The End of the Line: The Story of Tucker #1050, The Final Production Tucker ‘48 (Part 1)
By Mark Lieberman
The following article is an excerpt from the Tucker Topics magazine. To see Part 2 of the “End of the Line” series CLICK HERE.
The Tucker Corporation began production of their highly anticipated and futuristic Tucker ’48 following the very successful debut of the Tin Goose prototype. Car #1001 (the first production Tucker ’48) was completed on March 9, 1948, just in time for the shareholder meeting. Over the following 10 months, the Tucker Corporation would produce an additional 49 Tucker ‘48s bringing the total production to 50 cars.
The final Tucker ’48 automobile was completed late in December 1948. By this time the Tucker Corporation was closed and only a skeleton crew of volunteers including Alex Tremulis remained to complete the cars. Tucker #1050 was painted Royal Maroon. As it made its way through the final stages of assembly the workers that were completing this build utilized a few parts from car #1027 (this was the car that rolled over after loosing traction during the testing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway). The glove box door and the engine compartment latching support were readily available parts. These were repurposed and saved them some fabrication time. Both parts still show the stamped #27 on them.
When the car made it to the end of the line both the engine and transmission were absent. This was not unusual at the time. In fact, cars #1041, 1043, 1044, 1045, 1046, 1047, 1048 and 1049 were also missing transmissions. By the end of production Tucker had run out of their Y1 transmissions and quite a number of cars had been set aside waiting for transmissions to be completed and installed. In addition to that, cars # 1042 was missing its engine as was #1050. These production facts are shown on the factory inventory documentation dated March 3, 1949 seen in photograph #4.
At the asset liquidation sale Ezra Schlipf purchased lot #27 which was described as Cars and Parts ASR. It is believed that in addition to other cars, parts and engines this lot included Tucker #1050 and engine 33598. That lot was purchased for paltry sum of $950. On that day and over the months to follow he had assembled quite a selection of Tucker cars and engines that he would ultimately resell to various people. Photograph #5 shows a list of his cars and engines. Note, he has #1050 and engine 33598 (the final production Tucker engine) on his list.
Wayne McInley purchased #1050 from Ezra. It now had engine 33598 mounted in its engine bay but was still missing its transmission. At this time the car was still wearing its original Royal Maroon paint and its original broadcloth interior. It was noted the front and rear seat cushion pattern were dissimilar. This was most likely as a result of running out of matching seats before the car was finished. Wayne also owned Tucker #1036 at the time. He the interiors of both cars redone by an upholsterer who worked for Glen Pray (He was best known for making Cord reproduction cars).
In 1980 Curtis Foester purchased #1050 from Wayne. The car was still wearing its original paint and still in need of a transmission. Curtis sent the car to Stan Gilliland (one of the original founders of the Tucker Automobile Club of America) to have a Cord transmission installed. These were originally used by Tucker in their cars before they started to produce their own version of the Cord Transmission called the Y1. Stan still remembers #1050 and the transmission he sourced and installed in the car. As he tells the story: He just installed the transmission to complete the car for Curtis. He never connected it to actually operate since Curtis told him that he would never drive the car. He wanted it to remain a ZERO mile example. This is further evidenced by Curtis’ hand written letter shown in photograph #6.
As Stan recalls he installed the transmission and sent the car on to Curtis. In the years to follow, Curtis would have the paint and chrome freshened but would never attempt to make the car operational.
In 2008 Dick Burdick would purchase #1050 from Curtis and proudly display it in his educational foundation museum (Dicks Classic Car Garage) along with other great automobiles from 1901 through 1959. By now #1050 had shiny burgundy paint, bright chrome and a refreshed interior but it remained a ZERO mile car. This brilliant looking car remained a star attraction here until the closing of the facility following the passing of Dick Burdick in 2018. The museum closed its doors in December of 2018 and the cars were all sold, most of them at auction….with the exception of 1 special car…..Tucker #1050. What happens next is nothing short of amazing! See Part 2 of the “End of the Line” series HERE.
See Part 2 of the “End of the Line” series HERE.
