 at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington, DC will end this Presidents' Day weekend.  The last day of the display is Monday, February 21st.  Be sure to go see No. 1039 before it's taken back to the Smithsonian's vault!

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

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

More Photos of Tucker No. 1035

Tucker No. 1035
after a good washing
We've received another e-mail from Tiago Songa with recent photos of Tucker No. 1035 in Brazil.  These really show how extensively the car has been altered over the years.  The photos were accompanied by the following message:

Hello, Friends of TACA.

I'm sending new photos of the Tucker 1035. As you see, the car is clean and it isn't a junk yard anymore. The Tucker 1035 and other cars of the museum are now being cared [for] by the mayor of the city of Caçapava.... And the [responsible] people are now searching resources to do the [restoration]. The mechanical part and the body are no longer unique. The interior of the vehicle clearly shows parts of GM accessories that have been adapted in 60 years.

Looks like a late 40s Cadillac
dashboard has been installed
The photos were taken yesterday, February 14, 2011, and any information about Tucker's original items are welcome.

Hugs to all.

Tiago Songa
Diretor da Federação Brasileira
de Veículos Antigos

Thanks, Tiago, for sharing more photos with us.  We'll be excited to see what becomes of No. 1035 in the future!  There are more of Tiago's photos posted on the TACA Facebook page.
 
(Post credit: Kit Fox and Tiago Songa; photo credits: Tiago Songa)

Tucker Road Trip, Day 13

Tucker No. 1030
We head west to sunny Southern California to the Petersen Automotive Museum on the next leg of the Tucker Road Trip.  Our goal: Tucker No. 1030 in Los Angeles, CA.

The Petersen Automotive Museum, originally operated as a part of the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum system, is located on Museum Row in the "Miracle Mile" section of world-famous Wilshire Boulevard (at Fairfax Boulevard).  In 1994, Margie and Robert E. Petersen fulfilled a longtime dream when they became founding benefactors to start the Petersen Automotive Museum. Overall, their gifts to the museum now total over $30 million,and the Petersen Automotive Museum stands as the nation’s premiere automotive museum, serving thousands of visitors each year. The museum is dedicated to the exploration and presentation of the automobile and its impact on American life and culture using Los Angeles as the prime example. Encompassing more than 300,000 square feet, its exhibits and lifelike dioramas feature more than 150 rare and classic cars, trucks and motorcycles.  The Petersen Automotive Museum Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization.

The Petersen Automotive Museum is located at 6060 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036, just north of I-10 between I-110 and I-405.  It's open year-round Tuesdays through Sundays, as well as on Monday holidays.  Visit the museum's website for more information.

(Sources: http://www.tuckerclub.org/, http://www.petersen.org/)

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

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Tucker No. 1008 at the Chicago Auto Show

Tucker fan Luis Aranaga tells us that Tucker No. 1008 will be on display at the Chicago Auto Show through February 20th.  Those of you who attended the 2005 TACA convention in Chicago, IL will probably recall seeing No. 1008 during our visit to the Volo Auto Museum.

(Post credit: Luis Aranaga and Kit Fox; photo credit: Luis Aranaga)

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Napa Valley Tucker Weekend

Tucker No. 1014
at the Rubicon Estate
Your intrepid blogger drove to Northern California this weekend to see his 20th Tucker. In so doing, however, I was in for a bit of a surprise.  As far as I knew, Tucker No. 1037 was on display at the Rubicon Estate, the Rutherford, CA winery of director Francis Ford Coppola.  Coppola is beloved of Tucker fans for directing 1988's Tucker: The Man and His Dream.  However, rather than Coppola's maroon No. 1037, the Centennial Museum at the winery prominently displayed his blue Tucker No. 1014 among the movie memorabilia and vintage magic lanterns and zoetropes.  Of course, this blogger also took the opportunity to (responsibly) sample the wares of the Niebaum-Coppola winery at the Rubicon Estate!

Niebaum-Coppola Winery
at the Rubicon Estate
The Napa Valley wine country is only about an hour's drive from the cities of the San Francisco Bay Area.  A great deal of Tucker: The Man and His Dream was filmed in the Bay Area, including San Francisco City Hall (standing in for the Chicago Federal Courthouse), an abandoned Ford assembly plant near San Jose (the Tucker Corporation factory) and a Victorian farmhouse in the nearby city of Sonoma (for exterior scenes of the Tucker family home in Ypsilanti, MI).

(Post and photo credits: Kit Fox)

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Remember to Shop TACA on eBay

ShopTACA is your one-stop eBay shop for Tucker merchandise.

(Post credit: Kit Fox; image credit: ShopTACA eBay page)

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

How Many Tuckers Have YOU Seen?

Many of you have no doubt seen (and voted on) our blog poll regarding the number of Tuckers that you've seen in person (it's at the bottom of the right-hand sidebar).  Well, after being open for about 6 months, here are the preliminary results of our (very unscientific) poll:

20% - No Tuckers seen
47% - 1 to 3 Tuckers seen
17% - 4 to 10 Tuckers seen
16% - 11 or more Tuckers seen

(P.S. - Personally, I just saw my 19th Tucker)

(Post credit: Kit Fox)

Tucker Road Trip, Day 12

The Tucker Road Trip heads south to visit Tucker No. 1028 at the Tupelo Automobile Museum in Tupelo, MS.  Tupelo is also the birthplace of Elvis Presley, and the home of the Tupelo National Battlefield and the Natchez Trace Parkway Visitors Center.

Tucker No. 1028
The 120,000-square-foot Tupelo Automobile Museum is owned by a non-profit, educational foundation that will keep the collection of cars preserved for future generations. The foundation is developing educational scholarships that will assist with education for special needs, trades and college education.  The collection includes (in addition to No. 1028) over 100 antique, classic and collectible automobiles, chronologically displayed to illustrate the progress of over 100 years of automobile design and engineering. These include an 1886 Benz, a never-driven 1994 Dodge Viper, a Lincoln previously owned by Elvis Presley, other movie and celebrity vehicles, Hispano Suizas, a Duesenberg, and many more rare brands and American favorites.

The museum is open for self-guided tours year-round, but is closed on Mondays and major holidays.  It's located at 1 Otis Blvd., Tupelo, MS 38804, just off US-45.  Visit the museum's website for more information.

(Sources: http://www.tuckerclub.org/, http://www.tupeloautomuseum.com/, http://www.tupelo.net/)

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

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

February is Renewal Month for TACA Members

Current TACA memberships usually expire on February 28th (check the mailing label of your most-recent issue of Tucker Topics to verify this).  If you're due to renew, you can do so safely, easily and securely using PayPal by clicking here.

If you're not a current TACA member, why not consider becoming one?  Membership entitles you to our award-winning monthly printed newsletter, Tucker Topics, priority notification of our annual convention, and other exclusive members-only offers throughout the year.  Membership is only $30 US for U.S. and Canadian residents, or $50 US for members outside the U.S. and Canada.  Plus, your membership in TACA helps to further our mission to "keep the dream alive!Join today!

(Post credit: Kit Fox)

This Month in Tucker History

1948 - In early 1948, Tucker Corporation was still looking for a suitable engine to power the "Car of Tomorrow." The Jacobs Aircraft Engine Company of Pottstown, PA and Aircooled Motors of Syracuse, NY both became involved in development projects for the Tucker. By February, Jacobs reported that the Ex-Cell-O fuel injection had been received and was favorably tested on one of their engines. Tucker engineers, out of fear that Jacobs would not be able to deliver its engines in a timely manner, told them to drop the fuel injection project. Within a week, the Jacobs engine was ready for testing by Tucker but the project was eventually dropped entirely as being unsatisfactory. Without letting a week pass, Preston Tucker ordered that, "two cars be produced as soon as possible," using the "Franklin" aircraft engine built by Aircooled Motors. The Ypsilanti Machine and Tool Company, managed by Preston's mother, had successfully converted the air-cooled helicopter engine to water-cooling. At the same time, Tucker engineer Ben Parsons proposed that he be allowed to build three of his "339" engines, but the project doesn't get off the ground.

1949 - Fast-forward a year to February 1949: Federal District Attorney Otto Kerner made the announcement that a Grand Jury investigation of Tucker Corporation would take place. Kerner, who later became a Federal Judge, the Governor of Illinois, and authored the famous Kerner Report while serving on President Johnson's Race Relations Committee, served as Prosecutor of the Tucker case. Ironically, in 1973 Tucker's former mimesis Otto Kerner, now Governor of Illinois, was sent to Federal prison for a conviction on charges of mail fraud, bribery, perjury, and income tax evasion tied to his dealings in stock of a racetrack operation.

(Post credit: Jay Follis)