– By #Pioneer Auto Show
2010 Spring Carlisle Issue - Vol 39 No. 15 April 15, 2010
Sound Your Horn - Tucker Worth The Wait
I just finished the interesting article about the fate of the missing Tucker cars. The story reminded me of an occasion about 20 years ago, when my wife and I were on a motor trip. We were in South Dakota when we saw a sign telling us to stop at the Pioneer Auto Museum just ahead. It is located at Murdo, SD, population about 600. What a surprise! The museum has a large indoor area with restored and original-condition cars.
Another building was full of muscle cars from the 1960s and 70’s – Chevy, Ford and Mopar. Outdoors and under cover was another 74 or so unrestored cars and trucks. I have a Tucker fan since I first learned of them, and inside the museum was a car that made me drool. It was the Tucker that Mr. Tucker had built for his wife, according to the museum. He had the color – Danube Blue- made for her.
Apparently, she only drove the car a few times and then it was put in storage. It was truly beautiful. I don’t know if this Tucker is still there. My guess is, considering the price they bring today, the car was probably sold. If it was sold, it would be interesting to know who it was sold to and for how much. I noticed the Pioneer Auto Museum is one of Old Car Weekly’s advertisers: maybe someone from Old Cars Weekly could contact them and do a story on the car.
As a side note to this story, in 1948, I was 18 years old, living in Minnesota. Every summer, the people of Minnesota have one of the largest state fairs in the country. I went to the fair in 1948. Some lucky man was one of the few that purchased a new Tucker, and actually received it. He was very enterprising. He had a large tent with his new Tucker inside. For $1, you could look at it. This was in 1948, when a dollar was worth something.
I couldn’t afford the dollar, so I missed out. I finally saw one at Harrah’s car collection in Reno about 15 years later. However, it was still very exciting to find one in the little town of Murdo, SD.
Dale A. Nergaard, Tukwila, Wash.
Note: The Tucker was leased by Pioneer Auto from the family who owned it. They decided to take it home to Elk Point, SD about 5 years ago so it is no longer on display at the Museum.
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