Tucker 48
Tucker '48 (Torpedo )
The Tucker '48 Sedan " Torpedo " from 1948 was the only vehicle that was built by Tucker Automobile. His real name was Tucker '48 - named after the year of construction. The name Tucker " Torpedo " accompanied only the advertising of the car; actually never left a car under this name the work.
Properties
The Tucker Torpedo was one of the then most advanced passenger cars and ahead of its time in many aspects. This also promoted the manufacturer who referred to it as the car of the future (Car of Tomorrow ). He already had seat belts, a windshield, which fell with a crash to the outside and thus posed no danger to the occupants, as well as cornering lights by a third, the steering wheel following headlights in the middle of the front of the vehicle, the so-called " Cyclops ". He was also equipped with disc brakes front and rear and an impact shield on the steering wheel and dashboard. With a Boxer rear engine, which scooped a power output of 168 hp from six cylinders and 5.5 liter displacement, as well as a great time and still good Cd value of 0.27 for the torpedo his time was powerful engines and very fast. The Tucker Torpedo is the life work of Preston Tucker, who had designed and manufactured this vehicle on your own. The renowned designer Alex Tremulis designed the vehicle under enormous time pressure within six days; Ray Dietrich was later involved in the resolution of questions of detail.
Manufacturing History
The major American competitors Ford, Chrysler and General Motors - as a Big Three known - tried slanderous campaigns to stop the triumph of the Tucker Torpedo, when they saw a dangerous competition in it. In these campaigns, it was argued, among other things, a car that seat belts have need could not be sure. Despite all the problems, in the period from January 1947 to July 1948 in a former aircraft engine plant in Cicero, Illinois, in addition to the - Preston Tucker " Tin Goose " (Tin Goose ) - called prototype further 50 vehicles made . Of the total of 51 cars still exist 47, 24 of which are preserved in private hands and 23 in museums, exhibitions and collections. A 52 car will not be counted as original Tucker torpedoes, because it - was only completed at the end of the 1980s - although built from original parts.
After Preston Thomas Tucker was accused of tax evasion of 30 million U.S. dollars, the tax authorities closed the Tucker plant. Preston Tucker was cleared of the allegations in court; However, the production could not be resumed. Preston Tucker moved to Brazil, where he worked on the project for a new sports car called Tucker Carioca. Before he could implement his idea, he fell ill with lung cancer and died in 1956.
Trivia
The car and the Biography of Preston Tucker form the basis for Francis Ford Coppola's film Tucker - The Man and His Dream car from Lucasfilm studio. Coppola himself has two torpedoes Tucker, another part of the company mentioned by George Lucas.
The torpedoes are much sought after and expensive collectibles. In August 2008, the number was auctioned in 1038 and reached it an unexpectedly high price of over one million U.S. dollars.
Of the 47 still intact Tucker '48 are only three outside the Americas: two in Japanese museums, the only example in Europe in private ownership in the UK.