History Searching for 1948 Tucker photos

These have been around for about a year. I guess they are not in very good shape. Of course they were never built to fit together and were only used as props. Still pretty cool if you could figure out something to do with them. No front doors in the bunch and not much rear parts. There is probably someone that bought the other half of the lot out there.

 

Thanks! I'll have to check those locations. I know 360 East Ave is still there. The local Fox affiliate studios are in that bldg. That's right around the corner from 4 Alexander St., so I'm wondering if they were there at the same time. Probably not. The Lake Ave. spot is an auto service/used car biz, and the Ridge Rd. now houses a body shop. When this snow storm stops, I'll get some photos of the bldgs for you.

Frank C.

 

Here is the Studetucker that was used in the rollover scene in the movie along with the "real" car.

 

A Tucker raced at Nascar!

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/12/28/a-tucker-torpedo-participated-in-nascar-in-the-early-fifties/

 

You are correct. The car was sponsored by a car dealer in the Mt Oliver area of Pittsburgh. The number on the car actually served two proposes. It was the car number and the address of the dealer. Both sides were painted different with the large "12" followed by the dealers street address so that it read "12 Charles St., Mt Oliver, Pittsburgh, PA."

Unfortunately we don't know the name of this dealer so any information on the the car dealer at 12 Charles St that sponsored the car or the driver Joe Merola would be great.

Maybe a HAMBer from the Pittsburgh area with a little extra time on their hands could check out the property ownership records from 1950 for 12 Charles Street in the Mt Oliver area of Pittsburgh. There was a building constructed on the site in the late 50s or 60s so it's prior to that.

I've love to get the complete story of the NASCAR Tucker. Any additional photos of the Tucker racing or at the track would also be appreciated.

The Tucker NASCAR debut was at a 200-lap race on May 30, 1950, in Canfield, OH. The car was driven by Joe Merola and wore #12 on its side. The race on the half-mile dirt track was to be Tucker’s introduction into stock car racing but it was short lived. Merola broke a right rear axel and the car never completed a lap.

The car was at the Grand National Circuit Championship race in Rochester NY on July 9, 1950, and the track was a dirt track at the Monroe County Fairgrounds, south of Rochester NY. The Tucker was brought in to run a one-lap feature against the winner, but the repair to the broken right rear axle failed and the car didn't complete the lap.

Joe Merola, the NASCAR driver, is from Wilkinsburg PA. He competed in seven Nextel Cup Series events in his career, earning one top-ten. Merola's debut came in 1949, when he competed at Pittsburgh. Starting positions in the field of twenty-three are unknown, but Merola had a fine day by driving to a respectable 12th place run.

Merola, however, struggled in his pair of 1950 events. It started off terribly at Canfield, with Merola finishing last (29th). It wasn't terribly better at Dayton, when Merola crashed to 21st.

Merola's final four races came in 1951, when he started the year off at Charlotte. It was a fantastic start to the year for the driver, starting 19th in the large field and driving to a career-best 9th place effort. But the rest of the year went downhill, finishing 18th at Pittsburgh and then 45th at Darlington and 17th in a small field at Shippenville.

 

Great thread, keep it going.

 

These slides were taken at the June 1984 national convention of the Tucker Automobile Club of America, of which I was a member, having joined just so I could attend. I have another box of slides, but these are Realist format 3D Stereo slides. I will see if I can scan the pairs and post them, but to view in 3D it helps to have a viewer.

Anyway, here's some of what I saw in Ann Arbor in 1984:

This is Jack Lemmo's newly restored Tin Goose being unloaded. Having this car there was one of the things that made the drive from my home in Rochester, NY to Michigan worthwhile.




Another rear shot of the Goose. Note the small engine compartment opening. Later cars had a much bigger hood to facilitate access. The Goose, however, was designed to use the 589 engine, which was located farther forward, so a large hood wasn't necessary as engine access was from underneath, and anyway, the engine mounting was designed so the entire motor could be dropped out and replaced in an hour or less.



Side detail of the Goose.



One of the 13" wheels on the Tin Goose prototype. The rim is cast aluminum hidden under that futuristic cover.



This is me, with the Tucker from the ACD Museum in Indiana. It's almost the same color of the Goose. Note the larger hood opening.


Taillight detail of the Tin Goose.



This is Audrey Moore, who designed the Tucker interiors.


Marilyn Tucker, from that champagne-bottle photo at the Tucker "christening" where she managed to drench her father with the contents.


Gas filler access detail on the Tin Goose. "Production" cars had the filler located in various places, but i don't think any of them had this feature. I may be wrong.

Bill Kirby, who defended Tucker at his stock fraud trial, successfully acquitting him, but long after the company had fallen into bankruptcy and the factory taken over by a pre-fab home mfr. (Lustron, which also went tits-up. There are a couple of the homes in Syracuse, NY)


The legendary Alex Tremulus, who did much of the initial design for Tucker. What a great guy!


I was honored by sitting at the table with Vera Tucker, a very personable lady full of great stories about the happier days.



One more close-up of the Lemmo prototype. The restoration was first-rate, but the craftsmen were careful to preserve the original work, not improve it.


If I can scan my Stereo slides, I'll post them.

Thanks so much for kicking off this thread, otherwise I may have never found those slides. As it is, I lost an entire exposed roll in Michigan, and who knows what was on that one.

Frank C.

 

I find I can scan my 3D slides, but I'll have to rework the slide holder first. When I'm done, I'll post some of those.

Frank C.

 

Sounds like a little McGyver work is needed but we appreciate your efforts and look forward to the pictures.

 

One minor correction to my photo captions: I said that the Tucker plant had been taken over by pre-fab steel home builder Lustron, but that wasn't the case. Lustron and Tucker were competing for the Chicago plant, and it was awarded to Tucker, with Lustron getting a plant in Ohio.

 

FC49; Great photos. Wonderfully detailed first hand history like this is rare. Thanks for your contributions.

 

The Lustron connection is a long story all in its own. They did get shared use with Tucker of some of the Chicago space for a time. Lustron ended up failing as well.

 

Tuckerfan48...Did you say car 1027 was parted out to repair other cars ." Including one without a roof" ?? Oh no,.. I can hear the conspiracy kooks salivating.

 

Tuckerfan, I noticed that the NASCAR car is the only one you have discussed without mentioning the production number. Has the car been identified, or is it still a mystery as to which one it was?

 

I should probably clarify that as some people WILL try and use that statement as proof of something. I'll say that #1027 was parted out to repair other Genuine Tuckers and some parts were used to build other cars including one without a roof.

 

I read about a year ago reading of a husband and wife that live in the SF Bay area, that DRIVE their Tucker to various Tucker events around the country. He purchased the car new, and he appeared to be in his late eighties or so. The article showed the man gassing up the car at a gas station in SoCal somewhere, and that the car had somewhere around 90K miles on it; maybe more, I don't know. It was a really neat article that I wish I could remember where I'd read it. Anyone here familiar with what I'm referring to???

 

What a great thread right here,I have always loved these cars.Have only seen the one at Peterson.

 

Don't you just want to find this guy a kick his ass? On principal.

 

Actually not. The entire story on the car is that it was in a warehouse that burned down in Florida. The fire was so hot the that Tucker motor melted into a ball. The rear half of the car was pretty much toast (pun intended). The front half was burned and warped but still salvageable.

That was until the Fire Department came back to investigate the fire and moved a huge metal beam that then fell and slammed down onto the front of the Tucker. After that the remains sat outdoors for two years rusting away. The car was finally sold and the parts that could be saved were taken off the car but there wasn't much. It was then crushed and buried under a Tucker Club members garage that was under construction. He went on to repair many Tuckers (and probably some other cars) in this garage.

With the tools and technology we have today it might have been saved but this was 35 years ago. The good news is that if the price of Tuckers ever hits ten million a car we'll know right where to dig.

 

I'm still hopeful that someone will remember a neighbor or uncle that owned a Tucker in 1950 that lived in Tulsa County OK. The car exists but no information is known about where it came from or where it went. It was most likely one of the early cars that was sold to a dealer. There are only a few cars unaccounted for during this timeframe. None of them were thought to be in Oklahoma but this photo proves otherwise.

2'53228 who owned you?




The Oklahoma DMV has not been helpful as these records are not on computer. Maybe someone has a friend there that owes them a favor?<!-- google_ad_section_end -->

 

I wonder if this guy knew that almost 60 years after this photo of him was taken people would be trying to figure out who he is and where he was.

Maybe someone knows this street. East Coast? New Orleans?







Maybe we should make that a rule going forward. If you have your picture taken next to a rare car, hold up a sign with your name and the location of the car.

 

Is it even in the US?

Frank C.

 

Lustron had problems similar to Tucker, that being under-capitalization and problems getting access to steel supplies. Conspiracy buffs think Lustron was sabotaged by the conventional home-building industry who feared that Lustron would be successful and make the stick and brick guys obsolete, just as many think Tucker was the victim of skulduggery organized by the Big Three. Another problem shared by Lustron and Tucker was both announced a price point they later couldn't meet, although in Lustron's case, they actually did produce homes and sold them.

How cool of a photo would a Tucker parked in a Lustron driveway be? I know where there are a couple of the homes. All we need is the Tucker.



http://inhabitat.com/get-a-free-vintage-prefab-deadline-april-12/


Frank C.

 

I think this is the story you saw:
http://www.laubly.com/1948tucker.htm

Here's info on that couple: http://www.chvaredwoodregion.org/Site/Bev_and_Dorothy_Ferreria.html

He didn't buy the car new, but everything else is true. They drove that yellow Tucker from Bay Area to the 1984 meet I attended in Ann Arbor. Terrific people.

Frank C.

 

Some people thought that it might be Europe but there is no record of a car going there and coming back until the late 80s when the movie came out.

If one went there and then came back there would probably be a paper trail and a lot of people that saw it along the way.

I've noticed a lot of simular buildings in Boston and New Orleans. Anyplace with buildings dating back to the 17 and 1800s. It's a somewhat odd street so it should be easy to find. A drove Google Earth around a few times and found simular buildings.

Hopefully someone will recognize the area or themselves in the photo.

 

How did that photo get titled “Luxemburg1952sm”?

Is it just me or dose it look like two tone paint?

 

The paint is two tone. At one time someone guessed it was Luxemburg in the early 50s because of the older style buildings so the photo got titled that way. I've asked people from Luxemburg about it and they say it's not there. The license plate looks more like a US style plate.

 

That’s the next thing I was looking at (photo blown up)
I cant see any plate … just a frame


Maybe if we can find out were men wore there pants around there nipples?

 

Maybe Venice where they call them waders

 

Note where the door handles are on these two Tuckers
TwoChops