On The
Road, Again!
BRASS-NICKEL TOURING
REGION AACA
An AACA Master
Editor Award
Winning
Publication
Volume 11
Number 4
September 2007
BRASS-NICKEL
TOURING REGION AACA
http://www.aaca.org/bntr/
1998 - 2006
PRESIDENT
Floyd Barnes, Jr.
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VICE-RESIDENT
Riley Reiner
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Secretary-Treasurer,
Web & Newspaper Editor
Judy L Edwards
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Ex-Officio
John Cheek
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Chet Butcher
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Sherman Carey
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Peggy Barnes
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Marvin Gage
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The Brass-Nickel Touring Region is a nongeographical region of the AACA.
Membership is open to all members of the
AACA who have an interest in motor
vehicles 1931 or older. The main emphasis
and focus of the region is touring. Annual
dues are $10.00.
Cover illustration: adapted from cover of Ford Owner and Dealer,
July 1921
On The
Road, Again! Volume 11 Number 4 September 2007 Brass-Nickel Touring Region AACA
A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
I
want to thank John and Dan for leading the Gold Hill tour
and for all the planning that went into the tour. It was a very
nice day altho HOT. Some of us drove their newer cars that
had air (cool air). Sorry we were such wimps but it was the only
way some of us could make it. It was an interesting tour with a
trip into the Reed Gold Mine for those interested in going. That
climb out was the pits tho. Keep in mind this was during the
mine collapse in more than one location. We all made it out
alive. John and Dan sure found a good restaurant for lunch.
That area was having even dryer conditions then here if you can
imagine.
Hope to see you on the next tour.
Floyd Barnes
2007 BNTR President
3
FROM THE
BACK SEAT
for the Board. Sherman ran last
year and only missed being elected
by three votes. When marking your
ballot, please consider voting for
Sherman. If elected, the BrassNickel would have two members sitting on the National Board as Jim
Raines from Charlotte is currently a
director.
By Judy Edwards
New Email Address
Please note the new email address
for Chet and Mary Butcher:
cwbutcher@embarqmail.com
Tour Banners
There are still a few tour banners
available. They are $15 each. Please
contact Judy if you are interested in
purchasing one or they will be available at the Swansboro tour.
Tour banner on the back of the
Reiner’s 1915 Model T
National Director
With the September issue of the national magazine The Antique Automobile, you should be receiving
your ballot for the National AACA
Board of Directors. I am
pleased to announce that
4
one of our members,
Sherman Carey, is running
Sherman
Carey
New Member
Please
welcome
Bill Adams from
Lexington NC. He
joined the BNTR
on the Gold Hill
tour.
Bill Adams
277 Longbranch Trail
Lexington NC 27295
Bill’s 1926 Pontiac
Raven Rock
The Model A Ford Club from
Fayetteville has once again invited
us to their annual picnic at Raven
Rock State Park on Saturday,
October 20th. Lunch is at noon. If
you are interested in going, please
contact Art Fillyaw at 910.867.1226.
SWANSBORO
TOUR
North Carolina’s amazing aquatic
life “from the mountains to the sea.”
The journey is arranged in five galleries: Mountain, Piedmont, Coastal
Plain, Tidal Waters and Ocean.
Tour Chair: Max Morton
Date: Saturday, September 29
Time: Be ready to leave at 10 am.
Parking: Max has arranged for
trailer parking at St. Mildred’s
Catholic Church on Hwy 24. The
town water is visible from either direction for at least a mile and is
directly behind the Church.
Hotels: There are several hotels to
chose from.
Parkerton Inn
252-393-9000
Rate: $ 75.00
Silver Creek Best Western
252-393-9015
Rate: $111.00.
Among the 38 innovative exhibits
are re-created shipwrecks that
showcase the diverse marine life
attracted to these sunken vessels.
The 306,000-gallon Living Shipwreck display in the Ocean Gallery
features a three-quarter-size replica
of a German U-boat that was sunk
off Cape Lookout in World War II.
The Queen Anne’s Revenge duplicates the 18th century artifacts in
Beaufort Inlet thought to be the
wreckage of the pirate Blackbeard’s
flagship.
Also new to the Aquarium are a pair
of playful river otters, a roaring
mountain waterfall, a trout pool, a
jellyfish gallery, a sport fishing display and a cypress swamp display.
Admission: $8
Max says the best deal might be in
Jacksonville or Morehead City, each
about 20/25 miles away.
El’s Drive In, Morehead
NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores
Agenda: The first stop of the day
will be a visit to the newly renovated NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll
Shores, which reopened in May
2006 after a $25 million renovation. The newly expanded Aquarium takes visitors on a tour of
For lunch, we will head to El's Drive
in Morehead City, which is an oldfashioned drive in complete with
car hops, picnic tables and large oak
trees. We will also tour a small
museum in Morehead before
returning to Swansboro where we
can tour before loading
the trailers.
5
Hope to see you there!
GOLD HILL
TOUR
August 18, 2007
What can you say about the Gold
Hill tour but GREAT—great turnout
and great touring. Thank you John
Cheek for hosting this tour.
1915 Ford Model T
Riley and Sandra Reiner
Participating on the tour but driving newer vehicles were Fred & Sue
Harley, Bob & Lynda Miller, and
Floyd & Peggy Barnes. Touring in
older vehicles were-
1966 Ford Mustang
Sherman & Treva Carey
Miss Edna
1924 Chrysler
John Cheek—Tour Chair
•
1950 Willys Jeep
Dan (Asst. Tour Chair)
and Jean Fuccella
6
1966 Ford Mustang *
Barker & Judy Edwards
the Mustang belongs to Judy’s
Mom, Vera Lawrence
1926 Pontiac
New Member—Bill Adams
We also had several
participating on the tour.
guests
Owner: C A “Pappy” Helderman
For lunch we ate at Miss Ruby’s
Restaurant. The food was good but
the service was a bit little slow,
which was partially due to a recent
changeover of ownership.
1925 Ford Model T’s
The Lingle Brothers
Listening to the Mayor of Gold Hill
After enjoying all the sights and
sounds of Gold Hill, our next stop
was the Eastern Cabarrus Historical
Society Museum, which was established in 1973 in the campus of the
old Mt. Pleasant Collegiate Institute.
Billy & Mickey Walker
1965 Chevrolet
With a full day of touring ahead, the
group departed Richfield at 10 am.
Our first stop was historic Gold Hill,
once the richest mining property
east of the Mississippi. Gold Hill
today is a 70 acre park full of historic quaint buildings and plank
sidewalks. My personal favorite is
the old Filling Station, which was
built in 1928 and moved to its
present location in 1999.
Service Oil and Supply
Cars lining driveway of Museum
There are three floors of exhibits in
the Museum, which interpret a wide
variety of artifacts from
Eastern Cabarrus County
7
and focus on topics
ranging from education in
Mt. Pleasant to local Native
American life before colonization to
regional businesses to domestic farm
life and immigration.
Our last official stop of the day was
the Reed Gold Mine, which was the
site of the first documented gold find
in the United States. From this discovery, gold mining spread gradually
to nearby counties and eventually
into other southern states. During its
peak years gold mining was second
only to farming in the number of
North Carolinians it employed. The
estimated value of gold recovered
reached over one million dollars a
year. North Carolina led the nation in
gold production until 1848, when it
was eclipsed by the great rush to
California.
Julie Kluttz. John restores tractors
and specializes in Model A
restorations. He recently returned
from the Model “A” Restorer’s Club
Nationals in Williamsburg Virginia
where he received the Henry Ford,
their highest award, for his 1929
Ford Model A. What a treat when
John started the car-it purred like a
kitten.! It was obvious to see why this
car won this top honor. Congratulations—John!
Left: The
Henry
Ford Award
Below: John’s
1929 Ford
Model A
The BNTR having a
short business meeting at
Reed Gold Mine!
Most of the group took the 1-2 mile
trek into the mine. It is my understanding that the trek back up was
quite a workout. While at Reed Gold
Mine, we took a few minutes to have
a short business meeting. Judy gave
an update on the next two tours—
Swansboro and Lincolnton—and
then introduced Sherman Carey, who
is running for the National AACA
Board of Directors.
8
Our last stop of the day was
a visit to the home and
restoration shop of John &
While at the Kluttz’s, we also enjoyed
some watermelons, which provided
some much needed relief from the
HOT August heat. What a way to end
the day—talking cars, enjoying good
food and making new friends.
Thank You John
(and all your
assistant elves)
for hosting the tour!
New Membership
Package for 2008
AACA Shows and
Tours
•
•
SEPTEMBER
22 Sandhills Ch Meet
Pinehurst NC
29 Brass-Nickel Tour
Swansboro NC
29 New River Ch Meet
Jacksonville NC
OCTOBER
6 NC Region Fall Meet
Mt. Olive NC
10-13 Fall Eastern Meet
Hershey PA
20 Furnitureland Ch Meet
Spencer NC
•
NOVEMBER
3 Brass-Nickel Tour
Lincolnton NC
11-14 AACA D Tour,
Tallahassee FL (1982
and earlier vehicles)
NEWS FROM
NATIONAL
•
•
•
Dues Increase
N
ational dues will increase
in 2008 to $35 per
calendar year. All other
dues–student, junior and life time
membership will stay at their
current levels of $12, $10 and $600
respectively. Please note the new
membership package being offered.
•
•
FREE membership and
admission to the AACA Museum
in Hershey Pennsylvania
FREE membership and historical
research from the AACA Library
and Research Center (limited)
Several automobile hobby
magazine discounts
∼ Automobile Quarterly $64.95
(reg. $79.95) plus a 10%
discount on all other AQ
books
∼ Auto Events $12.00 (reg.
$16.00) 843.757.6666
∼ Cars & Parts $29.95 for new
subscribers (renewal rate)
800.448.3611
∼ Car Collector $19.95 (reg.
$29.95)
∼ Old Cars Weekly $26.98
(80% off of newsstand)
∼ Hemmings Motor News
$29.95 (reg. $34.95) 58% off
newsstand
∼ Hemmings Classic Car $15
(reg. $18.95) 75% off
newsstand
$5 coupon from Advance Auto
Parts (sent w/membership card)
Discount on all Franklin Mint
models (ordered thru HQ*)
Discount on Warehouse 326
pedal cars (ordered thru HQ*)
Carlisle season pass discount
$59.95 (reg. $79.95)
Bank of America credit card
program with World Points
* Certain discounts can
not be advertised.
Visit www.aaca.org for
complete details.
9
interview. "Without his ownership,
it never would have received this
value."
Steve McQueen’s Ferrari
Brings Twice Estimated
Value
A
classic Ferrari once owned
by Steve McQueen sold for
$2.31 million recently at
auction. An anonymous car
collector who placed a bid by phone
bought the 1963 Ferrari Berlinetta
Lusso during an auction that drew
800 people to the Monterey Jet
Center and attracted spirited
bidding, said Christie's spokesman
Rik Pike.
McQueen, who starred in such
1960s films as "The Great Escape,"
"Bullitt," "Le Mans" and "The
Thomas Crown Affair," got the
Ferrari as a gift from his first wife,
Neile Adams. The actor, who also
raced cars, special-ordered the
Lusso's brown metallic paint and
beige leather interior.
Regalia, of Thousand Oaks, bought
the Lusso about a decade ago and
spent hundreds of hours restoring it
to pristine condition.
When asked how much he paid for
it, Regalia coyly replied: "A new
Lexus would cost more than what I
paid."
McQueen died in 1980, at age 50.
Mr. McQueen built a large
collection of cars as his fame grew,
but he was known to have used this
car regularly in his daily life.
Steve McQueen poses next to his
1963 Ferrari in the '60s.
The sale price was greater than the
estimated pre-sale price of
$800,000 to $1.2 million, Pike said.
"I couldn't be happier for the car
and the legacy of Steve
McQueen," seller Mike
10
Regalia, who restores cars,
said in a telephone
“This was his personally run
around—not a film one-off extra—
but a car used for the grocery run,
as well as trips to the racetrack,”
said Christopher Sanger of
Christies.
World’s Oldest Rolls
to be Auctioned
The world's oldest surviving RollsRoyce dates back to 1904, making it
103 years old, is going to be
auctioned off by Bonhams.
According to the press release,
“Bonhams is pleased to announce
the consignment of the oldest
existing Rolls-Royce in the world, a
10-horsepower, two-seater built in
1904 the very year Rolls-Royce
Motor Cars was founded.
2007 Pebble Beach
Concours d'Elegance
1904 Rolls-Royce
The 18th fairway of Pebble Beach
Golf Links® hosted some of the
world’s rarest vintage vehicles and
thousands of spectators Sunday
August 19th at the 57th Pebble
Beach Concours d’Elegance. The
Concours competition, which
included judging in 24 classes,
culminated when a 1935
Duesenberg SJ Special, owned by
Harry Yeaggy from Cincinnati,
Ohio, was named “Best of Show.”
Synonymous with luxury travel,
Rolls-Royce is a brand name
recognized the world over as the
gold standard of automobiles. As
the oldest surviving model of this
fabled marque, this 103-year-old
car serial number 20154 is,
therefore, a true motoring icon and
a priceless object of automotive
history. Number 20154 was first
exhibited at the Paris Salon in late
1904 and then displayed at
London's Olympia Show in early
1905. Having had just three owners
in the last hundred years, the car
was restored by the penultimate
owner in the 1950s and has been
carefully cherished by the present
owner for the last thirty years. This
is the first time this car has ever
been offered on the open market in
the last century and strong interest
is anticipated from major collectors
worldwide. Bids in excess of $2
million are expected. Appropriately,
the car will be offered for sale in its
home country of England in
December.”
1935 Duesenberg SJ Special
2007 Best of Show
The winning car, also known as
“The Mormon Meteor,” is a
supercharged speedster that was
raced by Utah’s Ab Jenkins (the
former mayor of Salt Lake City) and
then driven on the city streets. The
car, which set a 24-hour speed
record (135.58 miles per hour) in
1935, sold for a record $4.45 million
at the 2004 Pebble Beach Auction
conducted by Gooding & Company.
The featured automotive marques
for 2007 were Aston Martin – with
four classes, including a special
exhibition of historic
Astons and three postwar
11
classes – and the Auburn(Continued on page 14)
A BRIEF HISTORY
OF A 1921 MODEL
T FORD
CENTERDOOR
SEDAN
By Fred Harley
H
enry Ford announced and
shipped the first Model T
Ford in the Fall of 1908.
By 1921 he had built and shipped
over 5,000,000 cars. The car I’m
describing was manufactured at the
Highland Park, Michigan plant on
May 1, 1921 with engine No.
4,910,167. The car was shipped to a
dealership in New Jersey. A brass
plaque attached to the frame of the
drivers seat is embossed with the
following: “Sold By Central Auto
Garage, Hackensack, New Jersey”.
The new car was purchased by the
VanHise family, owners of a retail
lumberyard in the town of Asbury
Park, New Jersey. Over their many
years of ownership, at least through
World War II, a great accumulation
of trash and other stuff was
dropped through the space between
the windows and interior side and
door panels.
When
removing
those
interior
12
panels to install a new
interior, a wealth of
history unfolded.
A most
interesting piece of paper, about 6”x
8” had the name of Dorothy written
in the upper right hand corner. It
was titled “Grade 2 Arithmetic,
October 17, 1933 and had ten
arithmetic problems of addition and
multiplication. There were many
food wrappers and scraps of paper
for Nabisco Uneeda crackers,
Baker’s Sweet Chocolate, F.W.
Woolworth Co., and Wintergreen
Dentyne Chewing Gum. There was
a .25 cent price tag from the
Steinbach Company of Asbury Park,
NJ, and also a liberty silver quarter
with the mint date worn off. The
driver must have drunk a lot of milk
since there were over a dozen paper
milk bottle caps inside the panel by
the drivers seat. They were all
printed “Tilton’s Grade A Milk”,
Asbury Park, NJ. There were also
Ice Cream Dixie Cup covers printed
“Abbotts DeLuxe Ice Cream”.
Confirming the VanHise ownership
was a cashier receipt with the
VanHise name dated April 18, 1932,
and a notice of an eye exam by Dr.
Burton for E. VanHise. Both of
these items were behind the interior
side panels. We know the car was
driven in NJ during World War II
since an “A” Gasoline Ration Stamp
was on the original windshield
along with a State of New Jersey,
1942 Dept. of Motor Vehicles
inspection sticker.
I purchased this 1921 Centerdoor
from Thomas Schenck of E. Flat
Rock, NC on August 4th 2006. Tom
reportedly had purchased the car
from a gentleman who had
purchased the car from the VanHise
family. Therefore I am the fourth
owner. Tom was a machinist by
trade and had done a great deal of
mechanical work on several Model
T’s. He did a complete restoration
of the drive train including
rebuilding the engine, transmission,
and rear end, installing all new
bearings and bushings in the front
and rear axle’s, installing Kevlar
bands, and a new magneto coil. He
also rebuilt the starter motor,
generator and carburetor. Needless
to say the car was in excellent
mechanical condition when I
purchased it, but the body and
interior needed to be totally redone.
During the Fall of 2005 Tom drove
the car on a tour of the Natchez
Trace Parkway from to Nashville,
TN, to Natchez, MS round trip for
almost a thousand miles.
my “new” Centerdoor from Tom I
met up with a BNTC tour group and
drove the “T” over 50 miles in the
Blue Ridge mountains of NC. The
car ran like the wind, straight, solid
and fast (the high speed rear end
helps).
Fred and Sue Harley’s 1921 Ford
Model T Centerdoor on
West Jefferson Tour in 2006
In addition to the mechanical work,
Tom replaced the top wood, covered
it with new top material and
installed safety glass in all the
windows. He liked the body in its
original state, decked it out as the “
‘T’ Uwanna Taxi” with black and
white checkerboard contact paper
around the cars waistline, a red
mailbox flag as the taxi meter and a
well worn rubber chicken hanging
from the spare tire.
In September 2006 I started the
body restoration and found all four
fenders were beyond repair due to
heavy rust through, and the splash
aprons were not original to the car.
I purchased new authentic sheet
metal from Rootleib in California
and started the restoration of the
remainder of the body by stripping
the paint down to bare metal and
priming with an epoxy primer.
Some body work was required but
nothing major besides replacing the
fenders and aprons. The latest PPG
primers and paint was used to
finish the body. When stripping the
window frames and spoke wheels I
found the wood to be in excellent
condition so finished those items
with natural spar varnish.
Originally the car was shipped
painted totally black, but I think the
natural wood makes the car look
more like a carriage than a
car.
13
The following day after picking up
The
interior
had
the
original upholstery in very poor
condition with sagging springs,
dirty cotton, and horsehair spilling
out of various rips and worn holes.
The good news was I had the
original wool material to match as
best as possible. A new interior,
headliner, carpet, and rear window
shade was installed in early 2007. I
had new springs made for all the
seats, and replaced the worn door
handles with NOS replacements.
What’s Next? It’s show time and
tour time. Does anyone have a
spare rubber chicken?
(Continued from page 11)
the iconic ’32 Ford (known as “The
Deuce”), and the “10-plus Club”
focused on cars with engines
displacing 10 liters or more.
Overall, nearly 200 classic vehicles,
including the event’s oldest
competitor – an 1897 Henriod –
competed in the annual classic car
showcase along the Monterey
coastline.
Cord-Duesenberg group. (The
James Bond Aston Martin DB5 and
Duesenbergs once owned by Clark
Gable and Gary Cooper were among
the most well-known vehicles.)
Additionally, the historic
hot rod class celebrated
14
the 75th anniversary of
In
The
Preston
Tucker
1903 – 1956
H
e is most remembered for
his 1948 Tucker Torpedo,
an innovative automobile
which was unsuccessful, but which
introduced many features that have
since become widely used in
modern cars.
Early life and career
Tucker was born in Capac, Michigan, and is remembered for his
charming personality. He repaired
an old car and sold it at the age of
16, combining his charm and his
love for automobiles. He later
joined the Lincoln Park police department to get access to the highperformance automobiles they
used. His mother convinced him to
seek employment on the Ford assembly line in Dearborn, but Tucker
quickly returned to his more
exciting job as a police officer. He
was demoted for installing a heater
in the dashboard of his car, and quit
for good. Tucker's next career was
as a car salesman. He was successful in selling cars at a Michigan
dealership and soon became the
manager of a luxury car dealership
in Memphis, Tennessee.
Entrepreneur
With this new financial success,
Tucker began an annual journey to
the Indianapolis 500. His enthusiasm for automobiles again getting
the better of him, Tucker convinced
Harry Miller, maker of more Indy
500-winning engines than any
other in those years, to join him in
building race cars, and Miller and
Tucker, Inc was formed in 1935.
The company's first job was building 10 souped-up Ford V-8 racers
for Henry Ford. The time to develop
and test the cars was insufficient,
however, and the steering boxes on
all entrants overheated and locked
up, causing them to drop out of the
race. The design was later perfected
by privateers, with examples running at Indy through 1948. Miller
and Tucker, Inc moved to Indianapolis and continued race car development and construction until
Miller's death in 1943.
Tucker moved back to California
intending to start his own auto
company. He soon began designing
a
narrow-wheelbase
armored combat car for
15
the U.S. government. The
car could reach over 115
mph (185 km/h), far in excess of the
design specifications. It was
rejected; however, the highlymobile, power-operated gun turret
the combat car featured earned the
interest of the U.S. Navy. The
Tucker Turret was soon in
production (initially at Tucker's
Ypsilanti, MI shop); it was used in
PT boats, landing craft, and B-17
and B-29 bombers. During World
War II, Tucker became associated
with Andrew Jackson Higgins,
builder of Liberty ships, PT boats
and landing craft. Higgins acquired
Tucker Aviation Corporation
(formed in 1940) in March of 1942,
and Tucker served as a vicepresident of Higgins Industries,
specifically in charge of the HigginsTucker Aviation division. This
entity was to produce gun turrets,
armament and engines for Higgin's
torpedo boats. Tucker severed his
association with Higgins in 1943.
The 1948 Tucker Sedan
Studebaker was the first automobile
company with an all-new post-war
model. But Tucker, with his newly
founded Tucker Corporation, took a
different tack, designing a safety car
with innovative features (some
taken from aircraft) and futuristic,
aerodynamic styling. His specifications called for a rear engine, disc
brakes, fuel injection, the location
of all instruments within the diameter of the steering wheel, and a padded dashboard.
However, what looked visionary on
paper was less successful in practice. Two examples: the
mechanical fuel injection
16
on the helicopter engines
that Tucker used required
frequent maintenance by skilled
mechanics, and the disc brakes
were hard to engage due to high
pedal pressure.
Famed stylist Alex Tremulis, previously of Auburn Cord Duesenberg,
was hired on December 24, 1946
and given just six days to finalize
the design. On December 31, 1946,
Tucker approved the design, which
would come to be popularly known
as the "Tucker Torpedo". He had
also hired another firm to create an
alternate body, but only the horizontal taillight bar from that model
appeared on the final car.
Demise of Tucker
Corporation
One of Tucker's most innovative
business ideas caused trouble for
the company, however. His Accessories Program raised funds by selling accessories before the car was
even in production. The son of the
patent attorney to the Wright
Brothers, Harry Aubrey Toulmin,
Jr., and the then-chairman of the
board of the Tucker Corporation,
blew the whistle in a September 26,
1947 letter to the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission. In the letter, Toulmin Jr. indicated that he
quit "because of the manner in
which Preston Tucker is using the
funds obtained from the public
through sale of stock." He went on
to say that President Tucker had
ignored persistent requests that the
$15 million "be spent and administered under… controls normal to
legitimate business." Described as
"a tall, dark, delightful, but inexperienced boy," by Toulmin Jr. to
news personnel, Toulmin Jr. added
that the Tucker 48 machine does
not actually run, it just goes "chugchug" and "I don't know if it can
back up."
In reply, Tucker stated that he had
asked Toulmin to resign "to make
way for a prominent man now
active in the automobile industry."
The "prominent man" turned out to
be Preston Tucker himself.
Tucker's innovative business idea
was investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and
the United States Attorney, and led
to an indictment of Tucker and six
other Tucker Corporation executives for fraud on June 10, 1949.
The trial began on October 4, 1949;
coincidentally, Tucker Corporation's factory was shuttered by the
government on the very same day.
All told 37 Tucker '48s had been
built; 13 were later finished from
parts stores for a total production of
50 cars (not including the prototype). At trial the government contended that Tucker never intended
to produce a car.
A former Tucker employee, engineer Frank Millender Kincaid,
agreed with this allegation. He later
said that the company never bought
production machinery, leading to
his suspicion that Tucker never
intended to build the car, or at least
was so over his head in the project
that Tucker could not handle the
massive undertaking and simply
gave up. This, despite the fact that
Tucker had the largest factory
building under one roof (the former
Chicago Dodge plant that had been
used for manufacture of aircraft
engines during the war and leased
to Tucker by the US government).
The suspicion that the Tucker
enterprise was a sham and headed
for inevitable disaster led Mr. Kincaid, by his own statement, to quit
the company. Tucker had 50 cars
that he called "prototypes", each
one hand built. Unlike production
vehicles, these cars featured numerous running engineering changes,
resulting in many detail differences.
After the Christmas recess, the trial
turned in Tucker's favor. It went to
the jury on January 22, 1950, and
Tucker and the other executives
were acquitted on all charges just
seventeen hours later. However,
Tucker Corporation, now without a
factory, was no more.
Tucker's defense attorney William
T. Kirby later became Chairman of
the Board of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
The location of the former Tucker
Corporation at 7401 S Cicero Ave,
Chicago, IL 60629-5818, is now the
corporate headquarters of Tootsie
Roll Industries and the Ford City
shopping mall (the name owing to
ownership of the building for a time
by Ford Motor Company). The
building is so large that it was split
in two, and even with a large open
area between the two resulting
buildings, each structure is still substantial.
Today, remaining original stock certificates for Tucker Corporation
common stock, circa
1947, are valuable to
17
collectors, and are worth
more
than
when
originally issued at their then share
prices.
Later life
Preston Tucker's reputation
rebounded after the acquittal.
Investors from Brazil even
approached him about building a
sports car, the "Carioca". But he
died from cancer before the project
saw fruition. Otto Kerner, the US
Attorney who had aggressively
investigated Tucker for fraud,
ironically became the first Federal
appellate judge in history to be
jailed—for stock fraud.
1948 Tucker Torpedo
The 1948 Tucker Sedan or Tucker
'48 Sedan (also nicknamed the
Tucker Torpedo) was an advanced
automobile conceived by Preston
Tucker and briefly produced in Chicago in 1948. Only 51 examples
were made before the company
folded on March 3, 1949, amid false
allegations of fraud.
After World War II, entrepreneurs
like Henry J. Kaiser and Preston
Tucker saw an opportunity to enter
the automobile market. The United
States government was auctioning
off surplus factories and giving
preference to upstarts rather than
the large corporations that had
benefitted from war
production.
18
Studebaker was first with
an all-new post-war model. But
Tucker took a different tack,
designing a safety car with
innovative features and modern
styling. His specifications called for
a rear engine like Porsche, disc
brakes, fuel injection, the location
of all instruments on the steering
wheel, a windshield that popped out
in a collision and a padded
dashboard.
The final car was only 60 inches
(1524 mm) tall, but was very roomy
inside. It featured a directional
third headlight, dubbed the
"Cyclops Eye", for use in turns. It
lit up whenever the car was steered
by more than 10 degrees, a feature
now known as Adaptive Headlights.
Tremulis' design was called the
most aerodynamic in the world, and
though it still sported pre-war type
fenders, it was startlingly modern.
Mathematically-computed drag
coefficient was only 0.27, though
this was 'rounded up' publicly to
0.30.
Innovative design
Design studies for the Tucker
included many advanced features.
For example, the perimeter frame
surrounded the vehicle for crash
protection. The steering box was
behind the front axle to protect the
driver in a front-end accident. But
numerous Tucker innovations were
dropped. Magnesium wheels, disc
brakes, swiveling headlights and a
direct-drive torque converter transmission were all left on the drawing
board.
The car's innovative engine continued on the production path for a
while longer, however. It was a flat-
6 cylinder with hemispherical combustion chambers, fuel injection
and overhead valves operated by oil
pressure rather than a camshaft.
These features would have been
auto industry firsts in 1948, but as
engine development proceeded,
problems appeared. The large 589
in³ (9.7 L) engine provided
insufficient power, was very noisy,
and was difficult to start.
Tucker had promised 150 hp (112
kW), but his innovative 589 was not
working out, so another engine was
sourced. The company first tried the
Lycoming aircraft engine but it
would not fit in the car's rear engine
compartment. The Franklin aircooled helicopter flat-6 did fit, however, so Tucker purchased four
samples for $5,000 each. The company's engineers converted it to a
water-cooled design. It proved very
successful, producing 166 hp (124
kW) and 372 ft-lb of torque. Tucker
quickly bought the Franklin company to secure the engine source.
Another failed element of the prototypes was the Cord transmission,
designed for front-engine/front
wheel drive use. It could not handle
the power of the Franklin engine, so
a new design was needed. The creator of the Buick Dynaflow transmission was called in, designing a special "Tuckermatic" transmission
with only 27 parts, about 90 fewer
than normal. The engine and transmission were mounted on a separate subframe which could be lowered and removed in minutes with
just six bolts removed — Tucker
envisioned loaner engines being
quickly swapped in for service.
Unfortunately, the Tuckermatic was
not ready for initial production.
Most vehicles were fitted with
rebuilt transmissions taken from
used Cord 810 and 812 series automobiles that Tucker bought and
scrapped for the purpose.
Rocky premiere
The world premiere of the muchhyped car was set for June 19, 1947.
Over 3,000 people showed up for
lunch, a train tour of the plant, and
the unveiling in the main auditorium. The unveiling looked
doomed, however, as last-minute
problems with the car cropped up.
The weight of the two 150-pound
batteries needed to start the 589 in³
engine broke the suspension.
Tucker ad-libbed on stage for two
hours while emergency repairs were
carried out. The car was finally
pushed onto a turntable by hand,
and the curtain was lifted to thunderous applause. Tucker was joined
on stage by his family, with his
daughter smashing a champagne
bottle on the "Cyclops Eye" and
soaking her father. Also on stage
were Tucker's engineers, still covered in grease from the last-minute
repairs.
With the final design in place,
Preston Tucker took the preproduction cars on the road to show
them in towns across the country.
The cars were an instant success,
with crowds gathering wherever
they stopped. One report says that
Tucker was pulled over by a police
officer intent on getting a better
look at the car.
Failure
Although
it
was
19
well-
funded, the company decided to
raise more money in order to secure
its future and credibility.
$17,000,000 was raised in a stock
issue, one of the first speculative
IPOs. Another money maker was
the Tucker Accessories Program.
Future buyers could purchase
accessories, like seat covers, the
radio, and luggage, before their car
was built. This brought an
additional $2,000,000 into the
company.
The Accessories Program was investigated by the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission and the
United States Attorney, and led to
an indictment of company executives. Although all charges were
eventually dropped, the negative
publicity destroyed the company
and halted production of the car.
To counteract the bad press, Tucker
again took the cars on the road. He
scheduled a two-week public test at
the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
with a few of the 37 cars that had
been built. One car was rolled at
100 mph (160 km/h), and the driver
walked away with just bruises. Public perception changed from outrage
at Tucker's alleged misconduct to
anger at the press and the government.
Today, the '48 Sedan has fame far
greater than would be expected
from its modest production run. Of
the 51 cars built (50 production and
1 prototype), 47 still exist, the
majority in excellent condition.
When the cars appear at
auction, they command
20
prices attained by only a
few marques. Tucker 1043
was recently sold for the recordsetting price of $700,000. [1] In
April 2005, Tucker 1029 sold for
$461,500 and Tucker 1003, formerly owned by the filmmaker
George Lucas, sold at auction in
September 2005 for $385,000. Several other cars are prominently featured in automotive museums.
Replica vehicles
In 1997, Rob Ida Automotive
started work on a replica of the
Tucker '48 Sedan, which culminated in the release and marketing
of the 2001 Ida Automotive New
Tucker '48. This replica faithfully
recreates the Tucker's exterior,
though the body panels are made of
plastic. The New Tucker is built on
a hotrod chassis with a lowered suspension. The paint and wheels
reflect modern hotrod styling, and
the interior is fully modern. It is
powered by a rear-mounted Cadillac Northstar V8. Claimed performance is 0-60 in 7 seconds, with a top
speed in excess of 120mph. Ida has
built three cars.
-information & pictures provided by
Wikipedia & Wikimedia Commons
Where are They today?
www.tuckerclub.org
According to the Tucker Club web
page, most of the surviving Tuckers
can be found on display at various
museums in America, Japan, and
Brazil. You can visit the club’s web
page to find out more information
about any one car and where, and if,
it is on public display.
Arizona-#1043, 1046 *
Brazil-#1035
California-#1002, 1006, 1009, 1014,
1019, 1021, 1029, 1030, 1036,
1037, 1038, 1040, 1041, 1049
Colorado-#1017
Florida-#1005, 1023
Georgia-#1015, 1034
Illinois-#1008, 1027
Indiana-#1012, 1025
Japan-#1004, 1020
Maine-#1033
Michigan-#1016, 1018, 1047
Mississippi-#1028
Montana-#1011
Nebraska-#1024
Nevada-#1032
New Jersey-#1051
Ohio-#1044, 1045
Pennsylvania-Tin Goose (1st car
built), #1013
South Dakota-#1031
Tennessee-#1003, 1042
Texas-#1050
Virginia-#1001, 1022, 1026
Washington-#1007, 1010
Washington DC-#1039
Wisconsin-#1048
August 20, 2007 with a closing bid
of $202,700.00. According to the
description provided, “It has a 1964
Mercury Meteor running gear that
was installed in that year. This
upgraded it with a 390 engine,
automatic transmission, power
steering, power brakes, and air conditioning. It is built to be a dependable driver that is easy to maintain
and repair. You can enjoy driving
this Tucker without the fear of it
breaking down and not having the
parts to fix it.”
* -recently sold on Ebay.
#320146570719
1948 Tucker Torpedo #46,
Rare Street Rod
Tucker #46 was recently offered for
sale on Ebay. The auction ended
The owner was asked about the running gear, which he did not have the
original running gear. He offered
this explanation, “The last 10 on the
assembly line didn't have the running gear installed. When these cars
were purchased by the original
owners all were finished out except
for number 46 which was fitted out
with an Oldsmobile chassis. The
first owner of this car had 9 other
Tuckers that were original. They
were toured around to state fairs
and showed off to the public in exhibitions. The second owner purchased it in 1962 and chose this one
because of he wanted to
drive it cross country and
21
didn't want to have to
worry about finding parts.
In 1964 he took a brand new Mercury Meteor and changed it out
with the Oldsmobile chassis. The
dash is also from the Mercury but
the rest of the interior is original. It
was driven all over the country and
shown in car shows. It was also
used to premier the Tucker movie at
two different theaters. We bought it
from the second owner 5 years ago
and have done some more
improvements in that time. This car
has had an engine in the front for
almost 60 years now. ”
is bent and hands are on his hips.
This mascot is a totally correct
c.1934 original piece finished in
chrome plated solid bronze with
colored enameled highlights. This
rare piece was marketed under
license from Walt Disney in early
1934 in England by Desmo - trading
from Stafford Street, Birmingham,
and Shaftesbury Avenue, London.
# 280143959189
Dimensions:115mm
excluding mounting stud.
1934 Mickey Mouse Hood
Ornament by Desmo
Mickey Mouse car mascot, hood
ornament, c. 1934 depicting a
standing, smiling Mickey closed out
on August 26, 2007 with a closing
bid of $3,300.00. He has 'pie crust'
eyes with long tail curling
out behind and over his
22
head. His pose is in an
amusing stance - one knee
high
Condition: This totally original
piece has its original chrome plating
on solid bronze with traces of the
original black, red and amber
enamel amazingly still showing.
Two mountings were originally
used - one for a badge bar, one for a
radiator cap fitting - this example is
fitted with the simple stud and nut,
enabling it to mount directly to the
radiator cap of any old car. It
presently is mounted on a fine
marble base for cabinet display.
This is included in this auction.
Note from Judy: This is one
Disney item I have always wanted
to own. Needless to say, it is still on
my wish list!
TINKERIN’ TIPS
CUPID'S
LATEST
DART
What's a nicer valentine
Than a Ford?
How her lovely eyes would shine
Than a Ford!
How, at frisky Cupid's shot
In her heart with love so hot
She'd succumb right on the spot
To a Ford!
Releases Stuck Starter
W
hen the Ford starter motor
sticks, the time-honored
method is to engage high gear; and
rock the car violently backward and
forward, until the starter releases or
something breaks.
Here is a better way which never fails.
Engage hand crank (as to push down
when spinning engine) and strike the
hand crank a sharp (not heavy) blow
with a light hammer or wrench. This
will release the starter and works
equally well on all Fords. A little shock
will do what a crushing strain will not
do, and is safer.
Wm S Williams
Cleveland, Ohio
A
Good Wheel Puller
short piece of Ford drive shaft
(pinion end) about 5 inches long,
with an axle shaft nut screwed on the
end, makes a good wheel puller. This is
better than the method generally
followed of using a pile of axle shaft, as
the drive shaft has a shoulder against
which the nut fits solidly.
R M Shelton
Plano, Texas
Yes, coupe perhaps, Oh man!
That's a Ford.
Or perchance. a sick sedan!
Also Ford!
Even touring or tractor
Which you've left, and fondly smacked
her
(Without aid of chiropractor)
Oh you Ford!
What a vista of delight
For that Ford!
Part of day and most of night
Is that Ford!
Gliding flats and skimming hills,
While you get her coos-and billsFor you have the best of frills
With that Ford!
In your heart a thrilling tune
O'er that Ford
As you think, "Twill soon be June"
Oh you Ford!
When with veil and rose and ring
You'll collect for everything!
How sweet memories will cling
To that Ford!
Oh a stunning valentine
Is a Ford!
Loves of gods and men combine
On a Ford.
See her tears as sweet as wine,
As your forms toward each incline,
And she murmurs "Always thine"
For that Ford!
Brass-Nickel Touring Region
Judy L. Edwards, Editor
116 E. Front Street
Clayton NC 27520
Important Notice
Swansboro Tour
If you plan on going on the Swansboro tour, please notify Max Morton. He can be reached byEmail: maxlou@embarqmail.com
Phone: (910) 326-4144.
Church Address
St. Mildred Catholic church address
is 512 Sabiston Dr. The church is at
the corner of Church and Sabiston....and also has a corner on Hwy 24 that is the only 'major' hwy
through Swansboro. Sabiston Dr is a loop street, meeting Hwy 24 at the
Church and across from the local western auto.
An Apology
I am sorry this edition of On The Road, Again! is going out so late. After
six years my printer died and it has taken me awhile to reset everything
for the new printer.