Four 48s on Ford Frames

[Randy Earle]

I've been looking all over the forum, but I can't find anything about this so here goes... Has there ever been much documentation done on the four Tucker 48 Replicas on Ford LTD frames that were built for the Tucker Movie? I've found one photo and a small mention about them and that is all. In the years since the production of the movie, I would suppose these 4 cars have become just as mysterious as the real items. Were these 4 cars made utilizing the same bodies as the Ida Replicas? Where are they now? I read that these 4 cars were used in the scenes where the cars were going around the race track. Did they have accurate interiors? Were the hubcaps made new? I'd really like to see more information about these 4 movie cars. Anyone?

[TuckerCar]

I am sure someone here has more information on these than I, but these were pre Ida. The fiberglass bodies were very poorly constructed and were almost paper-thin in some places. There was no chrome - everything was painted silver, and the only operating door was the drivers door with had a crude hinge just for getting in and out. There were no interiors - just a tube frame and a drivers seat.

As for their whereabouts, I know that The Ypsilanti Automotive Heritage Museum has one (photos below), the late Frank Tucker had another (his wife still has it and it has some sort of electric motor), Dave Cammack has some extra body panels. And I'm sure once someone tells me where the others are, I'll remember.

[Randy Earle]

Thank you for the photos and information. I've seen photos of the IDA replicas but it seems they are all hot rods with bling bling wheels.

[John K.]

The Ypsilanti Tucker replica used to be green, but John Tucker, Jr. had it repainted "Waltz Blue" a few years ago.

One of these fiberglass cars in the movie had a metal rear quarter-panel that was dented to look like it had rolled. The Stude-Tucker was the one that actually did the stunt roll, then a subsequent close-up shot showed one of these cars with the dents in it. The late Frank Tucker showed me that one some years ago, and it was in an airport hangar in western Michigan.

The interior of the Ypsi car is practically non-existent -- steering wheel, front bench seat and gas tank is pretty much it.

Frank Tucker's replica has an electric golf-cart motor in it, and a mechanism that lowered a post underneath the car to lift it up, and make it turn as if on a turntable. This car was used in Japan in the "Tucker" segment of a live Lucasfilm show.

[SuperFleye]

One of the movie cars has moved to Norway I bought the car at age 20 when the car was offered for sale on E-bay. Being a student, and having not too much money to spend on the car, I had to put it aside until time and money allowed me to start the project. Well, last weekend, time was finally here, and me and my brother began the long journey of rebuilding the Tucker back to its former glory. During the years I have collected some parts and donor cars for the build. The car will mainly be built on a '54 Buick chassis, using many of the buick body parts such as the firewall and inner door structures etc. I have also bought a 1946 Ford that we have parted in order to use the windshield frame and such. This week we built the framework to mount the front on the buick chassis. It was quite a job placing the front correctly, but we started with the wheel, and fit the left fender correctly in the wheel opening..... to make a slong story short, the front is now mounted, it still misses inner fenders and such, but it sits were it supposed to be. Next step after this is to cut away the top of the firewall, and fabricate a new windshield frame and surroundings. As you may see on my pictures, the front matched the Buick very well when it comes to width and height. Eventually I will make an own thread on the build when we have made some more progress on the build. My brother Kjetil is the master fabricator on the build, and being busy building several other cars for himself, this project has to fit in between his schedule.




Another question, the car I bought was used in the Movie as the car that went around the racetrack. The car that did the actually driving, and not the one that flipped over, or the one that looked like it had flipped over. See pictures below. But as we worked on the car this weekend, we discovered that the car was painted dark grey underneath the metallic green color. I now that many members here on the board was part of the movie making, does anyone know why it is painted dark grey underneath? Was it maybe used in other parts of the movie in another colors?


From the movie


The car as it sat at Frank Tucker`s place

[John Dore]

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[SuperFleye]

Hi John, I´m glad you liked my project! Here are siome answers to your questions.

1. When you got the car, was it sitting on a frame? If so, why not restore and use that frame?

When I got the car, the LTD frame it originally was built on was swapped for a 80's/90's Chevrolet truck chassis. The frame had been extended, and the job that was performed was really bad. If we had continued to build on that car I would never have gotten the car through Norwegian inspections.

2. Are you making it rear engined or front engined?

In order to get the car through Norwegian inspections I have to keep 55% of the original Buick. So the chassis will be stock.

3. What was the interior like - I'm assuming non-existent?

Yes, it was non-existent. Also a funny detail was that only driver side door was cut out on the car, the rest of the doors were only made to look like operational doors.

4. How strong is the fiberglass body?

The fiberglass body is extremely thick. The left rear fender is a new one from Chick DeLorenzo, and that fenders is paper thin in comparison.

5. How was it built for the movie - was it just fiberglass copies of the panels attached to a different unibody, or was it a once piece fiberglass unibody like the IDA replica?

It was just fiberglass copies of the panels mounted on a LTD chassis, floor and firewall. That's what I've been told.

6. In your pictures, it looks like the track width on the frame you are using is not wide enough - how do you plan to fill the wheel arches so that the wheels don't look lost in there - are you using spacers or will you be modifying the chassis and suspension to get a wider track?

It is not so bad. The panels have been deformed after being stored away for many years, so it looks bader then it is. But so far the plan is to use spacers, and the this is definitively required in the rear.

Thanks, please post more pics!

Hehe, in time I will do a dedicated thread to the build, but I will do this when we have made some more progress. Living in the middle of Oslo, I have to drive one and a half hour to get to my garage, so it is not like we could work on the car everyday.... unfortunately

[John Dore]

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[SuperFleye]

The front, rear fenders and trunk lid will be fiberglass parts, the roof, doors and rear will be fabricated in steel. It is allmost impossible to get a fiberglass car registered in Norway, so in order to get license plates on the car we have to make as much as possible of the car in steel. But we have all the fiberglass parts to look at, so getting it right is just a matter of time. Also my brother, who will be the master fabricator on the build is much more comfortable about working with steel then fiberglass.

For the interrior we will make it as close as possible. I have bought Jeep push buttons, a Cord gear shifter arm, and a tucker radio so far. I'm looking for the plastic instrument panel and stewart warner gauges in the future... so if anyone have these parts lying around, don't hesitate to contact me!

Hi again,

Thanks for your responses - very interesting.

Are you going to retain the metal substructure of the Buick roof, and lay the fiberglass Tucker roof over this? From your description, it sounds like you will be fabricating a metal windshield support/surround also?

For the interior, are you going to try and make it as close to original looking as possible?

I know how hard it is to restore a car away from your home - when I restored my first DeLorean, I had to drive back to my parents house where it was stored to work on it (nearly a 3 hour drive each way). Eventually I got tired of only being able to work on it down there, so when we moved house to one with a garage, I moved all the disassembled pieces of my DeLorean back to our new house and completed the restoration there - much easier!

Looking forward to more pics when you get time,

Again, best of luck!
John

[Randy Earle]

It's great to see what is going on with your build, please keep us updated.

[Tucker Fan 48]

SuperFleye,

It's been a year, how about an update on your project? Is it coming along or did you scrap the project and decide to build a convertible?

[SuperFleye]

WOW, has it been a year already! Times fly way to fast, my Tucker project is still waiting to fit into my brothers schedule. The project is unfortunately way out of my league to do on my own. As soon as Kjetil is ready with his, 1930s Chevy roadster pickup and 1960s chevy pickup I will see if I can book some of his time. I will keep you all updated when times come

A convertible would make the project a lot easier, but i wouldn't go that way...

SuperFleye,

It's been a year, how about an update on your project? Is it coming along or did you scrap the project and decide to build a convertible?

[Tuckeroo]

"Another question, the car I bought was used in the Movie as the car that went around the racetrack. The car that did the actually driving, and not the one that flipped over, or the one that looked like it had flipped over. See pictures below. But as we worked on the car this weekend, we discovered that the car was painted dark grey underneath the metallic green color. I now that many members here on the board was part of the movie making, does anyone know why it is painted dark grey underneath? Was it maybe used in other parts of the movie in another colors?"

Yes, watch the scene where Jeff Bridges get's into a pearl gray car inside the factory and backs it up (note on the windshield it says "22.") This really is Tucker #1022. Then there is a cutaway to the other actors remarking on his driving, at that time you are watching a stunt driver and a replica Tucker. Note when the car pulls up to a stop it is a replica and the driver is blocking his face with his forearm. Note the bolt on the front bumper and the silver paint simulating chrome. It is likely that this is your replica. After the next cutaway, when the other actors get into the car, it has been replaced again by the real #1022 and Jeff Bridges is back behind the wheel. Also note that in the real Tucker at the top of this scene, the center headlight switches off when the wheel is steered straight...not so when you see the replica driving around. It is also possible that this replica doubled for #1013 in the police chase scene.

Best wishes on your project!

[TuckerCar]

I'm not trying to start anything here, but I was fairly certain that green car that drove around the track was 1005.

[Tuckeroo]

I'm not trying to start anything here, but I was fairly certain that green car that drove around the track was 1005.

In close-up shots, I believe that is correct...but would like to defer to Richard on that one. Because I believe some shots featured an LTD replica, and of course the Studebaker replica, so three cars total to make/edit the speedway scene.