Quote:
Originally Posted by Bristolian
I would hypothesize that someone living at 2021 Wellington Road was in line for one of the planned but never realized Tucker dealerships and was using that as the business address at the time.
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It looks like the blind squirrel might have found an acorn!
The 1941 L.A. city directory shows Erick Flodine residing at 2021 Wellington rd.
A Google search turned up this 1950 appellate court case with Eric (slightly different spelling) Flodine as the appellant in a case involving Tucker Motor Cars, accessory packages and fraud.
https://law.justia.com/cases/califor...5/supp931.html
It's mostly legalese but some excerpts:
"More specifically, he alleged that he had "made a written agreement wherein and whereby the said plaintiff placed an order with the said defendants for the purchase and subsequent delivery of an automobile known as Tucker Motor car," and that he was induced to enter into another contract whereby he agreed to purchase, and the defendants agreed to sell, certain accessories to be used in connection with the Tucker motor car, by the fraudulent representation of the defendants that he (the plaintiff) would be able to procure and purchase said Tucker motor car and would be able to use the accessories on it. The defendants knew, he further alleged, that Tucker cars were not being produced, and that plaintiff could not obtain one."
- That first sentence is a real doozy.
and:
"That said defendants at said time concealed and withheld the knowledge from this plaintiff that there were no Tucker motor cars in production ..." There is no evidence whatever supporting the finding that there was no Tucker motor car in production, let alone that the defendant knew that there was none but concealed the fact from the plaintiff. The nearest that plaintiff came to proving his allegations was when he testified: "They told me deliveries would start in October, and that I should get mine in the near future" and again when he replied "Yes" to the question, "They told you that deliveries would start about October of 1948?"
The accessory packages mentioned as well as the large number of prospective dealerships are explained in the Wikipedia page on the Tucker 48:
"Having raised $17,000,000 in a stock issue, one of the first speculative IPOs, Tucker needed more money to continue development of the car. He sold dealerships and distributorships throughout the country. Another money maker was the Tucker Accessories Program. In order to secure a spot on the Tucker waiting list, future buyers could purchase accessories, like seat covers, radio, and luggage, before their car was built. This brought in an additional $2,000,000."
I wasn't able to find a record of the original case.