A few years ago I saw a documentary about Preston Tucker and his failed attempt to enter the automobile market in post-war America. It was an inspirational story and a recent un-related google search turned up a picture of one of his beautiful creations, so I thaught i'd post up a brief history of car and creator for those Retro Riders that heven't seen or heard of the ill-fated car manufacturer 'Tucker'.
Preston Tucker was my favourite kind of petrolhead. He had a passion for fast cars, a lot of good, innovative ideas; and he had the gutso to try and make his dreams of bieng a big player in the automotive industry a reality.
Tucker started getting interested in fast cars after seeing the Indionapolis 500. Tired of bieng merely a spectator, he convinced Indi 500 veteran Harry Miller to get involved in a projest to build and campaign race cars, and formed Miller & Tucker inc in 1935.
With Tuckers enthusiasm and Millers knowledge it should have been a success, but when a contract to produce 10 V8 racers for Henry Ford was completed, all 10 of the racers had to retire in their first race due to a fault with the steering box.
Despite this, Miller & Tucker inc continued to build race cars with limited success right up until Millers death in 1943.
Tucker then decided to nter the production automobile industry, and began to design his first production car, innitially called the Tucker Torpedo.
He had taken a different approach with it's design than other post-war manufacturers.
Tuckers angle was safety, and a lot of features in his design were to be industry firsts- Disk brakes, aerodynamic styling (the Torpedo had a drag coefficient of just .27), and a padded dashboard with all instruments located behind the steering wheel; all of which have become common design considerations today.
But numerous other innovations were dropped. Magnesium wheels, disc brakes, swiveling headlights and a direct-drive torque converter transmission were all left on the drawing board.
The features that were included, while innovative, were perhaps over ambitious for Tuckers comparitively small company. The hydraulic disk brakes were hard to press, and the fuel injection he planned on using was tempremental and required skilled maininence.
The chice of engine was equally innovative and uncompromising. It was a flat-6 cylinder with hemispherical combustion chambers, fuel injection and overhead valves operated by oil pressure rather than a camshaft. These features would have been auto industry firsts in 1948, but as engine development proceeded, problems appeared. The large 589 in³ (9.7 L) engine functioned, but the 150 hp (112 kW) motor's valvetrain proved problematic. The engine and Cord transmission were mounted on a separate subframe which could be lowered and removed in minutes with just six bolts removed — Tucker envisioned loaner engines being quickly swapped in for service.
Tucker had promised 150 hp (112 kW), but his innovative 589 was not working out, so another engine was sourced. The company first tried the Lycoming aircraft engine but it would not fit in the car's rear engine compartment. The Franklin air-cooled helicopter flat-6 did fit, however, so Tucker purchased four samples for $5,000 each. The company's engineers converted it to a water-cooled design, and its 166 hp (124 kW) pleased Tucker. He quickly bought the Franklin company to secure the engine source.
Another failed element of the prototypes was the Cord transmission, designed for front-engine/front wheel drive use. It could not handle the power of the Franklin engine, so a new design was needed. The creator of the Buick Dynaflow transmission was called in, designing a special "Tuckermatic" (LOL!) transmission with only 27 parts, about 90 fewer than normal. This transmission caused more trouble, however, as the prototype lacked a reverse gear. A skeptical press reported that the car could not go in reverse, hurting its reputation.
Unfortunately, the Tuckermatic was not ready for initial production. Most vehicles were fitted with rebuilt transmissions taken from used Cord automobiles that Tucker bought specifically to break for the gearbox!
The world premiere of the much-hyped car was set for July 17, 1947. Over 3,000 people showed up for lunch, a train tour of the plant, and the unveiling in the main auditorium. The unveiling looked doomed, however, as last-minute problems with the car cropped up. The suspension snapped and the car would not move. Tucker ad-libbed on stage for two hours while emergency repairs were carried out. It was finally pushed onto a turntable by hand, and the curtain was lifted to thunderous applause. Tucker was joined on stage by his family, with his daughter smashing a champagne bottle on the "Cyclops Eye" and soaking her father. Also on stage were Tucker's engineers, still covered in grease from the last-minute repairs.
With the final design in place, Preston Tucker took the pre-production cars on the road to show them in towns across the country. The cars were an instant success, with crowds gathering wherever they stopped. One report says that Tucker was pulled over by a police officer intent on getting a better look at the car.
Although it was well-funded, the company decided to raise more money in order to secure its future and credibility. $17,000,000 was raised in a stock issue. Another money maker was the Tucker Accessories Program. Future buyers could purchase accessories, like seat covers, the radio, and luggage, before their car was built. This brought an additional $2,000,000 into the company.
The Accessories Program was investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the United States Attorney, and led to an indictment of company executives. Although all charges were eventually dropped, the negative publicity destroyed the company and halted production of the car.
It is speculated that the big players in the automotive industry were intent of crushing what would have been a very real threat to their market.
It is widely believed that a conspiricy against Tucker created the fraud allogations that ruined the company.
To counteract the bad press, Tucker again took the cars on the road. He scheduled a two-week public test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a few of the 37 cars that had been built. One car was rolled at 100 mph (160 km/h), and the driver walked away with just bruises. Public perception changed from outrage at Tucker's alleged misconduct to anger at the press and the government.
Today, the '48 Sedan has fame far greater than would be expected from its modest production run. Of the 51 cars built (50 production and 1 prototype), 47 still exist, the majority in excellent condition. When the cars appear at auction, they command prices attained by only a few marques. Tucker 1043 was recently sold for the record-setting price of $700,000.
While a lot of this info was ripped from Wikipedia I didn't just copy and paste it, cos theres not much point in that! Some of the info came courtesy of the Tucker owners club and the remnants of information from the documentary on it a few years back. If you get chance to see it I reccomend it
Preston Tucker was my favourite kind of petrolhead. He had a passion for fast cars, a lot of good, innovative ideas; and he had the gutso to try and make his dreams of bieng a big player in the automotive industry a reality.
Tucker started getting interested in fast cars after seeing the Indionapolis 500. Tired of bieng merely a spectator, he convinced Indi 500 veteran Harry Miller to get involved in a projest to build and campaign race cars, and formed Miller & Tucker inc in 1935.
With Tuckers enthusiasm and Millers knowledge it should have been a success, but when a contract to produce 10 V8 racers for Henry Ford was completed, all 10 of the racers had to retire in their first race due to a fault with the steering box.
Despite this, Miller & Tucker inc continued to build race cars with limited success right up until Millers death in 1943.
Tucker then decided to nter the production automobile industry, and began to design his first production car, innitially called the Tucker Torpedo.
He had taken a different approach with it's design than other post-war manufacturers.
Tuckers angle was safety, and a lot of features in his design were to be industry firsts- Disk brakes, aerodynamic styling (the Torpedo had a drag coefficient of just .27), and a padded dashboard with all instruments located behind the steering wheel; all of which have become common design considerations today.
But numerous other innovations were dropped. Magnesium wheels, disc brakes, swiveling headlights and a direct-drive torque converter transmission were all left on the drawing board.
The features that were included, while innovative, were perhaps over ambitious for Tuckers comparitively small company. The hydraulic disk brakes were hard to press, and the fuel injection he planned on using was tempremental and required skilled maininence.
The chice of engine was equally innovative and uncompromising. It was a flat-6 cylinder with hemispherical combustion chambers, fuel injection and overhead valves operated by oil pressure rather than a camshaft. These features would have been auto industry firsts in 1948, but as engine development proceeded, problems appeared. The large 589 in³ (9.7 L) engine functioned, but the 150 hp (112 kW) motor's valvetrain proved problematic. The engine and Cord transmission were mounted on a separate subframe which could be lowered and removed in minutes with just six bolts removed — Tucker envisioned loaner engines being quickly swapped in for service.
Tucker had promised 150 hp (112 kW), but his innovative 589 was not working out, so another engine was sourced. The company first tried the Lycoming aircraft engine but it would not fit in the car's rear engine compartment. The Franklin air-cooled helicopter flat-6 did fit, however, so Tucker purchased four samples for $5,000 each. The company's engineers converted it to a water-cooled design, and its 166 hp (124 kW) pleased Tucker. He quickly bought the Franklin company to secure the engine source.
Another failed element of the prototypes was the Cord transmission, designed for front-engine/front wheel drive use. It could not handle the power of the Franklin engine, so a new design was needed. The creator of the Buick Dynaflow transmission was called in, designing a special "Tuckermatic" (LOL!) transmission with only 27 parts, about 90 fewer than normal. This transmission caused more trouble, however, as the prototype lacked a reverse gear. A skeptical press reported that the car could not go in reverse, hurting its reputation.
Unfortunately, the Tuckermatic was not ready for initial production. Most vehicles were fitted with rebuilt transmissions taken from used Cord automobiles that Tucker bought specifically to break for the gearbox!
The world premiere of the much-hyped car was set for July 17, 1947. Over 3,000 people showed up for lunch, a train tour of the plant, and the unveiling in the main auditorium. The unveiling looked doomed, however, as last-minute problems with the car cropped up. The suspension snapped and the car would not move. Tucker ad-libbed on stage for two hours while emergency repairs were carried out. It was finally pushed onto a turntable by hand, and the curtain was lifted to thunderous applause. Tucker was joined on stage by his family, with his daughter smashing a champagne bottle on the "Cyclops Eye" and soaking her father. Also on stage were Tucker's engineers, still covered in grease from the last-minute repairs.
With the final design in place, Preston Tucker took the pre-production cars on the road to show them in towns across the country. The cars were an instant success, with crowds gathering wherever they stopped. One report says that Tucker was pulled over by a police officer intent on getting a better look at the car.
Although it was well-funded, the company decided to raise more money in order to secure its future and credibility. $17,000,000 was raised in a stock issue. Another money maker was the Tucker Accessories Program. Future buyers could purchase accessories, like seat covers, the radio, and luggage, before their car was built. This brought an additional $2,000,000 into the company.
The Accessories Program was investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the United States Attorney, and led to an indictment of company executives. Although all charges were eventually dropped, the negative publicity destroyed the company and halted production of the car.
It is speculated that the big players in the automotive industry were intent of crushing what would have been a very real threat to their market.
It is widely believed that a conspiricy against Tucker created the fraud allogations that ruined the company.
To counteract the bad press, Tucker again took the cars on the road. He scheduled a two-week public test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a few of the 37 cars that had been built. One car was rolled at 100 mph (160 km/h), and the driver walked away with just bruises. Public perception changed from outrage at Tucker's alleged misconduct to anger at the press and the government.
Today, the '48 Sedan has fame far greater than would be expected from its modest production run. Of the 51 cars built (50 production and 1 prototype), 47 still exist, the majority in excellent condition. When the cars appear at auction, they command prices attained by only a few marques. Tucker 1043 was recently sold for the record-setting price of $700,000.
While a lot of this info was ripped from Wikipedia I didn't just copy and paste it, cos theres not much point in that! Some of the info came courtesy of the Tucker owners club and the remnants of information from the documentary on it a few years back. If you get chance to see it I reccomend it
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