Twin Turbo Lower 48 Tucker Hot Rod

The “Lower 48” Tucker hot rod is the work of Rob Ida Concepts, a New Jersey company with long roots in the auto business. Rob’s grandfather, Joe, had a Tucker dealership back in 1947 but unfortunately, Tucker itself went out of business. Though Joe never had a Tucker of his own, his son Bob and grandson Rob, decided to build one from scratch using modern technology to make a daily driver with the appearance of an original.

The body is a composite recreation using blueprints borrowed from John Tucker, Jr. and measurements from an original. Underneath, it’s all tube frame and technology with a transverse mounted Cadillac NorthStar 4.6L V8 running twin Garrett turbos with 4 pounds of boost resulting in 392 hp. The engine is in the rear, just like the original.

Although they’ve produced three so far, an original for Joe’s grandfather, a second now in a Japanese museum and this one, they are not planning on running a production line. These are individually hand built machines of extremely high quality, something like a one year build time and Rob Ida Concepts has a lot of irons in the fire so if you want one, even if they agree, you may have to wait a very long time.

Link: Rob Ida Concepts via Hot Rod Magazine