History Searching for 1948 Tucker photos

I saw this and thought I'd contribute to the thread-can't account for the info included,but the pics are nice?
Great thread!

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

 

Just wondering about this motorcycle. Are there any Harley guys reading this thread that might be able to tell us more about it? Even better, where it is today?

 

Does anyone know where I could find the records for the Russetta Timing Association? Russetta held speed meets at various southern California dry lakes including Bonneville. It was an independent association, owned by Ray Ingram. It flourished in part because SCTA did not allow coupes or sedans until 1951, and RTA did. I'd like to make sure no stone was left unturned in the search for this. Any ideas?

 

To quote historian Mark Dees [RIP] in "The Miller Dynasty" this photo was taken at Gasoline Alley a year after the Miller-Ford fiasco. His mount is a brand new Harley-Davidson 61 OHV model, first model of the famous "knucklehead" design and direct ancestor of today's FLH model.

Historian Dees has devoted a chapter in his excellent book "The Miller Dynasty" regarding Preston Tucker involvement with Henry Ford and Harry Miller. Mr. Tucker was also involved with a Miller-Gulf car - the "Tucker Torpedo" in 1946-48 which now resides in the Indy Museum.

Harry Miller was also involved with the "Tucker Aircraft Corp." as Chief Engineer. More information regarding this can be gleemed from Mark Dees' book which is primarily involved with Harry Miller and the development of the Miller / Offenhauser engine - Excellent reading!

 

The Miller-Ford deal took place in 1935 and it appears the Harley Davidson 61 came out two years later in 1937 is that correct? Is this a 1937 model then? Where is this particular bike today?

 

The Knucklehead was first used in the 1936 model year, and may have been introduced as a '36 sometime in 1935. - FC49

 

Who's to say that this bike actually belonged to PTT? He's certainly not dressed like he'd be riding it. More likely it was a photo-op typical of Tucker, who no one ever accused of being camera-shy.

As for that particular bike, chances are it's long gone, but H-D is big on preserving their company history and may be able to fill in the blanks.

Let's hope they're more user-friendly than the Henry Ford:
http://www.harley-davidson.com/wcm/Content/Pages/HD_Museum/contact_us.jsp?locale=en_US

Frank C.

 

Good points Frank. Since that photo was taken at Gasoline Alley, he may have borrowed the bike from someone, a car owner / driver or even H-D if they were there. Interesting if he was using it as a "Pit Bike" - but I agree - he doesn't look like he is dressed to ride it.

In all of the early Indy 500 photos I have looked at, I don't believe the racing teams were set up with "Pit Bikes" and definitely not the golf carts we see today.

Offy 220

 

Here is a video from last month of Tucker #1039 being removed from storage and put on display with a Harry Miller car.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDZKhv017iw&feature=related

 

Seized in a drug raid? Lets hear the whole story of that!

 

I should have known that question was coming. In 1989, right after the Tucker movie came out, two gentlemen from the Pasadena CA. area bought Tucker #1039. It was in rough shape but they announced they would do a no expenses spared restoration. Over the next year the car was beautifully bought back to life.

It turned out that the reason they weren't worried about expense was they operated a meth lab near Jamul CA. about 15 miles outside San Diego. In 1992 the DEA arrested 30 people in connection with the methamphetamine ring that distributed 1,000 pounds of meth over three years. A total of 3.5 million dollars in assets was seized by the DEA including Tucker #1039.

The Tucker Club went all the way to Bill Clinton in the White House to get #1039 donated from the US Marshalls to the Smithsonian.

 

Hemmings Blog has a short story on the Brazilian Tucker

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/...er-exhumed-headed-for-restoration/?refer=news

Here in Brazil a lot of people was anxious about this development...Here I send you some more pics

 

For More Detail

 

Here are some more recent photos of #1035. It looks better after a bath.
Before you ask, I have no idea what or why the vents were cut into the rear behind the side glass. Best guess is an effort to get better airflow into the motor.

 

If im not mistaken that upper control arm w shock makes that a fairly old buick its sitting on …. Probably about the same vintage as the Tucker itself.

 

Didn't we read it was a 1948 Caddy frame?

Frank C.

 

It's a 1947 Cadillac Series 62

 

Great thread no pics just a story. My older cousin had told me a few years ago that he had known Preston Tucker and family as they lived about a block apart in Ypsilanti. He said he used to sit in Tuckers that they had stored at Prestons barn behind his house on Park St. in Ypsi. and pretended they were driving them. He actually called me this morning and said he would like to come down for coffee. I then discovered this thread. I decided I'd pick his brain a little. So as we were driving to pick up another cousin I asked him to tell me more about the Prestons and the Tuckers. He told me the son he was closest to was Johnny there was another boy named Noble and he referred to a daughter that he knew as Merilee. He said Johnny used to come to him at school and say they're gonna test one this afternoon. and they would hurry home from school and hope to get a test ride with Preston or another trusted associate. If they were lucky they got to climb in the big back seat and away they would go. He also said sometimes there were quite a few stored at one time in the barn so he and Johnny would each get in one and pretend they were racing. He said that Mrs. Tucker was a regular June Cleaver that she always baked cookies and stuff for them after school. I had always known about the corrupt Senator and the trumped up Govt. lawsuit but my cousin said that he had eaten dinner with the family several times and Preston bemoaned the fact that Ford and GM had made it very hard for him to get the steel he needed for production. I had never heard that before. I was glad to talk with him more at length about the subject and the timing couldn't have been much better!

 

That "corrupt senator" would be this man:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homer_Ferguson

Read the last part of his "Post-Senate Life" which suggests that he worked hard for the Detroit car makers to help sink Tucker.

Frank C.

 

Grew up in the late 50's - early 60's in the same neighborhood as Vera Tucker, and used to see her and her waltz blue car around town. My Dad is a car guy, and always would point it out and tell us about the car. I think it had a lot to do with why I've been a car guy ever since. I thought her car ended up at the Henry Ford after she owned it, but I could be wrong. I know at one time the museum had two, but they sold one about 20 years ago. As I recall, it was Waltz Blue.

 

What town did this occur in?

Vera Tucker owned Tucker #1031 which is Waltz Blue. She sold it on 3/23/63 to a gentlemen in Elk Point SD. The car was on loan to the Pioneer Auto Museum in Murdo SD for several years. It was recently sold and is now in a private museum in CA.

I've never heard of the Henry Ford having a second Tucker. They have had #1016 since 1958 when the Detroit News donated it to them. There were 12 Waltz Blue Tuckers built and none of them were unaccounted for. If the Henry Ford had a second Tucker its never been mentioned by anyone before.

 

In the late 90's, maybe mid 90's I saw a tucker being driven at Hot August nights in Reno. If I remember a tan/beige in color. I could be wrong. I know it was parked in a parking lot with everybody else, owner was there with a small crowd around it. Some people still had no idea what it was then.

Another intesting thing is I grew up just miles from Harold LeMay. For several years I would with my dad help him get his house ready for the open house he had once a year. (This is before his wife bought the tucker they have now). Harold was a cool guy, ate lunch and dinner in his own living room sitting next to him a few times. I remember greatly helping to build the replica gas station he has at his house (those that have been there will know it). We were spreading roofing shingle tabs around, harold was right there with us, jumped in the dump truck at one point to move it slightly. He was always too cheap to pay for a tucker at the time. After his passing his wife Nancy bought the one they have.

Be interesting to know a story about the tucker she bought that isn't well known. Hell any tucker story I am enjoying reading about.

 

I'm going to guess that the Tucker you saw in Reno was #1041. The owner at that time loved to show the car. It is probably the most photographed Tucker. He owned the car for 39 years until he passed away two years ago. He drove it all over the country. He was a mechanic and had the Tucker in top running condition. It is now in a private collection in Southern California but does get driven.

 

And this appears to be the same car that someone sent me a link to a couple of years ago .....

1948 TUCKER​

Sorry if that's been posted before.

 

That's OK, it's been posted about 10 times now but they are still nice pix.

 

Was there ever a Blue Tucker in the Colorado Springs area 10-15 years ago?

 

I don't know of a Blue Tucker that was there but it's possible #1007, #1031, or #1049 could have traveled through.

 

I found another KChrome slide of Bill Kirby posing with a Tucker at the Ann Arbor meet of '84. This is the view I had enlarged to 2' x 3' poster which he had hanging in his MacArthur office in Chicago. Note that there's another maroon Tucker in the background, which was Lemmo's Tin Goose at its first showing since its restoration. I wish we had chosen that car for the picture as it would have been more significant, but who knew? If memory serves, the maroon car in foreground was at that time on display at the ACD museum in Indiana and was trailered to Mich. for the event.

I'm still looking for the letter Kirby sent thanking me for the picture, and when it turns up I'll post it.

Frank C.

 

Great story about Tucker #1017. On the way back from winning an award at Amelia Island this past weekend, the owners stopped by Charlestown IN to meet a 90 year old man that once owned the very same car. The last time the former owner saw it was 40 years ago when he sold it in 1971 and helped load the boxes the car was in onto a truck. A local Fox TV crew was there to take photos.

http://www.fox41.com/story/14272460/southern-indiana-man-reunited-with-rare-classic-car

 

Here's a photo