We recently posted a note about the Tucker automobile that may have been a dirt track racer back in the early ’50s. It sparked some discussion among our readers about the short-lived car company.

Word hit the airwaves via Automotive News yesterday that Philip Egan, one of the designers at Tucker, passed away back on December 26. He was 88 years old.

Egan was responsible for designing the driver control area of the car and worked closely with chief designer Alex Tremulis on the project. Later on in life he wrote a book about the Tucker saga from the perspective of a guy who was actually working on bringing the project to life. The title of the book was, Design and Destiny, the Making of the Tucker Automobile. He was also hired as a consultant for the 1988 motion picture about the company, Tucker: The Man and His Dream.

Egan worked all his life as a designer and, surprisingly, as a children’s author, penning a couple of books aimed at kids.

Even on this first week of 2009, Egan’s passing reminds us that the players in the golden era of American automotive history are all too mortal. It would have been nice to go a few days without starting a new toll, but it appears we’re not going to be that lucky.