The thrill of finding an old car tucked away for years..but

I found my '51 Chevy pickup sitting behind a gas station in my home town, back in January of 1976. I had just turned 18 and my Dad knew the owner. We went and talked to him and I bought the old truck for $50!

It never hurts to look around and then ask! But be friendly and don't push! I've bought many cars by simply being as pleasant as I can and let the owner talk about whatever he wants to talk about. The conversation will eventually get back to the vehicle in question...

I decided to put a newer 6 cylinder (open driveline 230 I-6) in the truck, so I needed an engine. I happened to mention it to my boss and let me know that his wife's brother had a '63 Chevy Biscayne four door for sale. We went out in the country several miles and bought the car for $95 and drove it home! I had my engine and trans and a whole bunch of parts--all by being willing to ask a few simple questions and not being a jerk!

I've probably bought 20 cars this way over the years...

 

That is a very good thing to say, I'll have to remember that. When it comes to saying I have a similar car and need advice, parts, etc, if I really do not have that car I don't feel it is right to make something up and blatently lie to someone, so when they ask why I am interested I just speak the truth - - that I'd like to check it out, hear the story about it, and if I like it, I'd like to know if its for sale and go from there.

I have just spent the better part of the last hour, checking out google earth search maps on some of the locations I know there are a lot of vehicles outside, and I actually found some vehicles I did not know where on the premesis! I plan to map out a route to visit this coming spring, but like most of you already know the -scrap prices- have been up significantly high around here and I'm sure plenty of grungy scrappers have knocked on the doors and towed plenty of good healthy project cars away for a quick buck.

 

Post those pics!

 

It's not the first time the subject has come up. In fact there seems to be a new thread about every week or so.

Here's a thread from 2005.
Larry T

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=48962&highlight=how+to+crusty

 

I just went on the site a few minutes ago they have found the last two tuckers that they were looking for the last few years. There is one though that is not accounted for and that one was #42. Here is a link to the clubs web site, this is the page where they have accounted for the 51 cars. apparently Ohio has 3 of them now. The junker that is being rebuilt is in Illinois now, and there is the one that has the 390 ford motor in it that has been missing for years but just turned up on Ebay and sold for over 200K.

Click on the photos for more info on the cars

http://www.tuckerclub.org/html/see_a_tucker.php

 

Thanks for the tip. Looking at your picture (avatar?) of the truck reminded me something interesting. A mile from my house sits/sat a 1940s truck with a dump bed, I believe orange in color, in heavy growth much like your picture, it looks in remarkaly good shape from the road, however I have never stopped as I do not believe even rodents reside there. There is/was a house very close to train tracks and from what I've been told a train derailed and ran over the house. The house is still there, destroyed, its a unique site and I wonder why the city has not torn it down yet. While going across the railroad tracks, if you look very closely in the growth you can see this truck. Very hard to see! I noticed it 2 years ago when I first purchased my house. I would drive past it every day and try to catch a glimpse of it, until this summer I could not see it anymore. I do not know if it is not there, or I am not looking deep enough, but I haven't seen the truck at all. I will stop when the snow clears and try to find it, as I believe the only way it would have left that spot was if someone had stolen it! Last year when scrap prices went high I drove past the destroyed house on the property and a guy in a mini-van waved me down and asked if I could help him carry a metal safe out of the house and put it in the back of his van. He seemed a very shady character and when I asked him about the truck he said ' I don't know, I don't live here ', so I assumed he was stealing metal and I left. I drove home on my lunch break from work and I saw the safe was quite large and was sitting out front of the house, he somehow managed to get it out and a wood burner too, but probably couldn't lift them in his van. The next day both were gone.

 

I bought my 57 wagon through a friend who knew the owner, who also has a 57 B/A HT and a 70 Chevelle SS 396, none were for sale. We went to talk to the guy at his towing shop and he agreed to show us the wagon which was on their old farm in a garage. Bernice and I looked at it and it was covered with junk and in pretty rough shape but the body was not too rusted, having been stored there for years. We left him and then decided to see if he would sell it and he made us an offer and we accepted it, the rest is history. we have been to a few home car yards and one fellow said he would sell any parts but not whole cars, so most are just rotting in the fields, Merry Christmas, Henry.
As found, we dragged it out and towed it to Frank's place in Pembroke, ON

 

Thanks for the interesting read. Going through the pictures on the front page I do not see the one I have seen, and I am not sure but the current owner could perhaps already be in the registry, although the Tucker hasn't left his garage in a long time. I saw this car when I was 16, so it has been near 7 years. I wouldn't say it is sitting rotting, but it is covered in dust and doesn't look to be cared for very much, it is Silver or light gray if I remember. He is a wealthy man who has a couple old Corvettes and motorcycles and I was lucky to go to his home with a friend who would do lawn care for him (he has his own golf course in his back yard). We had to go in his garage to look at a lawn mower and I noticed the truck was off and the engine was in the rear ! That is when I asked about it.

 

Pics of the Tucker would be cool.

 

I'll buy this when I see pics, otherwise I'm chalking it up to BS. Mach 1 Shelbys, Dussys with wood wheels, a Tucker in a registry is an inch of dust. You know how many times my A has been called a 32? I'll wait for the pics.

 

The thrill of the chase... before approaching people's houses and inquiring about people's cars, I suggest you bring along an old timer. They seem to have better luck.

 

this is sort of like the 9 year old kid that wrote that book, " how to talk to girls "

 

I am thinking he is seeing a bullet nosed Studebaker

 

Hmm. Not quite the warm welcoming I was expecting. The only pictures I have of any of these are the 3 photos of the convertibles, and an airplane in the raftors on my cell phone. No, I don't have a cable or know how or have the motivation to put them on the computer, however if you'd provide me with a phone number that can receive pictures I'll gladly send them right now as we speak.

I do not bring a camera with me when I go to search out cars, nor do I even dare to obviously take pictures as I do want want to offend the owner because I am thankful I am even allowed to get that close to the cars.

I collect cars, and I own quite a few. I posted a couple of them in the new members forum if you haven't already checked them out - - I like old cars, infact I love old cars. I spend a lot of time each month driving around knocking on doors and inquiring about cars. I have a knack of finding interesting vehicles whether or not the owners want to sell them or not. Sometimes I spend entire weekends planning out routes and drive around checkings things out. I've spent entire days in junkyards searching for interesting cars, even to the point I was forgotten about and the whole yard crew locked up for the night and went home. I had to climb a fence to get out! I LOVE old cars.

If you feel it is my intention to sign up and take my time posting my cars and writing about my experiences only to LIE and DECEIVE people then you are most certainly without a doubt wrong.

Paul

 

tucker #42 was stolen out of a garage in memphis in the 70's. it was in there for years up on blocks, one day it was gone, it hasn't been seen since. if that guy has #42 i wouldn't go bragging on it too much. i'm betting studebaker too, but, if the engine was in the rear.....if the guy really has a tucker that dosn't mean it's unaccounted for.

correct no wooden wheels on duesenburgs. he didn't get a very good look so he could be mistaken on the wheels. dosn't make much sense that the guy is living in a shack with a million dollar+ car sitting in the garage. but, strange things do happen.

 

Hi,

Actually I saw the Tucker from the rear, like I said the trunk lid was off and the engine was right infront of my face which caused me to inquire what the vehicle was. However, 5 minutes from me is a blue colored 2 door bullet nosed Studabaker sitting infront of a repair shop, I have yet to inquire on that one.

 

Do I need to get the popcorn for this guys?

 

HUGE finders fees are paid for those cars. Seems to me, I would grab a Hemmings and start earning some SERIOUS bank just for pointing them out to collectors.

As for warm welcome or not,,,,,,,, until I SEE the Tucker or Dussy pics, I said what I said and meant. I didn't stutter.

 

Its not #42 because it was missing the drive train.................

 

calm down tonto, you just told us about a couple of million dollars worth very rare cars. all in run down condition all in one area. i'm not calling you a liar at all, it's just a little hard to digest.

 

i like it , you got it ! cadillac dave

 

actually, now that i think about it. i know where theres a 68 shelby gt 500 kr convertible, a 1923 jordan playboy (1 of 3) a deusenburg , a pantera, and a gt40 all with in an hours drive, so, i guess it's not as far fetched as i thought.

 

I stumbled across a few Tuckers once while I was out looking for polar bears and snipe to kill with a stick, like I do several times a year here in the desert. Ok, ok, truth be known, I didn't really stumble across them as much as BigFoot showed them to me.

 

Hell Paul, this is a MUCH warmer welcome than some FNG's have gotten! (lol)

Shoot me a PM if you need somebody to go with you. I'm about the same age as this crumudgeon, but not quite as screwy, so it might help....

Larry

 

Hi all,

The Tucker did not seem like run down condition, just dust covered and clearly hadn't been used in a while. I am not sure this car is still in the location, or the owner is still alive, like I said it has been several years. Also, all of the aforementioned cars are within a 100 mile radius of where I live, not just down the road. To be honest, I was not fully aware of the value of the Tucker until I read the discussion in this thread, up until this point I figured it was just a rare, unique domestic vehicle.

I am still awaiting a phone number to send some pictures to. Also could send a photo or two of a 1967 Rolls Royce sitting in mud and weeds, and what ever else I happen to find on my cell phone from travels.

Yes, I am aware that collectors pay finders fees to those who reveal location and contact information about a car they want, however that is going against what I've already stated in this thread - I was lucky enough to be able to see these cars, get close to them, ask questions about them, so I have to be thankful of that and when an owner asks me not to tell anyone about them, or explains how they do not want others to know what they have - it is respectful on my part to uphold that request and not turn them in for a reward.

Sorry, had to edit as I accidently sent the reply before I was finished typing.

I also want to add that other than my recollection of the opportunity I had to view the Tucker and Deusenburg, there is no other 'evidence' that I can offer you at this time. So call me a liar if you will.

Thank you.

 

I have found a method that has worked for me many times....i DO bring along my camera, and while i DO want to inspect cars I find, this trick tends to work: I just tell them that I am creating a book dealing with historic cars, and that I take professional photographs. They'll let me get up close and personal with the cars, I get some really friggin cool shots to take home, and I also strike up a conversation.

 

If your comment was directed towards me I must say, you do not know me, who I am, or the financial offer I make for the vehicles in question.

 

Its not that we are calling anyone a liar, but it seems that you have seen some really rare and high dollar cars in your travels. That and the fact that you can remember so many small details that its almost unbelievable in that respect. When I found my cars I cant remember nothing about what was at the guys house or how it was built and how many doors were there. I can remember what my car looked like when I found it but not in that much detail. Thats why I have a camera so my feeble mind can focus on a few other details like how the hell I am going to get the thing home, or how can I convince my wife that we really have to have this!

But to remember all the things sitting in a dried up pond and the rarity of the cars that was there and an airplane to boot? I am wondering whats next the Roswell UFO.....................your killing me!

 

I am very good with remembering certain details about the situation or person involved. When I found these cars I was told they weren't for sale, so I didn't push the issue. Infact I never asked if the Tucker was for sale because at the time I was 16 years old and hadn't the slightest idea how I would afford an old car such as that, so I of course did not bother to ask. I didn't have a camera with me either, as the only time I even use my camera is to take pictures of car parts to sell. I am not a professional in the car world, I do not have a vast array of knowledge or a library in my head that I can refer to if I want to know the rarity or value of a Tucker or other such car.

I figure it is because of my age most of you feel this is 'bullshit' talk. If I had said I was a 50 year old who had found these cars 25 years ago I bet your view points would be different. However I am not a 50 year old, and I am not your average 'punk ass kid'.

I read the article online about the Porsche 356 found in a lake and it immediately spurred my memory of the unique cars I had found in my past, so I started reading some more threads on this site, and figured perhaps someone out there would be interested in hearing some stories of cars that I felt were rare, and did not deserve to be in the current conditon they are in, and hoped that someone would chime in and share their stories as it is always interesting to hear the story of an old car.

Some of you have replied with nice stories of how you found your cars, and I thank you for sharing with us. A select few believe that I have nothing better to do with my time than to register and start typing ridiculous stories of fake findings.

Seeking out old cars is not my job, it is my hobby. I do not come prepared with camera or a note book - just what I can remember in my head. I may not remember what kind of wooden veneer dash was in a car, or what the spedometer read to - but I may remember the type of junk piled on top if it, or the vintage cigar sitting in the ash tray.

Like I said twice, if someone would like for me to send the pictures I have on my cell phone I can send them right now, just PM me a phone number that can receive pictures.

As for the comment of not knowing a rear-engined domestic car, like I stated I was 16 at the time and my initial thoughts on the car were that it was an old car covered in dust and had a rear-engine that I felt was unusual. Until I asked the owner what it was I had no idea. Even though I live in America, I find foreign vehicles more interesting to me because most are more rare than domestic cars. Such as this Jaguar XKE sitting in an abandoned building with dust, glass and garbage atop it - neglected and never finished.

 

I know guys who intentionally hide cars in the back 40 so they don't get people asking about them. I also know of a local businessman who has cars stored indoors that haven't seen the light of day in over 30yrs. I talk with him quite a bit, but have never prodded him to hard about the cars. As much as I'd like to prod him some about them, I've learned to value knowing the man, listening to the stories, and learning from what I hear. Maybe someday I'll get around to asking, or wait for the mother of all auctions...