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A CARography
Episode FLCAR-201
The Tucker (201)Take an in-depth look at a true revolutionary, Preston Tucker, who dared to challenge the conventional wisdom of the "Big Three" automakers in Detroit. He was a maverick and a shrewd businessman determined to prove that a superior automobile could be built at comparable prices. Known simply as "The Tucker," this car was a technological marvel that continues to be admired today. However, Tucker was unable to sustain enough momentum to capture the pocketbooks of the mainstream consumer, and production of The Tucker ceased.
Tucker Facts:
- Preston Tucker was born on September 21, 1903 in Capac, Mich.; he died on December 26, 1956.
- A Tucker weighs 4,200 pounds.
- The prototype Tucker was completely hand-made and was known as the "Tin Goose."
- The Tucker's six-cylinder engine produced 166 horsepower.
- The Tucker featured interchangeable front and rear seats.
- The "Tucker Turret" gun turret was used during World War II.
- 21 Tuckers are on display throughout the United States.
- "Waltz Gown Blue" was the favorite color of Preston Tucker's wife, Vera.
- Tucker: The Man and His Dream was produced by George Lucas and directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
- The Tucker on display at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History has an odometer reading of 11,721 miles.
- The Tucker was powered by an alloy motor that weighed only 320 pounds.
- The Tucker '48 was first shown to the press, dealers, distributors and brokers on June 19, 1947 in the Tucker plant, a former Dodge plant that had built B-29 engines during World War II.
- For the premier, workers substituted two 12-volt truck batteries weighing over 150 pounds that caused the Tucker's suspension arms to snap. Speeches dragged on as workers behind the curtain tried feverishly to get the Tin Goose up and running.
- Original Tucker paint colors were black, waltz-gown blue, dark-green, beige, silver-gray and maroon.
- All Tuckers are 128 inches long.
- Because of the unconventional method Tucker used to finance his operation, the Securities and Exchange Commission launched a full-scale investigation in 1948. Soon afterward, Tucker and seven of his associates faced a Grand Jury indictment.
- The trial lasted from October 4, 1949 to January 11, 1950.
- The defense rested its case without presenting any rebuttal witnesses, claiming that the SEC had failed to prove any offense
- The jury found Tucker and his associates innocent, but by then, the company was already lost.
- A skeleton crew finished the last 50 Tuckers that would ever be built, but the last 13 lacked engines and/or transmissions.
- Today a Tucker is worth anywhere from $250,000 to $500,000.
- Fiberglass replica bodies are available for building Tucker replicas.
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