TUCKER TIME: We’re up to four of these model Tuckers, so
far.

As you can see, this reproduction has workable doors, hood and
trunk. This one is so authentic it even has the engine in the
trunk, just as the real Tucker did. Under its hood is a spare tire
and a couple suitcases. Its about 10 inches long.

Clayt Vecellio was the first person to bring us this
mini-Tucker, and an identical model was loaned to us by Robert J.
Gutshall of Masury, Ohio, the son of Samantha Brown Gutshall,
formerly of Bradford. Two others showed up, too, including one of
the Trucker Torpedo which was the prototype.

Meanwhile, on the subject of Tuckers, we had a visit from Tom
Ordiway of Bradford who knew George McKinney of Bradford, the
notorious owner of No. 1018 which was wrecked and its parts
salvaged in the restoration of other Tuckers.

Tom, who mowed Mr. McKinney’s lawn when he was about 12 y ears
old, remembers seeing the intact front end, the engine and a couple
doors from the wrecked car. At some point in their life, they were
stored in different parts of the McKinney homestead.

Tom’s recollection of Mr. McKinney’s reputation as something of
a drinker matches other stories we have heard about this eccentric
man. One of his favorite watering holes was Vavalo’s.

Not unlike other Bradfordians of that era, Mr. McKinney
reportedly made and lost several fortunes in Bradford and spent
time as a wildcatter in the oilfields.

After the Tucker’s demise, Mr. McKinney drove a Packard
convertible.

Tom also corrected a previous report that the Tucker had an
automatic transmission activated by a button on the steering wheel.
It apparently did have a shift that came out from the steering
wheel, with the standard H pattern to shift.

The type of door handles, Tom believed, may have been source of
the patent infringement that caught GM’s attention and ultimately
resulted in the end of the Tucker.