Dec 05 2017

Hemmings Motor News: Pebble Beach Concours to feature Tuckers for their 70th anniversary


Daniel Strohl posted an Hemmings Motor News article on Tuckers at the 2018 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance . Yes, Tucker '48 #1044 will apply to be on the show field!

Enjoy,

Howard Kroplick


concours d'elegance
 
Pebble Beach Concours to feature Tuckers for their 70th anniversary

Daniel Strohl on Dec 4th, 2017 at 8am

Above: Tucker 48 chassis 1049. Photos by Tom Gidden, courtesy RM Sotheby’s.

They routinely sell at auction for a million bucks or two, they have their own permanent museum display, and they remain crowd pleasers several decades after the factory that built them shut down. So, it’s perhaps more surprising that the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance hasn’t featured Tuckers as a class until its 2018 show.

The Tucker certainly captivated the nation’s attention in 1948 as Preston Tucker first bought into a war surplus plant in Chicago then hired a cast of auto-industry veterans and traveled the country trying to drum up interest in the rear-engine sedan with the funny third-eye center headlamp. It then made headlines again as the whole venture collapsed following columnist Drew Pearson’s reporting on the Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into Preston Tucker’s business practices, leaving just 37 cars—known formally as the Tucker 48—built and enough parts to assemble at least a dozen more.

Modern interest in the Tucker, however, almost entirely stems from the 1988 Francis Ford Coppola film Tucker: The Man and His Dream, starring Jeff Bridges as Preston Tucker. Since then, not only has Preston Tucker been exonerated in the court of public opinion (following his exoneration in the actual courts in 1950), but his cars have also landed in the Smithsonian’s collection and on the National Historic Vehicle Register, and both he and the Tucker’s chief designer have been added to the Automotive Hall of Fame.

While it’s possible to travel the globe to see many of the four dozen or so remaining Tuckers—the Tucker Club of America has a complete listing of the whereabouts of all documented Tuckers—some of the world’s best Tuckers will gather for the Pebble Beach class, which will coincide with the 70th anniversary of the Tucker itself and the 30th anniversary of the film.

In addition to Tuckers, the organizers of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance also announced special classes dedicated to OSCAs, postwar custom Citroens, cars of the Raj, cars featuring Rollston coachwork, and “sporting vintage” cars.

The 2018 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance will take place August 26, about a week later than its traditional weekend in August. For more information, visit PebbleBeachConcours.net.



Comments

Dec 11 2017 Steven Vilardi 8:59 AM

Good work. Be careful not to move or upset anything at the site. Document it all. Keep it low key. Watch out for deer tics and rabid animals. ...and homeowners with rifles, yes trust me there are some whackos in old Brookville and surrounding areas.

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