Vanderbilt Cup Races

My favorite assistant John Cuocco discovered this vintage image of an unusual two-tone Tucker.

Mystery Foto questions:

• Identify the chassis # of this Tucker.

Tucker 1046 This Tucker '48 was one of the Tuckers owned by Nick Jenin in the 1950s. Jenin fitted #1046 replaced the rear-engine Franklin engine with a front-mounted Oldsmobile drivetrain. In the 1960s the engine was converted to 1964 Mercury chassis with 390 CID front engine. Recently, #1046 was completely restored by Tucker expert Mark Lieberman.

Frank C. provided this profile of Nick Jenin on Jalopyjournal.com in 2011.

Nick R. Jenin, who without a doubt was the biggest Tucker fan ever, passed away 33 years ago on this date in 1978. Jenin is said to have owned 10 Tuckers at one time. Although we have never determined exactly which cars he owned, or if there was truly ten cars, there are several Tuckers which were definately owned by Jenin including a chassis and firewall numbered #57. Jenin certainly owned more Tuckers in his life than anyone else ever has.
 
He was born in Baltimore, MD on Sep 2, 1905 and died Feb 13, 1978. Nikola Janjanin became Nick Jenin and began a career as a race car driver. In 1946, Nick Jenin along with his brother Pete, took over ownership of Chicago’s Raceway Park, a ¼ mile stock car track, located on 130th St. and Ashland Ave. in Chicago. Nick and Anne (b. 10/9/1914, d. 12/5/1976) Jenin purchased a home in the Lauder Del Mar subdivision of the City of Fort Lauderdale in 1948 converting it to a B&B under the banner The Pillars by the Sea Hotel and Pool, 111 N. Birch Road, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304. They have a daughter Sandra Jenin who was born in 1943.
 
I understand he may have owned a hotel in the Detroit area as well as other property. He also rented space under the Michigan State Fairgrounds for many years in the late 50s until the mid 60s to store his car collection. He and his family traveled to England in 1953 for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth on the USS United States. On the trip with him were Walter Cronkite and Jackie Bouvier who later that year married Jack Kennedy and went on to become First Lady.
 
Jenin traveled the country with his Fabulous Tuckers show in the late 50s and early 60s. His collection of cars and memorabilia was second to none. By 1964 his interest in the cars began to fade and he put the collection up for sale. He offered the collection "complete", all 10 cars for $38,000. He could not find any buyers. The famed Harrah's collection in Reno thought it was, "far too much for a bunch of cars that will never amount to anything". He finally sold the cars off one by one selling his final car, #1026, along with some other Tucker items in 1974.
 
For those of us who live, breathe, and sleep Tucker he will always be an amazing person to study. Without the efforts of Nick Jenin there might be a lot less Tuckers around for us to enjoy today.

• When and in what state was this photo taken?

According to Steve Tremulis, the nephew of Tucker designer Alex Tremulis, the photo was taken March 24, 1956 at Sebring, Florida. This is the car that was reportedly driven by Alfonso de Portago down the backstretch and timed at 131.8 miles per hour. Nick Jenin also confirmed the reports several years later.

• Was this automobile a Tucker Torpedo?

Like all 50 Tucker pilot production automobiles, #1044 was a Tucker '48 not a Tucker Torpedo The Torpedo was the Tucker prototype that was never built... until this year.

• Bonus questions: Identify one or more of the car badges

The car badges likely represented various clubs associated with then owner Nick Jenin.

Comments (9)

Congrats to Tucker experts Martyn Donaldson, Mark Lieberman and Steve Tremulis for identifying #1046. Kudos to Hugh, Mark Lieberman and Steve Tremulis for identifying the 1956 Sebring location.

Happy 4th of July!

Enjoy,

Howard Kroplick