Tuckers number 02 and 14

[4x adventurer]

When I was a kid my Grandpa had a friend by the name of Bill Hamlin. Bill had a lot of cool old cars. Franklins, Reos, and Tuckers. Almost everytime we would visit Bill he would take us for a ride in one of the Tuckers. I remember riding in "the Gold one" (02) and his "Blue one" (14) and a "Red one" (?) that he claimed he was restoring for a movie. He also told us about running his cars around Ontario Motor Speedway so they could shoot movie footage.

In any case I have a few photos of these cars at a car show we went to in Aug of 1977. As well as an article from 1972 by Bill Hamlin. I see the current owner of #02 "The Gold one" is looking for photos of the car. Please contact me if your interested.

A few quick scans:




I'm not sure which car this is, 02 or 14, but I'm sure it's one of Bills cars. Perhaps someone can tell from the License number, (Yellow 50's California plate)


I think this was a car Bill was restoring to be used in the Movie? If this is the car as I recall it ended up being painted Red. I'm not sure, that was a long time ago.

[MD]

Fantastic photos! Thanks for posting them.

[ncc1968]

3 of 'em - wow......

[jchborg]

Thanks for the pic of #002. A car I know too well.

[Larry Clark]

The third car is Tucker #1037, owned by Francis Ford Coppola. It has long been displayed in his winery in Napa County. It is maroon in color. Bill Hamlin restored the car for Mr. Coppola.

Larry

[plancor 792]

Bill Hamlin owned Tucker's 1002, 1014 and 1017. Other Tuckers were there when he was restoring them but he did not own them.

Richard

[streamliner]

Both Tuckers 02 and 14 had a very special place in Alex Tremulis' heart. 1014 was especially near and dear since that is the one that he logged thousands of miles on, including 400 miles at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It's also most likely the one that he was driving in the story of the police officer that forced him to drive backwards to the toll booth (Page 99 of The Indomitable Tin Goose):



Anyway here's an unedited transcript he wrote for the Milestone Car publication in March 1975, that includes much more information on Bill Hamlin's 02 and 14, and how the "Talisman" name came about. Alex was never short on entertaining stories about any of the cars he worked on and this was no exception. I'll post a picture of the 1963 Tucker Tremulis Talisman when I find it (it's not the same one as the "1952 Tucker Talisman" seen previously). Enjoy...

[streamliner]

Apparently, the 1963 Tucker Tremulis Talisman is the same rendering as the 1952 Tucker Talisman proposal. Both the vellum and the rendering made it into the Milestone publication in 1975, but I can't figure out the 1963 reference just yet...

I've been under the impression that this version of the Talisman was rendered by Tremulis around 1950, towards the end of the Tucker Corporation but before the end of the trial and Preston Tucker's departure to Brazil, and that Preston Tucker himself was impressed with this rendering and what could have been a followup to his ill-fated Tucker '48.

Does anyone have any further information on this particular rendering?

[streamliner]

In 1987 Alex Tremulis prepared this short summary of many of his previous Tucker topics. Included are references to the 1952 Tucker Talisman proposal. So at this point I assume that the 1952 Tucker Talisman rendering was done around 1950, and the Tucker-Tremulis Talisman is the same car with a more modern drivetrain for the 1963 version. I get the message loud and clear that he really wanted to get that FWD Toronado engine turned around and placed in the rear of a Tucker '48 to see what it could do both on the drag strip and all-out at Bonneville (#1046: wanna give it a try?). Anyway, here's his SAE paper from 1987, in the twilight of his illustrious career:

[Tuckerfan1053]

I've never seen the full color rendition of the Talisman before. I have to say that is one cool looking concept.