History Searching for 1948 Tucker photos

Does anybody know what the reserve was on the auction? It was bid up to 1.5M and did not sell.

 

Well anyone that was there that day saw there were no buyers bidding. It is pretty common practice for auction houses to bid a vehicle up to the reserve with "artifical" bids to create some interest hoping that a real bidder will jump in. Hard to say what the reserve was or if anyone really cared. The car remains unsold after over a year of trying.

 

Has #1057's roof been accounted for? I would think that since it had value, it either got stashed, or sold.

 

That's the thing with #57, is that the builder insists it was always a ragtop from the very beginning, yet we see #57 as it sat at the factory. So, with that top being part of the evidence of that car not being a factory ragtop, who knows where that roof ended up?

A beautiful tribute car, no doubt. But factory...can't be.

Just speculating here...

 

Silly me.

OK. I get it. No body. No murder.

 

Are there any other pics of Body 57 prior to its ragtop conversion? Besides the one you posted of the body shell in the factory? I'm curious as to what other changes besides the wraparound backlight were made. You're saying the car was actually completed after that photo was made?

Frank C.

 

The car was never completed until recently. The photo was taken after the plant was closed and inventoried by the bankruptcy trustee.

 

This one?
It was at one of our car shows last year in Yountville, right across the aisle from my Indian

 

That is Tucker #1014 which is one of two that Coppola owns.

 

Found a read shot of that concept Tucker

 

So, it was never completed as the sole 1949 Tucker, and was just the body shell until it was cut up to make the ragtop? I ask because I'm curious as to what the rest of the '49 design change was. Any sketches ever made? I know the '48s had a lot of compromises made in the interest of time and money constraints (which never went away, unfortunately) so would expect the '49 proposal to address and rectify these areas, the rear window being but one. Those tacked-on tail-lights were another.

Or, they could have gone the route of Kaiser, Stude and Hudson, and just kept tarting up the old body until they became embarrassing caricatures and unsellable.

Frank C.

 

I'm still hoping to find someone that saw a Tucker in Tulsa County OK during 1950. Even better, someone who is wired in at the Oklahoma DMV and can get them to do a little digging for the ownership records on this car. 1950 Oklahoma plate 2 53228.

 

I have heard rumors about the #57 being hidden somewhere secretly, and that good parts on other tucker have been replaced and put on this one! I hope the rumor are true and that the car will surface someday

 

In Oklahoma, it's impossible to track registrations back that far. Ten years is about it.

 

Funny how rumors like that get started. The car is not hidden. What is left is on the car now. I know there are hundreds of forums about this car for anyone looking for more information.

Rather than get bogged down and end up rehashing the same old arguments about what that car is I'd like to stay positive and talk about real Tuckers here.

 

Tucker #1035 is now the property of the City of Caçapava, SP, Brazil

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=pt&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Ftaiada-blog.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F07%2Freabertura-do-museu-do-automovel-de.html

 

Hmm, I thought Tucker 57 was hidden ^^ . Where is it then?

I also thought the Tucker convertible was based on 1052, and not 1057....

 

Body #1052 is owned by a Tucker Club board member and is currently being built into a complete car in California. The body has been verified as # 1052 by several Tucker authorities including the Club Historian and the President of the Club.

 

I wrote this back in May of 2003.

MINNESOTA TUCKERS, WHERE ARE THEY NOW????

With the help of Richard Jones of Florida who started the Tucker Automobile Club Of America in the early 1970's, we have documented Tuckers 1011, 1028, and 1040 as being Minnesota cars at one time. There is a little confusion in some of the information that Richard supplied.

Either Tucker 1011 or 1040 was originally owned by a Daniel Ehlens. We have documented that Tucker #1011 was owned by former UMR member David "Whitey" Lares. Whitey owned this Tucker from 1959 to January 20th, 1987 when he sold it to a fellow in Montana who still owns it today. Either Daniel Ehlens was the original owner of this Tucker and sold it to "Whitey" or there were three or four owners previous to "Whitey".

Sometime in the 1950's, a fellow by the name of Bob Turner had six Tuckers, three with transmissions and three without. Where Bob acquired these Tuckers is unknown. We have documented that he once owned 1028, 1032, and 1040. Bob was able to find transmissions for the three Tuckers that needed them. One transmission was found at Thormansons Auto parts on Washington Avenue in Minneapolis, a second was found at another Junkyard on Washington Avenue (I believe most of us are old enough to remember Junkyard row on Washington Avenue) and a Cord was purchased for the third. The Tucker transmission was very similar to the Cord but updated. The Cord that Bob purchased for the transmission is the "Sunroof Cord" currently owned by myself. Bob also once owned the Cord Phaeton currently owned by Don Urban. (Don's car has been sold to another party)

Tucker 1028 was eventually sold by Bob Turner to Thomas Goff of Utica, Michigan. Mr. Goff sold 1028 in September of 1984 to a Dr. Charles Lehnen who had it restored but didn't drive it so it deteriorated over the years. Richard Jones who is also a Tucker Mechanic had this Tucker for about six months going over everything the restoration shop had not done, fixing leaks, wiring, considerable work on the transmission, etc. When the car was returned to Dr. Lehnen, it was in excellent condition. Richard Jones went down several times and tried to get Dr. Lehnen to drive it. Dr. Lehnen did so only a couple of times and then sold it to Frank Spain. Mr. Spain put the Tucker in his Tupelo, Mississippi Auto Museum which opened in 2002.

Both Tucker 1032 and 1040 are believed to have been sold by Bob Turner to the late William Lund Jr., another former UMR member. In July of 1954, Mr. William Lund Jr. of 2700 France in Mpls. advertised Tucker 1032 "For Sale". The asking price was $4500.00 Richard Jones says it was about this time that William Lund Jr. sold Tucker 1032 to Harrahs Auto Collection in Reno, Nevada. This Tucker remains in what is known as the "National Auto Museum" in Reno today. 1032 has a Cord transmission, the one out of the "Sunroof Cord" owned by myself.

Tucker 1040 may have originally been owned by Daniel Ehlens. Previous owners of 1040 have been Tom Storms, Russell B. Strauch, Ray Carver, Tommy Barnett, Leo Gephart, Bob Turner and William Lund Jr. This may not be the correct line of ownership. 1040 is now in the Jack Nethercutt collection in the new building across from the Tower Of Beauty in San Sylmar, California.

There is a little bit of confusion on the Tuckers owned by William Lund Jr. We know that he probably still owned 1040 in 1956 by the pictures taken at the UMR event at American Mutual Hardware but Richard Jones also says that William Lund Jr. owned two Tuckers in 1961, so if he sold 1032 in 1954, did he actually own a total of three Tuckers???? The mystery continues

 

Sunroof Cord I've been hunting for you for several years now. The ten year old e-mail address I have for you doesn't work. (imagine that). I have made a huge step forward in the quest to figure out the Minnesota Tuckers and have it about 95% figured out.

I believe you can be helpful in resolving the rest of the puzzle. I'd like to find out ANYTHING you can tell me about R.J. "Bob" Turner. I know he had an office at 1217 Nicollet Ave., Minneapolis, MN next to the Westminster Presbyterian Church.

I'm also looking to find the connection between Richard H. Mohrbacker and Daniel Ehlenz. Ehlenz was of course the Tucker Distributor for the Minnesota area. Patrick Dooley was the Secretary/Treasurer. Ehlenz had an office and Dealership at 75 N. Snelling Ave in St Paul. After the Tucker Corporation went under, Richard Mohrbacker took over the building at 75 N. Snelling and started Capitol Motors which eventually became Royal Packard. At that time Mohrbacker was searching for transmissions for the Tuckers he owned.

At the same time Joy Brothers Packard in St Paul owned Tucker #1034 which they kept in the basement of their dealership at 192 Pleasant Ave.

There is some connection between Ehlenz, Dooley, Mohrbacker, Turner, and Lund.

The rest of your questions I can probably answer but I'll hold off on posting them until the entire puzzle has been solved and all the current Tucker owners have been notified as the change in history is going to effect a lot of cars.

Send me a PM with your current E-mail address and I can fill you in on the rest of the puzzle.

 

Maybe someone can identify the place where this photo of a Tucker was taken in the summer of 1953. It is in Southern California, most likely somewhere in or near the Los Angeles area. The word "concourse" is on the building behind the car and the word "custom" is on the sign behind the building at the upper left.

The car was supposedly traded in on a new sports car at a foreign car dealership. Does anyone recognize the dealership or location of the photo?

 

Here is another unknown Tucker. Photo was taken in southern California, possibily San Pedro in late 1949. The person and location are not known. The sign in the background says "automotive service". Does anyone recognize the person or location this photo was taken?

 

Hey Tucker fan 48 I just found this on another site (HubGarage.com) Hope its not a repost. Its a great video of them finding tucker #10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGxIvLFpnSE&feature=player_embedded#!

 

I think it was posted earlier but still fun to watch. Several things said about Tuckers and this car in particular are incorrect. Still it's not often you'll see a Tucker in this sort of unrestored condition.

 

Do you think he has the frame from 1018 or 1042 or ???

 

He has the Tucker test frame that was sold with this parts lot back in 2002. The company built a few frames to test the drivetrains as they were being developed. This car will have one of them under it since the original #1052 frame rusted away to dust years ago. I understand they had to modify the test frame in a few areas to make it fit but it should work great. The current owner hopes to use as many genuine Tucker parts as possible to complete the car.

This is a photo of one of the test frames

 

I do go on the Tucker message site once in a while, love the detail. What's happening with the parts sold in lot 168 or whatever you guys call it.

 

Body #52 and the parts with it were all part of Lot #684 from the Richard Kughn auction in Detroit in 2002, in other words, it's all the same group of parts that are currently being built into a complete car.

 

Take a lok at this

http://www.laubly.com/1948tucker.htm

 

Do you know if 1010 has the original torsilastics on it?

Frank C.