Tucker Convertable

TUCKER "CONVERTIBLE" ~ Date: 4/5/10

Hey Bert,

Most people do not know that in addition to my love for classic Thunderbirds, Mustangs and GTOS, I am a Tucker aficionado. In fact, I have been Vice President of the Tucker Automobile Club of America (TACA) for five years now. So that said, I had to laugh when I saw the Tucker "Convertible" mentioned in the April issue of Bird-News and a recent issue of a GTO Club publication. This car has been a can of worms for years and the recent completion of the car, followed by the hype leading up to the unsuccessful sale at Russo & Steele, has kept us all busy.

So for my own piece of mind, I offer the same official stance TACA has taken for years. "The Tucker Automobile Club of America, Inc. has never been presented with - nor has been able to find - any credible evidence to prove the authenticity of this car or any other vehicle as being a Tucker Corporation intended convertible and therefore cannot certify it as such."

There is no doubt in my mind that the car (the same car I personally saw in Burlington, WI garage in 2002) was never commissioned to be built by Tucker and there are reams of documentation in my and the club's archives to counter what a Pennsylvania car restorer's affidavit indicates.

I appreciate the way that you presented the information in the April issue, and that you didn't drink the builder's "Kool-Aid." Just for clarification however, the car was bid to $1.4 million at Russo & Steele, and officially there were 51 Tucker '48s produced - One Prototype, affectionately known as the Tin Goose, and 50 pre-production models.

Anything beyond that was built using extra parts that were never assembled at the factory. One more thing, the car was a no-sell again just last night (4/4/2010) at $899,100 on eBay.

Thanks for letting me get this off my chest, and thanks for a great newsletter. See you this summer.

Joe Kahn