AACA Museum sets grand opening of Cammack Tucker Gallery

The Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA) Museum is excited to officially announce that the Grand Opening of the Cammack Tucker Gallery will take place Oct. 8 with a ticketed event – Night at the Museum presented by RM Auctions.

Since opening its doors in 2003, the permanent exhibit of the Cammack Tucker collection of vehicles and memorabilia has been a frequent question on the minds of visitors to the AACA Museum in Hershey, Pa. This highly anticipated exhibit has been more than a year in the making from accessioning artifacts to the exhibit design.

The Grand Opening coincides with the annual AACA Eastern Division National Fall Meet. The public opening of the exhibit area will begin on Oct. 9.

The enthusiasm and creativity that propelled Preston Tucker and his vision for the Tucker automobile is something that has captured the hearts of many. An extensive – the world's largest – collection of three (3) Tucker vehicles and many other Tucker automobilia from the David Cammack Collection have found their new home at the AACA Museum.

Mr. David Cammack, a very good friend and supporter of the AACA Museum, passed on in 2013. Mr. Cammack was an avid Tucker collector and has provided his extensive Tucker Collection to the AACA Museum. His desire was to have this collection open to the public, and the AACA Museum is honored to be chosen as the caretakers and able to share this collection with the public.

The Cammack collection includes three 1948 Tucker '48 vehicles, the factory Tucker test chassis, thousands of engineering drawings and blueprints, original Tucker parts, several engines as well as many other artifacts and displays. The vehicles include Tucker #1001 – the first "production" prototype, Tucker #1022, and Tucker #1026 – the only existing Tucker built with an automatic transmission.

A total of 51 Tuckers were built by hand in Chicago, of which 47 are known to still exist. Preston Tucker and his story was detailed in Francis Ford Coppola's 1988 film, "Tucker: The Man and His Dream" and certainly helped bolster the public's intense fascination with the "Car of Tomorrow".

The Cammack Tucker collection is being housed permanently in a dedicated 5,200-square-foot gallery that will not only showcase the cars themselves, but will also chronicle Preston Tucker's life and history before and after the fabled Tucker '48. "

Night at the Museum" will debut Phase 1 of the exhibit, as despite all attempts, the necessary funds to construct all of the original design elements have not been raised at this time. The AACA Museum seeks to continue raising funds to provide additional interactive elements to enhance the exhibit over time. Information on ways you can donate to this exhibit can be found at http://www.aacamuseum.org/tucker-automobiles-cammack-collection/

"The AACA Museum intended from the very start of the design discussion that we would educate our guests about Tucker's process and determination to create something special," stated Lizewskie. "We listened carefully to input David Cammack and his family provided us, and we were quite pleased to learn that it mirrored our vision. The end result needed to be something that would complement our stunning displays that are already through the Museum. Being a permanent display, we knew the Cammack Tucker Gallery had to be fantastic right from the start."

Preston Tucker's family, including grandson John Jr. and great-grandsons Mike and Sean Tucker, has also endorsed the project, expressing their willingness to act as historical advisors. Sean Tucker was elated to be a crucial part of the exhibit. "The effort being put forth by the AACA team in the presentation of the Cammack Tucker collection is not only an honor to the tucker family but also to the man who had an amazing passion to preserve the history of the Tucker story", exclaimed Sean Tucker. "As a member of the Tucker family it is truly a privilege to serve as a Historical Advisor to this exciting endeavor.

Tickets for the grand opening celebration are $125 per person and can be purchased by calling the AACA Museum at 717-566-7100 ext. 100 daily between the hours of 9AM - 4:30 PM or via our online ticketing at http://www.aacamuseum.org/events/night-at-the-museum/