A Special Piece of History: Inside the Tucker [Video]
"Any Tucker is a special Tucker," says Eric Breslow, owner of a 1948 Tucker. It just so happens that Breslow's Tucker, #1031, has an extra special history... If you're not familiar with the Tucker story, it was an innovative car company started post-WWII by Preston Tucker.
(Photos: Tim Sutton)
The car's design was meant to be modern and safe — featuring completely new features such as: rear-engine, rotating front headlight, pop-out windshields, seat belts, padded dash and disc brakes. The company didn't quite make it to market, but it did succeed at building 51 prototype vehicles before turning under.
Eric Breslow, an entrepreneur who became a Tucker enthusiast after seeing "Tucker" the movie as a child, started looking to buy one of the 47 remaining Tuckers as soon as he began curating his own collection of vintage and rare vehicles. After years of failed attempts at buying one, the right things fell into place with #1031 of the Jay Busker collection.
What's so special about #1031 is that it was actually Preston Tucker's Tucker. After the company went bust, the government auctioned off all of its assets, and #1031 being purchased by Preston himself. Shortly thereafter Preston Tucker passed away. To help preserve the Tucker story, Mrs. Vera Tucker got together with Charles Pearson, an automotive journalist who had become a friend of the family, to write "The Indomitable Tin Goose: A Biography of Preston Tucker." Pearson's good friend Jay Busker was a past Studebaker dealer and kept asking about purchasing the Tucker's Tucker in order to preserve it.
Finally, in need of money, Vera Tucker agreed to sell the car to Jay Busker. He kept and preserved the car until his death. The Busker family is who Eric Breslow approached, and because of Breslow's desire to preserve and share the car, the Buskers chose to pass the car along to him.
Eric houses the car in a special room set apart from the rest of his collection, along with numerous other genuine Tucker memorabilia which help to tell the story of the Tucker, and of course the passionate, innovative man who was crazy enough to pursue making it.
Watch our video interview with Breslow at the top, explaining more of the Tucker story and the role he played.
(Video: John McCabe)
