Tucker #1035 Update

[Tucker Fan 48]

Plans continue to move forward with the City of Caçapava-SP, Brazil. The heirs of Robert Lee have finally agreed to the bestowal of the entire collection of the museum to of the City of Caçapava. There are 27 cars left out of the 99 that were once there. It includes Tucker #1035. The first cars were removed about two weeks ago for a ceremony. Both cars are in good shape. The Tucker is not so lucky. There has been some vandalizm done to the car and of course it was not in good shape to start with. The rear motor was removed and someone attempted to install a front motor. A Buick dash was installed and it was cut up pretty good. It remains to be seen if the City will have the funds to restore cars but at this point it at least saves the cars from further damage. I know that the residents of the area are very excited to have a Tucker and with Government ownership of the car it won't be leaving Brazil anytime soon. As a Club we can offer them support in getting the car into good enough shape so that it can be displayed.

Here are some photos taken recently:

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Buick_1938a.JPG (39.62 KiB) Viewed 6966 times

[Tucker Fan 48]

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[TuckerCar]

Good stuff.

[jnbgoch]

I have mint condition radio that I might be persuaded to part with. It includes the red knob tag!

It would look real good inside 1035!

[Phantomrig]

this is great news, i cant wait to see more updates.

[TuckerCar]

I have mint condition radio that I might be persuaded to part with. It includes the red knob tag!

It would look real good inside 1035!

No, they need a Buick radio.

[Tucker Fan 48]

Here are a couple of you tube videos of the Museum. If you speak Portuguese you'll understand them.

The first one is from 1972 and shows Mr. Lee.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Fo8iysTf1A

The second shows the Museum about two years ago. It is much worse today.
There are photos of the Tucker at 2:25. These are photos that have been posted here before.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Awren6aJ ... re=related

[Tuckerfan1053]

In exchange for airfare, room and board, I'll be happy to go to Brazil to aid in the restoration of 1035. (Oh, and I'll need a translator, too. I can't speak a lick of Portuguese.)

Brazil has a healthy economy and they're starting to pour money into things like education and R&D. I think that with the right spin on the issue, we could convince the government there to spend some money on restoring the Tucker.

[Tucker Fan 48]

It's official! The papers have now been signed and Tucker #1035 is the property of the City of Caçapava. Roberto Lee's relatives have finally agreed to release all the cars from the buildings where they have been wasting away. This has been a 35 year saga involving some wealthy and very strange people. In the end it came down to money playing a factor. Mr. Lee's daughter, Mariangela Matarazzo, has held this up for years. The Matarazzo family was the wealthiest family in Brazil. They were at one time one of the wealthiest in the world. For the last several years Mariangela has controlled the family fortune and didn't make very wise investments. Most of the money is now gone along the other holdings. What was still in the family was the Museum and the valuable land under it. The City was able to negotiate a deal where the Matarazzo family gave up the cars in return for being able to develop the land into housing. Had the Matarazzo family not gone broke this likely would still not be resolved.

Here is a photo after the signing with Culture Secretary Fabrice Correia, Mariangela's son Andrea Matarazzo, Caçapava Mayor Carlos Vilela, and Mariangela Matarazzo.

7_-_Fabricio,_Andrea,_Carlos,_e_Mariangela.JPG (140.19 KiB) Viewed 6746 times

[Prototype]

Wonderful news! At least the cars will be in the custody of the Government and not left to rot. I hope they realize the historical signifigance of 1035 and either restore it or let someone bring it back to the United States. A friend of mine, who collects Porsche's and Volkswagen's ( I know, I know, VW's?). He brought a 1971 VW Beetle back from Brazil in 1998 or '99 and he tells me it can be done, albeit with some palm greasing and lots and lots of paperwork. It took him a better part of a year to finally get it out of the country, but it seems possible. His was not owned by the Brazilizn Government, but Perhaps it may be easier than a civilian owned car. He didn't get into great detail, but he said mostly it was the paperwork, signing one declaration after another and numerous inspections. In my personal opinion, the car needs to come back to the United States for proper restoration, but it looks like that may be pretty far fetched. According to whomever has seen it up close, it's in pretty bad shape and has been hacked even worse. I've been to Brazil, many years ago, and let me tell you, they (like Cuban's and most other S. Americans countries) there is quite the population of 50's, 60's and 70's vintage cars still cruising the streets, even in the major cities. You can imagine the ingenuity they come up with when genuine (or even close) replacemant parts are not available! Some modifications are quite humorous, to say the least! I am just glad to hear it's safe from any further vandalism and hope it's saved for the future.

[Tucker Fan 48]

I know you are supoosed to never say never but I'd be really surprised if it ever left. It is one of 27 remaining cars that were in the Roberto E. Lee Museum. He once had 107 in the collection. Community leaders have been trying to get the cars for years in the hope of restoring them and having a Museum in town. The Tucker is one of the more desirable cars left and will be key to the Museum.

Probably one of the main reasons it is still there is because it was in poor shape so it was in the far back corner of the Museum. As cars were stolen and others sold by the heirs, the Tucker would have required moving at lot of cars to get it out. As vandalism started and more cars were trashed inside the Tucker became even harder to get to. With no lights in the building it was the hardest car to see. All of that probably helped to save it as it was overlooked.

It'll be interesting to see if they can find the funds to restore the cars. According to information Richard gathered years ago Mr. Lee had the hubcaps, headlight, and other parts to restore the car. Hard to say if they are still there or if anyone knows what they are looking for. It could be that the car receives only mild restoration to get it to the point that it can be shown. What ever they do it will be a huge improvement and they are very proud of their Tucker.

[TuckerCar]

Well maybe they'll sell it to fund the restoration of other cars. I mean, if I had no money and a POS car I could sell for $300K or restore for $600K, I'd sell it and take the money.

[Tuckerfan1053]

Some more photos of 1035 being extracted can be found here: http://taiada-blog.blogspot.com/2011/01 ... la-do.html

[TuckerCar]

WOW!

[streamliner]

It's interesting that they moved the gas filler to the rear. Probably done when they were messing around with the front engine setup. But, the front fender looks like it was well done, while the job on the rear fender looks poorly executed. Perhaps they were better at repairing than creating. Nice touch with the go-fast louvers, too...

In any shape, it's exciting to see. Can't get enough of the photos and can't wait to see more interior, frame and detail shots of the car. This is about as close to a Barn Find Tucker as you'll get, allbeit with open access to the vandals, elements and improvisation... I'd take it, as is.