The Tucker 48 was one of the surviving examples of the 51 cars ever built by the manufacturer, and “47 of them are still around,” according to AFP Relaxer “and partly because of its very special pedigree.”
This Preston Tucker’s Tucker number 48, with the chassis number 1029 was a family owned car and it had also made an appearance in the 1988 Francis Ford Coppola film “Tucker: The Man and His Dream,” which starred Jeff Bridges.
The Tucker fastback sedan had also gone through the hands of Standard Oil founder John D. Rockefeller, who served as the governor of Arkansas between 1967 and 1971.
The Tucker has been privately owned since 2004. At one stage, it was owned by Jack Bar, before it was repainted sometime in the 1970s or 1980s and reupholstered.
Other than that, the car is said to be intact, original, and generally very well cared-for. It is believed it has just 19,199 miles on the clock.
“It is, in every way, the ultimate Tucker automobile.” – RM Sotheby’s said of the car.
Sold at 2017 Arizona auction sales – 1948 Tucker 48
Along with the early or rare models from major brands such as Aston Martin and Ferrari sold at Arizona auction sale in 2017, the 1948 Tucker 48 was a recent “barn find,” unseen for 33 years. It was sold for over $13 million, offered from the personal collection of a marque specialist.
The surviving examples are among the most valuable and desirable American cars ever built by the manufacturer. According the RM Sotheby’s, “they often draw the most attention and crowds to any museum, including such venerable halls as the Henry Ford, the Petersen Automotive Museum, the National Automobile Museum, and the Nethercutt Museum, or at which the cars are displayed.
“The Tucker fastback sedan are the trophies of renowned collectors who consider their fleets of Duesenbergs, Isottas, and Ferraris simply otherwise incomplete without The Car of Tomorrow.”
At the upcoming 19th annual Arizona sale at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa in Phoenix, running from January 18–19, here’s your chance to buy a Tucker, which is undergoing the hammer at RM Sotheby’s auction. This Tucker is expected to go for somewhere between $1.25 million and $1.5 million and it will be sold with no reserve.
For more details on the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa, Phoenix, Arizona auction 2018, please visit here.
