Tucker Viemeister

[Larry Clark]

At the following website you will find a post by Tucker Viemeister, the son of Read Viemeister of the Gordon Lippincott firm, about the design of the Tucker car: http://www.culturenow.com/site/item.cfm?item=36449

According to the web site, “Culture Now is a social meeting place for the creative class - artists, architects, designers, writers, film makers and everyone in between come together, share ideas, and define the world we live in. “

Tucker says the following about himself: “My Story: Since i was named after a car - it seemed only natural that I'd grow up to become a product designer like my Dad. But because of new technology and social conditions, i have realized that products are not isolated objects, they are not just economic pawns - they play roles, they carry meaning and they are political. I now work with architect David Rockwell creating experiences for people! “

Larry

[Phantomrig]

Nice little artical.

[streamliner]

So who knows the origin of this rendering:



This rendering never did seem to fit with any chronological history and still leaves me confused.

This version has been previously attributed to Alex Tremulis and I've got a photo of it with a caption from Chrissie that says it was one of Alex's first several proposals he did for Tucker at the end of 1946/early 1947. However, I don't think it is one of the original sketches, as the design cues look more like Tremulis' February 28, 1947 rendering, including the sketching errors in the opera windows on the opposite side of the car. But it has the Viemeister steer-horn bumper coupled with the Tremulis front end in addition to the moveable front fenders(!?!)



This looks more like a hodge-podge of each of the various incarnations of the early design proposals. It's got "hot rod" written all over it (lowered, curved windscreen, no door handles). It seems improbable that they would explore going back to the moveable fenders after March 4, 1947, the day that company records show the Lippincott team started design work. A while ago I called the museum (I'm at a loss for the museum's name) where the rendering resides and it is unsigned and undated.

So, does anyone have a clue about this one? Could this be the first Viemeister rendering with the steer-horn bumper, or could it have been done way later???

[Tucker Fan 48]

I'm not sure but it sure looks like a car I saw in Madison WI a while back.

Mystery_Car_in_Madison.jpg (60.52 KiB) Viewed 1620 times

[Tuckerfan1053]

^You're evil, you know that, don't you?

[Tucker Fan 48]

The latest news is they plan to restore a Boeing 737. It's a one of a kind prototype that was sneaked out
the back door of the Boeing engineering dept (it was a REALLY big door) and has been long forgotten until
it turned up in Madison WI just recently. The plan is to restore it and sell it for 5 Billion Dollars.

latest project.jpg (74.04 KiB) Viewed 1587 times

[Phantomrig]

Funny Tucker Fan, I was actually wondering recently what happened to the plane in that pic. i mean i know what happened to it but i mean where is it now.

[Tucker Fan 48]

I'm pretty sure it's in Madison WI.

But if it wasn't, then it probably due to the plane's state, the airframe would have been scrapped by a Maui metal recycler after transport through Kahului, HI. A belt buckle made from the scrapped plane would reside, along with a photo of the plane in the scrapyard, at the Paper Airplane Museum in the Maui Mall. The museum would bill itself as the "First Aviation Museum on Maui" and the "World's Only Known Paper Airplane Museum". It would hold a collection of over 2,000 cardboard airplane models and kits as well as photos relating to Hawaii's aviation history. Only those airplanes that are 95% paper would qualify for the museum.

The museum also would feature the creations of owner who would be known as, "The Tin Can Man of Maui." He would build models of ships, airplanes, cars, etc., out of soda cans. On display he would have a model of the Concord Jet, which would have used over 90 cans. Almost all of his creations would be for sale.

But that would all happen before he would have gone out of business a couple years back.

Personally, I'll stick with the Madison story as it is more believable but the belt buckle thing does give me an idea for what should be done with that "convertible" since they can't sell it.

[cicero]

Funny Tucker Fan, I was actually wondering recently what happened to the plane in that pic. i mean i know what happened to it but i mean where is it now.

aloha airlines flight 243 was scrapped.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloha_Airlines_Flight_243

[Tuckeroo]

@streamliner: That illustration, as far as I can tell, was done by Thom Taylor in the 1980s for Tucker: The Man and His Dream. It appeared in the first edition of "How to Draw Cars Like a Pro." Since it was "reverse engineered" from the assorted 1940s designs, it includes styling elements that can be attributed to different designers. That should also explain why it doesn't fit with the chronology...it was drawn up about 40 years after the styling was still just a work in progress!

[Tucker Fan 48]

That should also explain why it doesn't fit with the chronology...it was drawn up about 40 years after the styling was still just a work in progress!

That sounds a lot like another Tucker story I heard about a convertible

[Tuckerfan1053]

@streamliner: That illustration, as far as I can tell, was done by Thom Taylor in the 1980s for Tucker: The Man and His Dream. It appeared in the first edition of "How to Draw Cars Like a Pro." Since it was "reverse engineered" from the assorted 1940s designs, it includes styling elements that can be attributed to different designers. That should also explain why it doesn't fit with the chronology...it was drawn up about 40 years after the styling was still just a work in progress!

I was going to say that it looked waaaay too much like one of Kaiser Frazer's clunkers to be a Tucker design.

[TuckerCar]

You guys are such morons! It was drawn by Elias Koteas. He says so in the movie!

[streamliner]

Tuckeroo on Fri Jul 16, 2010 1:33 pm

That illustration, as far as I can tell, was done by Thom Taylor in the 1980s for Tucker: The Man and His Dream.

@Tuckeroo: You are absolutely correct (again)! It was done by Thom Taylor around 1985 for Dean Tavoularis, the Art Director for the film. He confirmed it today. Thanks for clearing that one up. It's been gnawing on me for a few years...

@Tucker Fan 48: You are relentless! You've got my vote for District Attorney...

TuckerCar on Sat Jul 17, 2010 8:16 am

You guys are such morons!

Absolutely correct-a-mundo!