Tucker #1010 is going to auction !

[TuckerFan48]

After being locked away in an Auburn WA. garage for over 50 years Tucker #1010 has finally seen sunlight again. The car has been sold to an undisclosed buyer who has put the car up for auction in January 2011 at Scottsdale. The brokers that handled the sale had been asking 500K for the car. Photos of the car show it is in horrible shape and will need a complete restoration. After all the stories about the cars condition it turns out the car never hit a tree but received some minor front end damage while in the garage. The car was in many pieces but it appears most of the parts were still there. Rats destroyed the interior which was not original anyway.

#1010 is an original Waltz Blue car that was poorly repainted a light blue in the mid 50s. The original engine, #33513, is frozen but in the car. Fifty years of Tacoma area weather has not been kind to the car as it has lots of surface rust. Like many cars it is missing its Tucker hubcaps.

The former owner bought it for $1,500 on June 19^th 1956 and drove it only 603 miles in 1956 before mechanical problems took the car off the road. It was then locked away over 50 years ago. The cars odometer has been at 9819.7 miles since then. Over the years the owner would not talk with many about the car but was active in The Tucker Automobile Club of America for awhile and even served as President for a year in 1980. He did confirm with several members that the mileage on the car was 109,819. He passed away in 2008 and after several buyers failed in attempting to purchase the car the family hired someone to broker the car for them.

Here are some of the first photos of the car taken in the secret garage space the car has been in since the late 50s. Hopefully the new owner will do a proper restoration of the car.

[durant28]

How could someone let such a rare car get into that shape? It's ashame! Hopefully the new owner will do a full restoration.

[Restorer32]

Tucker's were not all that valuable before the movie came out and spurred interest and prices. One used to show up at Hershey and never really got much attention.

[Silverghost]

I agree with Jeff's above comment.
I also don't see what all the fuss was about with the AACA Hershey Museum getting the "Tucker Collection" (three cars).
It was very nice for their owner to donate them... eventually !
BUT~
All the muuseum really needed was ONE Tucker.
Any car museum has limited space to display it's cars. Why display three of the exact same make &model car, except for color, in their OWN wing ?
Do Tucker cars deserve their own display wing ?
Why display THREE of the same car ?

This just shows you the power of a popular Hollywood Movie ; and it's ability to sway public opinion.

I know this comment will ruffle some fethers~
This is NOT my intent; just my opinion!
Do not want to hit a Hornet's nest with this opinion.

[my3buicks]

I guess the proof in the pudding as to that statement would be attendance records for the Museum when the display opened.

[alsancle]

I know it's blasphemy but I've never been a huge fan. They are not exactly attractive cars. The limited production and unique mechanical characteristics certainly make them collectible but million dollar cars? Have you seen what else you can get for the same money????

[Waldren]

What has happened to the red one that was always at Hersey in the late 70's early 80's I got married and sold my Lincolns and haven't been to Hersey since 1982. I ran across some photos of the Tucker and wondered what had become of it. An older couple would just come and park it and sit there. My guess was that they were the original owners and just liked the car. Leroy Ft myers, Fl.

[MCHinson]

Tuckers are interesting cars. I think that they evoke the emotion of "What might have been?" I don't know if Tucker was a scammer, the victim of an evil corporate conspiracy, a nut, somewhere in between or a combination of these.

With that said, I think that a lot of folks are really drawn to the Tucker Story and will be quite happy to go to see a collection of Tuckers. They are certainly a bit different than anything else from their time period. They are rather rare, and for all of these reasons they will always attract attention.

[K8096]

Why would someone want to pay 500K for that thing? You can buy a good looking restored Duesenberg sedan for around 500 - 600K.

[mrspeedyt]

hey... 'cause it's a tucker!! duseys are 'belly-button' cars anyway. doesn't everybody have one??

[Steve Moskowitz]

Brad,

The Cammack Collection will include more than just cars. The family made a very substantial financial commitment to help build the museum. In addition, for many years they have donated to the club, museum and library.

Amazing how many stories there are about Tuckers. Directly across the street from my former dealership was a company called Dairy Rich Ice Cream. In a back building they had a yellow Tucker with the company name written on it. It was covered with dirt, angle iron and wood planks. A friend and I made an offer on it but our timing stunk. The owner was thinking about it and then the movie came out........needless to say the price skyrocketed and was sold for six figure money!

[West Peterson]

I'm hoping that some day soon they'll make a movie about 1996 Saturns.

[joe_padavano]

Brad,

The Cammack Collection will include more than just cars.

I was able to tour the Cammack collection earlier this year at the current Washington DC area location. All I can say is WOW! Never mind the three complete cars he has, but consider artifacts like the No. 2 development chassis with the original large displacement transverse engine using hydraulically-actuated valves (NOT hydraulic lifters, but individual hydraulic lines to an actuator on each valve) and direct fluid coupling drive to the two rear wheels. He also has about a half dozen of the later flat-six engines in various stages of the development process, including air-cooled variants. He has a large room full of factory documentation as well. This is just an incredible collection.

[alsancle]

Why would someone want to pay 500K for that thing? You can buy a good looking restored Duesenberg sedan for around 500 - 600K.

YOu can buy a not-so-good looking one for even less! :-)

[Silverghost]

I hear through my west coast contacts that there is a movie about the late John Delorean being shopped around now~

John's later in life story is indeed very similar to Preston Tucker's story.
BUT~
John's entire automotive career is far more successful and interesting.

Should we all be buying-up Delorean cars before the movie comes-out and the eventual resulting big price hike ?

[keiser31]

I hear through my west coast contacts that there is a movie about the late John Delorean being shopped around now~

John's later in life story is indeed very similar to Preston Tucker's story.
BUT~
John's entire automotive career is far more successful and interesting.

Should we all be buying-up Delorean cars before the movie comes-out and the eventual resulting big price hike ?

I don't think that I will buy one. I drove a DeLorean once and it rode like a truck.

[Silverghost]

I would bet that if you were to dig way back into pre-1920 automotive history, and the 1000+ early car builders that came and went, you might find many a similar shattered dream story as Preston Tucker's .
They, unlike Tucker, are now mostly long since forgotten.
Nobody has made a movie about their lives and deams~

The world needs more dreamers !

I really think it is Preston Tucker's story & dream that really captured the general public's attention, after the movie, rather than the actual design merits of his car .

[De Soto Frank]

What a mess... especially for a car that's been "Garaged" for 50 years... its first 12 years must have been hard ones...

Going to take a lot of love and $$$ to make this one nice again.

[Silverghost]

What ever happened to the so called "Tucker Convertable " that was offered for sale some time ago ?
(Tucker never Actually built a convertable.)
Was it ever completed ?
Did it get sold ?

Out of the 50 or so Tuckers built.
How many are known to survive ?

We don't know who actually bought this rust-bucket mess above, or what he paid~
BUT...
I would bet that this speculator will get burned at the uncomming Az. auction !
I cannot wait to hear the hype & spin story that the auction company places on this car at their auction.

[mrspeedyt]

i think 49 survive. my dad repainted one back in the early fifties... it was from a used car lot owned by 'mad man muntz' in the LA area... got a photo somewhere of my dad in the tucker. he remembers that it was priced like $1995 or so...

[TuckerFan48]

i think 49 survive. my dad repainted one back in the early fifties... it was from a used car lot owned by 'mad man muntz' in the LA area... got a photo somewhere of my dad in the tucker. he remembers that it was priced like $1995 or so...

I'd love to see the photo or get more information about this. (what year, what color it was, what color it was painted, his name, etc.) All part of the history on these cars.

The car you mention has had a very interesting history and I would love to ad the information you have to the story.

[keiser31]

I have mentioned this in a previous post, but thought it would fit in here as well. In about 1975 or 1976 I was working at a building designer's office on 132 Street in Hawthorne, California. I used to walk around the block on my breaks. On the first walk I took, I walked down 132 Street to Inglewood Avenue from the Denny's at Hawthorne Blvd. I went around the corner at the Moose Lodge and walked south. Next door to the Moose Lodge was a body shop. As I walked past the open door, I saw a gold Tucker. It was just inside the door and covered with boxes and stuff. Mostly, I remember seeing the rear egg-crate grille, the six exhaust pipes and the "TUCKER" name across the bumper. Don't know why I never walked in and asked about it. I still wonder where that one went.

[TuckerFan48]

Love your story. Gotta love Google Earth. The Moose Lodge is exactly where you said it was on the corner of 132nd Ave and Inglewood. Even the Dennys is there at 13201 Hawthorne.

In 1975 there was a Tucker owner that lived not far from there at all. At that time his car was undergoing a long restoration. It would have been more of a bronze color than gold but under certain light probably could have looked gold. That Tucker was #1017.

The car was restored again a few years ago to its original Green color and today is one of the most flawless Tuckers in existence. #1017 currently lives in Denver.

[keiser31]

Love your story. Gotta love Google Earth. The Moose Lodge is exactly where you said it was on the corner of 132nd Ave and Inglewood. Even the Dennys is there at 13201 Hawthorne.

In 1975 there was a Tucker owner that lived not far from there at all. At that time his car was undergoing a long restoration. It would have been more of a bronze color than gold but under certain light probably could have looked gold. That Tucker was #1017.

The car was restored again a few years ago to its original Green color and today is one of the most flawless Tuckers in existence. #1017 currently lives in Denver.

WOW!! Finally...an answer. I bet that's the car. It was quite dim in the body shop and I never went through the door (liability thoughts, I imagine), so it could very well have been a bronze color. You know, I am 58 now, so my memory has dimmed. The designer's place that I worked at was one house off of Inglewood Ave. The guy's name was Bruno J. Bernauer. Don't know if he is still around, either. I worked there from mid 1975 to mid 1976.

[TuckerFan48]

It looked like this back then and now it is beautiful