Preston Thomas Tucker was an ebullient , 200 - lbf. , six - footer who dreamed big and could raise freehanded money – fast . He was an manufacture veteran with sales experience at Studebaker , Dodge , and elsewhere , and an inveterate enterpriser who secured financing from Henry Ford to progress Indy race auto in 1935 . He also build a mellow - speed military scout car in 1937 . In 1948 , Tucker surprise everyone with " The Most totally New Car in Fifty Years . "
New it was . A hoagie - shape fastback four - door sedan chair , the Tucker " 48 " looked just like the " car of the future " long have a bun in the oven by state of war - weary Americans . title by the forwards - think Alex Tremulis on a 128 - in wheelbase , it was 219 inches farsighted but only 60 inches high – downcast for the day . Engineering broke just as acutely from Detroit convention , with all - sovereign suspension and a rear - mounted mat - six . The latter derived from a wartime atmosphere - cool helicopter unit , but boasted a fully sealed water - cool down system – an diligence first . Horsepower was 166 and torque a clump 372 pound - feet from 335 cubic inch , yet the all - alloy powerplant matter just 320 pounds . The chassis was a uncompromising box-section border type with a subframe at each last .
Lack of clock time , money , and even technology precluded a curved windscreen , saucer brakes , " Torsilastic " rubber springs , and other invention propose by Preston . But the car still had novelties aplenty : central " cyclops - eye " headlamp that turned with the front wheels , doors cut into the cap to ease entry / exit , a roomy six - rider cabin with " step - down " flooring , and interchangeable front / rearward seat ( to even out upholstery wearing ) . Safety features abounded , too , and included monumental bumpers ; recessed or protect boss , button , and levers ; windscreen deoxyephedrine that pop out harmlessly on impact ; and a " Safety Chamber " where front rider could dive " in causa of impending collision . "
Despite its sizing and 4,200 pounds of heft , the Tucker could manage the 0 - 60 mph sprint in about 10 seconds . Top speed was at least 120 miles per hour , thanks to the aerodynamic styling with an estimated retarding force component of 0.30 – ripe even today . Factory tests showed a creditable 20 mpg at a steady 50 - 55 mph . Just as gracious , the rearward - engine layout , all - independent suspension , and centre - point steering combined for surprisingly easy handling and safe roadholding .
The Tucker would believably have sold well despite a Cadillac - like throw monetary value of some $ 4,000 . But production end at only 50 cable car , plus the famous " Tin Goose " prototype . All were built before August 1948 , the last 37 on a inadequate meeting place line in a refurbished wartime Dodge plant life on Chicago ’s South Side .
Preston always claim the Tucker was too good to live , and evidence suggests that the Detroit governing body felt threatened by it . But Tucker himself doom the speculation by moving with suspect hurry in go forth $ 15 million Charles Frederick Worth of stock to finance it . This led to charges of " fast - sell " manoeuvre and a probe by the Securities and Exchange Commission that draw a tidy sum of inauspicious publicity . With that , Tucker and seven associates went to trial in October 1949 on 31 counts of conspiracy and securities and postal service fraud . All were acquitted in January 1950 after what the jury termed a travesty proceeding . Ironically , Tucker Corporation still had fund to produce its car , but public confidence was long gone . Receivers in brief considered going ahead before auction off everything off at 18 penny on the buck . Tucker ’s aspiration was utter .
Tremulis later sketched a stunning fastback coupe called Talisman as a proposed unexampled ' 50s Tucker , and even Preston apparently still had Leslie Townes Hope of build a car after his ordeal in Chicago . Though broken by the experience , Tucker moved to Brazil and was planning a two - buns outfit sports car , the Carioca , when he died on December 26 , 1956 . He was only 53 .
The Tucker saga has since been commit to film inTucker : The Man and His Dream , free in 1988 . Though the motion picture is good drama , managing director / producer Francis Ford Coppola diddle fast and loose with some fact – just as Preston at times did . For example , the closing " parade " succession shows most every Tucker work up , include two own by Coppola himself , but those precious few machine never made a jubilant procession in good order after the Tucker finding of fact was announced , get alone in unpredictable springtime Chicago weather . At least you should n’t chafe over the Tuckers that get smashed in an early setting ; they ’re replicas .
