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Tucker Loved Quality Automobiles
Tucker’s personal favorite car was a 1936 Pierce-Arrow Convertible, but he also owned a 1942 Packard and a 1942 Nash.
He loved only the very best autombiles and it is because of that that he was able to desigin such a beautiful car for Every
Man.
Before starting his own company, young Tucker, starting at age 13, worked for Cadillac, Ford, Studebaker, Chrysler, Pierce
Arrow and Packard. He knew cars. He knew quality. However, Tucker never worked for Kaiser, who also manufactured quality cars.
Like Tucker, Henry Kaiser set out to build automobiles, but Kaiser had both the government's blessing and the government's
money.
Tucker Leases WWII B-29 Bomber Plant
Tucker leased a former B-29 engine plant (which is now the Ford City Town Hall) from
the War Assets Administration. His company took full possession of this plant in 1947 and made it the largest and most modern
automotive plant in the world. The Big Three auto makers used their power in every way, including bought-politicians,
to destroy Tucker and it all happened right before the eyes of the American public, who actually loved Tucker.
800 less parts than conventional cars.
When you read the standard features in Tucker's cars, remember that this was in 1947
(below):
- He placed the engine in the rear of the car which helped make the car skid proof.
He introduced the flat-opposed six cylinders (“floating power”) with 160 hp direct from engine to the wheels via
hydraulic torque converters.
- Tucker eliminated the clutch, transmission, and differential. Should I repeat
that? Tucker eliminated the clutch, transmission, and differential.
- His car had a third headlight placed in center of grill, which turned with the wheels to
light the way around curves. Plus! The Tucker cars fenders turned with the tires!
- The car has six exhausts—one for each cylinder—and are set three on
a side beneath the rear bumper. That bears repeating: each cylinder had its own exhaust! He placed the driving
instruments are on the steering shaft.
Here's to you Preston Tucker
I sit here almost speechless when I read this. Today we drive junky, disposable cars. Not one of the Big
Three (maybe I should say Big Two now), incorporated any of these wonderful features in cars.
And through the guise of a corporate (I don't know anything) veil, very little is made of the destruction of a man who
gave all he had to bring quality, safe motorcars to us. For that reason, he'll always have a place on our webpage.
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Tucker's Car Topped 100 mph and Stopped on a Dime
The Tuckermobile cruises at 100 mph (remember this was 1947). The Topedo car projected to top out much faster than
that but the public wasn't ready for the true speed of his cars. Tucker said, You've got to have speed to sell cars
to red-blooded Americans.
His cars introduced new single-disk brakes -- at top speed the car can come to a dead stop in 240 feet instead of
the 1400 feet needed by other vehicles. (source: The Lima News, Aug 11, 1946, Lima, OH)
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Loyal Tucker Fan Researches Facts
Larry Clark, a member of the Tucker Automobile Club of America, spent years researching Preston Tucker and his automobile company. (Only 51 Tucker
cars were built, of which 47 survive).
Clark is so respected as a Tucker researcher, that Francis Ford Coppola hired
him as adviser on the movie, Tucker: The Man and His Dream. Below are a few of Larry Clark’s research findings:
- Tucker's prototype "combat car" armored personnel carrier was rejected because it
went too fast.
- One of Tucker’s planned cars was named The Talisman: it was to be a sportier
version of the Tucker 48.
- Renovators can still obtain fiberglass replica bodies of Tucker’s cars to
build Tucker replicars.
In Brazil, Preston Tucker was working on a new sports car,The Carioca, but he died
before finishing it. next page
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