American Auto Emblems: TUCKER

Tucker Corp. (1946-1948)

Chicago, Illinois

This is a Tucker rear hood emblem (1948) mjs
Size: 78mm high 56mm wide MM: None

The Tucker was the brain child of Preston T Tucker of Ypsilanti, Michigan. The car was developed through a number of stages starting with the Tucker Torpedo sports idea and ending with the Tucker 48, named after its model year. The Tucker was a magnificent car with attractive styling incorporating three headlights and many technical innovations to improve safety. It was to be powered by a 150 hp six-cylinder engine.

The first Tucker built was a prototype sedan, now known as the "Tin Goose" and is on display at the Swigart Auto Museum in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. The final styling and external design used in the production Tucker 48 model differs from the "Tin Goose" prototype in a number of respects.

Preston Tucker was the victim of a concerted effort by the major American motor manufacturers to discredit him. He had to use all his assets to defend himself against allegations of fraud, which resulted in the closure of his company in 1948. He was vindicated by 1950 but it was by then too late for the Tucker car. A total of only fifty Tucker 48 cars were built.

Emblems

The Tucker Torpedo was an early concept design, see Tucker Torpedo brochure mock-up shown below:

Tucker Torpedo brochure mock-up (1947) ms

The Tucker Torpedo emblem design shown on the above brochure mock-up was not developed into an emblem.

The "Tin Goose" Tucker prototype does not carry an emblem but does display the "Tucker" name in scripts mounted on the front doors and on the hubcaps, see photos shown below:

"Tin Goose" with "Tucker" scripts on doors and hubcaps sam

Tucker "Tin Goose" showing "Tucker" scripts hva

Close-up showing "Tucker" door script hva

Close-up showing "Tucker" hub script hva

The Tucker 48 production models displayed a Tucker emblem on the rear hood of the car above the engine, see example shown below:

Tucker 48 showing rear mounted emblem rmsothebys

This rear hood Tucker emblem is the black, white and red enamel Tucker emblem shown above at the top of this post and again below. Original Tucker rear hood emblems are very rare.

This is a Tucker 48 rear hood emblem (1948) mjs
Size: 78mm high 56mm wide MM: None

Emblem collectors should beware as there are reproduction Tucker emblems, some of which are closely similar to the original emblem. Original Tucker rear hood emblems have two non-threaded studs on the back and should show the marks where they had a fixing clip. The following original Tucker drawing shows the detailed design of the Tucker rear hood emblem:

This is a Tucker Emblem manufacturing drawing

Tucker emblems were also mounted on the hubcaps, see example shown below:

This is a Tucker 48 hubcap emblem aacam

The Tucker hubcap emblem uses the same design and is the same size as the rear hood emblem but has two threaded studs at the back for fixing to the hubcaps using nuts. The emblem finish is also different. In the Tucker hubcap emblems, the black enamel on the helmet above the shield extends around the whole helmet, see example shown below, whereas the black enamel on the rear hood emblem is only placed on the front top of the helmet and the visor vision slit, see the example shown earlier above. Original Tucker hubcap emblems are very rare.

This is a Tucker 48 hubcap emblem (1948) tcc
Size: 78mm high 56mm wide MM: None

The following, much smaller black, white and red enamel Tucker emblem is a mystery. It appears to be a genuine Tucker emblem and has the same design and finish as the rear hood emblem but I have never seen it used on a Tucker car. It is possible that this Tucker emblem was intended to be used inside the car, perhaps on the dashboard, but I cannot confirm this. This Tucker emblem is extremely rare.