Merry Christmas!

(Image credit: Tucker Historical Collection & Library archives)

Vote on our Poll!

Since this blog started in August 2010, we've been polling visitors about how many Tucker 48s they've seen.  Our poll will close on New Year's Eve, so if you haven't already done so, enter your answer now.  You'll find the poll at the bottom of the right-hand sidebar.  We'll post the final results in a couple of weeks.

(Post credit: Kit Fox)

Tucker No. 1043 Auction Preview

In less than a month, Tucker No. 1043 will be crossing the Barrett-Jackson auction block in Scottsdale, AZ.  Here are a few photos to whet your appetite.

(Post credit: Kit Fox; photo credits: Barrett-Jackson website)

It's Winter!

(Image credit: free-clipart-pictures.net)

Happy Hanukkah!

TACA celebrates the first night of the Festival of Lights.

(Post credit: Kit Fox; image credit: Microsoft clip art)

Tucker Topics, Volume 39, No. 11

The latest issue of our monthly print newsletter, Tucker Topics, includes tales of this year's travels for Tucker No. 1013, as well an information about next month's Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, AZ, where Tucker No. 1043 will be crossing the auction block.  There's also information about ordering the 2011 TACA conference DVD.

(Post credit: Kit Fox)

Gilmore Car Museum Now Open Year-Round

Tucker No. 1047

We're pleased to report that the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, MI--the home of both Tucker No. 1047 and the Tucker Historical Collection & Library--is now open all year.  Click here for more information.

(Post credit: Jay Follis; photo credit: TACA website)

A Tucker Abroad: No. 1049

Tucker No. 1049

The final stamp in the passport for our tour of ex-patriate Tucker '48s will be in the United Kingdom.  Tucker No. 1049 was relocated to Old Oxted, Surrey, England in 2007 after an extensive restoration in Southern California.  Owner John Jackson has created a website dedicated to No. 1049 (http://www.tuckertorpedo49.com/), which includes many photographs and other information about the car.

Before traveling "across the pond," No. 1049 passed through the hands of several prominent American Tucker '48 collectors, including Bob Bahre, Dewey Bloomquist, Nick Jenin and Gene Zimmerman.  In its new home, No. 1049 promptly won rave reviews at several car shows in and around London in 2008.

(Post credit; Kit Fox, TACA message board and www.TuckerTorpedo49.com; photo credit: TACA website)

Incredible Story of Tucker No. 1008 in Hemmings Blog

The incredible story of Tucker No. 1008 is posted in today's Hemmings Blog.  Check it out!

(Post credit: Kit Fox and Eric Breslow; photo credit: Hemmings Blog)

This Month in Tucker History

1946 - The January 1946 issue of PIC Magazine featured a story by Charles T. Pearson, a freelance automotive reporter, about the revolutionary “Tucker Torpedo” automobile on the drawing board. But it was the December 1946 “Tucker Torpedo” story in Science Illustrated that gave many their first look at Preston Tucker’s dream car and a real sense he was serious. A photo showed the George Lawson designed “Torpedo On Wheels” that looked “more like a Buck Rogers Special” than any auto of its day.

1946 - Just two days after Christmas 1946, and within days of seeing the story, automotive designer Alex Tremulis called Preston Tucker and asked for an interview. They met the very next day for a 15-minute meeting that turns into three hours, and ends with Alex landing a styling consultant contract for his employer, the design firm of Tammen and Denison of Chicago. On New Year’s Eve, just four days later, Alex had already finished several drawings and presents them to Preston Tucker. This meeting lost Tammen and Denison the Tucker contract as Preston hired Alex outright and appointed him Tucker Corporation Styling Chief.

1947 - By December 1947, all in-house work on the “Tucker 589” engine was canceled as the results proved to be “completely unsatisfactory” and the company began exploring other engine options with outside firms. Contracts were signed with Hoffman Motor Development Company of Detroit, MI, who would build six engines, as well as with Ex-Cello-O Fuel Injection Systems, who proposed adapting a Jacobs Aircraft Engine for use in the Tucker. The Ypsilanti Machine and Tool Company, owned by Preston’s mother, pursued yet another engine. The Ypsi group worked on converting four Aircooled Motors-built “Franklin 335” helicopter engines purchased from Bell Aircraft from air-cooled to water-cooled. In the end, these projects paid off well and they found the engine to power the new Tucker ’48 – the converted Franklin 335.

1956 - The month of December also marks great sadness in Tucker history and we mourn the loss of four true pioneers. On the day after Christmas 1956, Preston Tucker passed away of lung cancer. Stylist Alex Tremulis passed away in December 1991, followed by the death of Tucker interior stylist Audrey Moore-Hodges five years later in December 1996, and Tucker design team member Philip Egan in December 2008.

(Post credit: Jay Follis)