#1010 has been sold !

[Tucker Fan 48]

After being locked away in Don Wright’s garage in Auburn Washington for over 50 years Tucker #1010 will finally see sunlight again. The car has been sold to an undisclosed buyer. The brokers that handled the sale had been asking 500K for the car. Photos of the car show it is in horrible shape and will need a complete restoration. After all the stories about the cars condition it turns out the car never hit a tree but received some minor front end damage while in the garage. The car is in many pieces but it appears most of the parts were still there. Mice destroyed the interior as had been reported by Richard back in the 70s.

#1010 is an original Waltz Blue car that was poorly painted a light blue before Wright bought it. The original engine, #33513, is frozen but in the car. Fifty years of Tacoma area weather has not been kind to the car as it has lots of surface rust. Like many cars it is missing its Tucker hubcaps.

Don Wright bought the car from an Oakland physician for $1,500 on June 19th 1956 and drove it only 603 miles in 1956 before locking it away over 50 years ago. The cars odometer has been at 9819.7 miles since then. No one will ever know why he stopped driving the car. Over the years Wright would not talk with anyone about the car but was active in TACA for awhile and even served as President for a year in 1980. He passed away 1/7/2008 and after several buyers failed in attempting to purchase the car the family hired someone to broker the car for them.

Here are some of the first photos of the car taken in the secret garage space the car has been in since the late 50s. Hopefully the new owner will do a proper restoration of the car. Maybe they can get Richard Jones to help out as this is one of only a handful of Tuckers he has not had his hands on.

1010 front 2.jpg (94.05 KiB) Viewed 4341 times

1010 front.jpg (82.96 KiB) Viewed 4334 times

1010 Data Plate.jpg (182.7 KiB) Viewed 4322 times

[Tucker Fan 48]

1010 odometer.jpg (127.42 KiB) Viewed 4343 times

1010 drivers side.jpg (101.49 KiB) Viewed 4331 times

1010 passenger side 2.jpg (84.98 KiB) Viewed 4330 times

[Tucker Fan 48]

1010 trunk.jpg (108.32 KiB) Viewed 5641 times

1010 rear.jpg (104.86 KiB) Viewed 4316 times

1010 rear bumper.jpg (124.26 KiB) Viewed 4301 times

[Tucker Fan 48]

1010 engine.jpg (172.63 KiB) Viewed 4334 times

1010 frame and axel.jpg (140.64 KiB) Viewed 4296 times

1010 rust.jpg (130.71 KiB) Viewed 4280 times

[Tucker Fan 48]

1010 passenger side.jpg (84.89 KiB) Viewed 4270 times

1010 rear interior 2.jpg (113.95 KiB) Viewed 4267 times

1010 mice food.jpg (108.52 KiB) Viewed 4258 times

[Phantomrig]

Wow it is great to see some new photos of this 1010. it wil be interesting to see on where it is headed to live and with who and what their plans are with it. it would be great to see it restored.

[Tuckerfan1053]

I think the "minor front end damage" story isn't quite accurate from what I can see in the photos. If you notice, it looks like something hit the cyclops eye and something fell across the front of the car, while the trunk lid was open. The other possibility is that someone hit something really hard with the car, enough that it smashed the lip surrounding the cyclops eye and caused the two front fenders to buckle slightly. Having handled Tucker fenders in the past, I have to say if it was the second possibility which caused the damage, someone really must have given the car a wallop. The fenders are heavy and made of heavy gauge steel, not something that bends easily.

[Tucker Fan 48]

I guess after hearing all the stories over the last 35 years about #1010 hitting a tree, having it's front end bashed in, its windshield popped out, and that it needed the complete front end replaced, I felt that "minor front end damage" was pretty accurate. The front bumper is rusty but in great shape. The current story is it rolled into the garage wall and pushed in the cyclops light and hood. There is certainly nothing on the front that can't be repaired. The amount of rust on the car might cause more concerns. If you look up close you'll see tons of rust on everything. Fifty years of wet weather and rodents has made the body a lot less solid than it looks.

[Natalie]

...it wil be interesting to see on where it is headed to live and with who and what their plans are with it. it would be great to see it restored.

Someone knows...viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1738&p=7679&hilit=1010#p7679

[Phantomrig]

...it wil be interesting to see on where it is headed to live and with who and what their plans are with it. it would be great to see it restored.

Someone knows...viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1738&p=7679&hilit=1010#p7679

Oh crap, its a conspiracy.

[Tucker Fan 48]

...it wil be interesting to see on where it is headed to live and with who and what their plans are with it. it would be great to see it restored.

Someone knows...viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1738&p=7679&hilit=1010#p7679

Back in June TuckerCar and others knew of a deal but the family made several deals that they backed out of. That deal was one of them.

[Natalie]

...it wil be interesting to see on where it is headed to live and with who and what their plans are with it. it would be great to see it restored.

Someone knows...viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1738&p=7679&hilit=1010#p7679

Back in June TuckerCar and others knew of a deal but the family made several deals that they backed out of. That deal was one of them.

Darn. I was hoping there was was an Easter Egg hidden amidst all the mouse poop When were those photos taken? Are they from the broker?

[Prototype]

That's awesome! I too, hope it get's a much needed restoration. Even though it is rusty in places, it can be done. Having lived in the great Northwest myself all my life, my '59 Pontiac has been outside almost it's entire life as well and has the same "usual rust" areas that 1010 does, in the rockers and the underside of the roof. Like most cars of the period, they are primed, but almost never painted and we know how well primer holds up! Yes, it's wet here, but Auburn, Wa. like Portland doesn't get salt air, just lots of rain and humidity. From the pictures above of 1010, it does not look bad at all. The front end damage looks very repairable, to a skilled tin knocker. I have repaired worse! I am curious to see the car finished, but that may be couple of years away....It looks to be complete, so restoration and recreating the interior should not be a problem. I wonder what the actual selling price was?

[plancor 792]

Good to hear someone has been able to acquire Tucker 1010. I tried for years back in the 60's and 70's to acquire it or to get Don Wright motivated to do some work on it but nothing was ever accomplished. Tucker 1010 had 9815 miles on it when Don purchased it for $1200.00 and it appears that the trip home was about 4 miles as the speedometer now reads 9819 miles. Previous owner was Robert Kelly of Colton, CA. He drove the car on the Bonneville Salt Flats in 1950. 3 rounds at an average speed of 131.64 MPH. This car has a special 43/10 Axle ratio. Engine is stamped 13 and it has a Y-1 transmission, Serial Number 118ASF. When towing it home the car broke loose from the tow and did end up hitting a tree.
Richard

[cicero]

Do I see hub caps to the right of the spare tire?