balthazar

I'd like to see a suicide door on the crew cab (like the current extended cab). Like Z28 said- walking around the back door constantly generally sucks.

Well, the Talisman I posted was penned circa '50 and by Tremulis. The Carioca was undoubtedly penned afterward, at Tucker's direction. Kinda independent directions, but the Carioca was to be built in Brazil, where Tucker moved to in the early '50s. Neither here nor there. Rog, I read 'Chick' DeLorenzo passed away very recently, so maybe #51 will see the auction block soon. Rob Idaa's father was to be a Tucker dealer, I guess I misremembered that he owned an original.

A coupe would've come, without a doubt. Tremulis did pen a next gen Tucker as a coupe:

^ The 'work model' is absolutely a good idea. There is a BUNCH of things they could offer there: tailgate 'work bench' features, rear seat delete on crew cabs with a lower platform & modular trays/boxes, wider-opening doors for loading/unloading, more power outlets, more storage, accessories.... and not give ANY of it to Chevy (whisper: tho one could order many of these & retro-fit a Silverado).

Crappy cell pic, but from the driver's seat, this was a '69 GTO Judge, nose-high (no motor).

^ yeah, you seem to be right. I think some sources mix these 2 cars up together, because I know I saw that somewhere.

#1057 (convertible) is not recognized by the Tucker Club of America (TACA), as balthazar already pointed out. It is supposedly constructed out of a totalled Tucker (I think #1042) using leftover parts sourced from other collections and fabricated parts to make the convertible top. The owner states that this Tucker body was pulled off the line in '48 and sent out to another shop to be custom made (TACA has no documentation of this, and those that were around at that time state only one Tucker body was pulled off the line to make changes for the '49 model year [this is documented, along with pictures, that show a panoramic-type rear window]). Why Tucker would send a car outside of his shop is the question, as he had designers in his own shop in Chicago. Anyway, the owner of the 'vert wouldn't allow TACA members to come and inspect the car, so there's definitely tension between the two parties about the truth behind the convertible. TACA's website (forum) has a whole interesting story on this. Do you know what # Tucker they have? I saw the Ida Automotive Tucker at the 2011 NYIAS - it was in the basement in the Dub section. Pretty impressive car, though it's only link to "Tucker" is the body The guy that owns #1051 lives up near you I think... while his isn't officially one of the factory made Tuckers in '48, the chasis and body were produced in the factory and were on the line when it was shut down. TACA members recognize his Tucker as an official Tucker, but being that it was constructed from sourced parts out of peoples collections and finally built in the '80s, they don't consider it to be one of the original 51 Tuckers (the Tin Goose prototype and the 50 factory-produced cars). A side note, he claims it was featured in the '88 movie but that has been debunked on TACA and those owners that were actually at the filming with their cars. I believe #1057 uses a lot of parts off of #1027- only known stuff that has survived from #1042 is the trans & frame... and the frame isn't under #1057. Sending it out indeed is illogical; it would've been sent to Tucker's Ypsilanti shop (where the Tin Goose was built) before anywhere else. I have read long discussions on the convert, have seen in the construction photos as it was being converted from a 4-door. I agree with the TACA position. I assumed the Tucker Ida owns was the only NJ Tucker listed: #1051. I saw their first repro, the dark blue job powered by a Northstar engine, at Lead East right after it was done. Rog- I see you are a big Tucker fan, too - cool. I have a letter that Alex Tremulis wrote to me personally back when I was going into automotive design, one of my auto treasures. Have loved the Tucker for decades now.

Well & accurately stated. As long as GMCs sell, and sell well, I see zero difference in the scenario : >>If mercedees and BMW have luxury suvs do we need a 3rd brand of luxury Suvs @ Audi<<. "Oh, those are completely different, from different companies!" And, if each sells (here, not always 'well' tho), each appeals to an individual buyer, no? If a Silverado & a Sierra sell & sell well (they absolutely do), why are folk getting their panties in a bunch? If the Sierra sold a few hundred/year, and at a loss; that'd be a different conversation completely. Get the point of being in business straight, people. Those that feel the two are too alike should look at them as optional trims of the same vehicle so they can sleep at night.

^ Yeah, the program diverts excessive congestion to all manner of side/back roads, where the passengers (no more 'drivers') are trapped in a loopdy-loo commute taking 2-4 times longer to get there. Can you imagine the draconian dread "recalculating" will mean in an automated car world? 'Brilliant' think tank swill like this always makes me think of a clapped-out 1964 Catalina roaring down the highway, completely 'off the grid' of Big Brother's control, the smile on the driver's face as wide as the stacked headlights...

>>"...As the sun approaches the peak of its 11-year activity cycle in 2013 or so..."<<

^ Yes- it's a custom job, not built by the factory. It is not recognized as a real Tucker by the TACA. There's a Tucker about 25 minutes from me, but I don't believe it's available for public viewing. Ida Automotive has it; they build the Tucker replicas.

>>"...mainstream adoption of automated cars will help improve the environment, use less fuel, reduce traffic to virtually zero, save billions of dollars per year, and most importantly: save a lot of lives and limbs."<< How exactly would automated cars reduce traffic to zero? None of these alternate car lifestyles would ever work for me.

The above young woman is not a random model, nor is the vehicle. Both are wearing delicate shoes (high strappy heels & chromed wire rims), and although this looks like a straightforward photo op of some forgotten occasion, both the car & the woman danced their way into the record book, that day, WITH their respective shoes on. What's the car & what was the record category?

#1 is indeed GM. #2 or #3 is NOT bugatti.

Forgot to detail : the national exposure the Thunderbolt saw was in pacing that year's Indy 500.

Many Chrysler products had both dual and quad headlight versions in '57..depended on the state they were sold in...(some states allowed quad lights, some didn't, I've read)..they look strange w/o the quad lights, IMO. This was also a factor of when the model was introduced. The states were legalizing quads lights rapidly in '57, and the Adventurer debuted in Feb '57; all 'A's had quad headlights. Also, all '57 Eldorado Broughams had quads, tho I believe they were intro'd closer to the rest of the line- not sure how that was addressed... or if Cadillac had a degree of carte blanche there due to it's position.

The old Gast Museum? Yep.

^ it's whereabouts were known by those in the 'inner circle', but indeed it was barn/garage kept since about 1960. I've seen 1 in person, in a PA museum years ago.

Agreed. That's why I embraced customs long ago (tho I have always liked them... I was often torn RE stock vs.modified, but after a while, you've seen SO many of Popular Car X...). Same with pre-late '30s stuff; I am innately drawn to styling... and the first 3-4 decades there's not much going on (in stock form)... but the methods of assembly, the visible process of engineering, the simplicity and unique roads taken has become very interesting to me. S- I need to get back to Hershey this fall, perhaps we'll meet up again.

'48 Tucker #43 : $2.9 million '54 Adventurer II has bounced around with numerous owners over the years- still : $1.43 M '69 Camaro ZL-1 : $451K '65 Shelby GT350 : $385K

Passed on the Verrazano Bridge:

^ Right- my brother's Allison 1000 6-spd barely shifts into 6th unless coasting on level super highways or long de-accelerations.

>>"How many of us go to car shows for the performance characteristics of cars?"<< Granted, but a big part of the personal allure of -say- a GTO is that it is a muscle car. Sure you could hang a GTO hood, grilles & tailpanel on a '66 LeMans I6 1bbl.... it'd look identical, but for whatever reason --with the 2 next to each other-- the GTO is going to garner a lot more appreciation/attention. Allure. I thought I had inspected a 1899 IHC @ Hershey a few years ago- the engine didn't even look like an engine... but that predates the company as a road vehicle manufacturer. Now I REALLY wish I had taken pics; I must've mis-remembered the marque.

I've been bored with Mustangs & Corvettes (except 1st & 2nd gen) since forever. Tho the pre-war / brass era stuff isn't all that exciting from a performance standpoint, they are fascinating mechanical creations from the dawn of the industry.