TUCKER in a Chevrolet

Just looked at a 1949 Chevrolet today, plain Jane unrestored,rough project car. The one thing that jumped out was the TUCKER push button radio in the dash. The curve of the radio matched the dash perfectly. Was this a Chevrolet option or just a neat installation way back then. I know they sold far more radios than TUCKER cars.

I saw a couple of TUCKER branded radios on eBay a few months ago. Some seat covers too.

As I recall, there was a series of delays in getting Tuckers into production. In order to pacify the screaming dealers, Tucker started shipping out accessories, so the dealers would have something to sell.

That is the story I heard, it would be nice to know if they were a factory item in Chevrolets. Better yet, it would nice if someone wanted the radio to offset the price of the Chevy.

Actually I think it was more along the lines of..if you wanted to be a Tucker dealer you had to buy a certain amount of accessories if you wanted to eventually receive a stock of cars. Used to have a nos Tucker heater in the original box...had a tough time getting even $15 for it.

A late employee where I work, had worked at Tucker in engineering group and used to tell some humorous stories about behind the scenes work there. He said the prototype bodies were 1939 Oldsmobile shells that they leaded and customized to get some rolling cars to show the press. One was so heavy the springs had sagged to where the body rubbed tires. They blocked the chassis up with 4x4's to allow it to drive out of the shop to be photographed.

But since the body was a GM product it is not surprising a Tucker radio fits a GM dash. Stude8

Stude, Everytime you mention something about your previous factory work, I'll always be reminded of your story about the gas tank explosion in the factory. "We don't have to wash out a little gas!" <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> Great story. Wayne