Postcards of the Long Island Automotive Museum: Tucker (1948)
Found within the archived collection of Long Island Automotive Museum postcards are these Tucker postcards. These five cards were not part of the official cards available at the museum, but were found in the collection nonetheless.
Greg O.
#1003
Descriptive text courtesy of the Tucker Club of America
Car Number: 1003
Original Paint Code/Color: 600 Maroon
Current Paint Color: Raspberry metallic
Original Interior Color: 940 Beige
Current Interior Color: Beige
Body Number: 1003
Original Engine Number: 4
Current Engine Number: 4
Transmission Type: Cord
Location: São Paulo, Brazil
On Display? Yes
Number 1003 was sold new by the factory to Arkansas Tucker Sales Corporation. Not long after, it was returned to the factory in exchange for car 1002, and it was sent by Farber Motor Sales of Columbus, Ohio, to Cincinnati, where it was displayed on the streets and at the Music Hall there. It was promoted in Cincinnati by local dealer Eddie Numerich, and apparently, it remained in the Queen City until June of 1950, when it was sold there by the Watson Auto Auction. Apparently, Art Watson was the buyer of the car, which he took to Florida in 1951 and displayed at his dealerships there. Research points to a 1962 transfer from Watson to William C. Pettit III of Louisa, Virginia, who drove it from Pennsylvania to its new home. The Tucker was a visitor favorite at the Pettits’ Museum of Motoring Memories, open for several years near the tourist mecca of Natural Bridge in the 1960s. Bill Pettit cared for his family’s cars for decades, and even after the museum closed, he sentimentally maintained the collection. In the late 1980s, his retirement resulted in selling many cars, including the Tucker, purchased by George Lucas. One of Lucas’ contributions was as executive producer of Francis Ford Coppola’s 1988 film “Tucker: The Man and His Dream,” a fictionalized version of Preston Tucker’s story starring Jeff Bridges. The film revived modern interest in the Tucker and has become a classic among automobile enthusiasts. Coppola and Lucas acquired genuine Tuckers, of which Lucas’s 1003 sat proudly in his private collection at his Skywalker Ranch. After several years, the filmmaker decided to sell 1003 in June 2005. It was eventually acquired by owners in California, who elected to have the Tucker restored.
#1005
Car Number: 1005
Original Paint Code/Color: 200 Waltz Blue
Current Paint Color: Green
Original Interior Color: 920 Blue
Current Interior Color: Green
Body Number: 1005
Original Engine Number: 5
Current Engine Number: 5
Transmission Type: Cord
Ownership: Tallahassee Antique Car Museum
Location: Tallahassee, FL
On Display? Yes
The Tallahassee Antique Car Museum also has the “Stucker” movie stunt car on display.
#1010
Car Number: 1010
Original Paint Code/Color: 200 Waltz Blue
Current Paint Color: Light Blue
Original Interior Color: 920 Blue
Current Interior Color: Grey/Blue
Body Number: 1013
Original Engine Number: 13
Current Engine Number: 13
Transmission Type: Y-1
Ownership: Privately Owned
Location: Nebraska
On Display? No
Stored in a barn in Washington state for years. It is said to have a special high-speed differential. It is believed to have gone 131 mph at Bonneville.
#1014
Car Number: 1014
Original Paint Code/Color: 200 Waltz Blue
Current Paint Color: Waltz Blue
Original Interior Color: 920 Blue
Current Interior Color: Blue
Body Number: 1017
Original Engine Number: 33523
Current Engine Number: 33523
Transmission Type: Cord
Ownership: Francis Ford Coppola
Location: Rutherford, CA
On Display? Yes
Notes: Coppola also owns Tucker #1037.
This car was eventually sold by Francis Ford Coppola at the 2025 Monterey Gooding/Christie's auctions, selling for $1,545,000. I documented the car when I saw it at the auction last August.
#1046
Car Number: 1046
Original Paint Code/Color: 600 Royal Maroon
Current Paint Color: 600 Royal Maroon
Original Interior Color: 940 Tan
Current Interior Color: Tan
Body Number: 1046
Original Engine Number: 33553
Current Engine Number: 33555
Transmission Type: Cord
Ownership: Privately Owned
Location: Washington, DC
On Display? No
This car was converted to an Oldsmobile drive-train in the 1950s by Nick Jenin (Hence the louvers on the nose of the car in the photo). It was converted again in the 1960s to a 1964 Mercury chassis with a 390 CID front engine. It then underwent a seven-year transformation to its original state, completed in 2014.
Comments
Interesting history to Tucker 1046. In the fifties Oldsmobile was the King of the Road with it ohv Rocket 88 engine, but what intrigues me more is the 390 ford with Mercury chassis. In Yespalanti Mi. There was a Tucker Movie prop car made out of fiberglass and that car had a front Ford engine and complete chassis from what I was told was a 1971 Ford. I wonder if that prop car was inspired by the later version or generation 3 of Tucker 1046.
I believe that prop car is now on display in Hershey Pa. The car was drivable but the vehicle was only meant to be looked at from a distance. Only the drivers door opened with hardware store externally mounted hinges. The bench seat was from the 71 ford donar car as well as the dash panel-less ford steering wheel and steering column.
Is it possible some or many of the Corvair designers and engineers had backgrounds with the Tucker Corporation? In the area of Yespilanti (Preston Tuckers home town) is a transmission factory that made corvair, tornanado, cord, Pontiac tempest and a few other off the beaten path trannys.
My father was a Church of Christ minister who always liked cars. He put in his order for a Tucker which of course he never received. I was 8 years of age at the time & one of the Tucker promotion items was a cigarette box with a replica (I don’t know the scale, but I think it was close to 1/24) of the Tucker 48. I wanted it sooooo bad, but because it was a cigarette box & cigarettes were bad, Dad said NO!