Preston Tucker
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Preston Thomas Tucker (September 21, 1903 – December 26, 1956) was an American automobile designer and entrepreneur. He is most remembered for his 1948 Tucker Torpedo, an innovative post-war automobile which many believe changed the automotive industry. His legacy was documented in the 1988 movie, Tucker: The Man and His Dream. Starring Jeff Bridges, the film was produced by George Lucas and directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
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Early life
Tucker was born in Capac, Michigan, near Huron, and is remembered for his charming personality. He repaired an old car and sold it at age 16, combining his charm with a love of automobiles. He later joined the Lincoln Park police department to get access to the high-performance automobiles they used. His mother convinced him to seek employment on the Ford assembly line in Dearborn, but Tucker quickly returned to his more exciting job as a police officer. He was demoted for installing a heater in the dashboard of his car, and quit for good.
Tucker's next career was as a car salesman. He was successful in selling cars at a Michigan dealership and soon became the manager of a luxury car dealership in Memphis, Tennessee.
Entrepreneur
With this new financial success, Tucker began an annual journey to the Indianapolis 500. His enthusiasm for automobiles again getting the better of him, Tucker convinced Harry Miller, maker of more Indy 500-winning engines than any other in those years, to join him in building an Indy car. Tucker intrigued Edsel Ford to take on the design, which used a modified Ford V8, as a Ford entrant at the race. The time to develop and test the car was insufficient, however, and the steering boxes on all entrants overheated and locked up, causing them to drop out of the race. The design was later perfected by privateers, with examples running at Indy through 1948, but Tucker's days as a race car builder were over.
Tucker moved back to Michigan intending to start his own auto company. He soon began designing a narrow-wheelbase armored combat car for the Dutch government. The car could reach 80 mph (130 km/h), far in excess of the design specifications. Although the Nazis invaded before the cars could be built, the highly-mobile gun turret design brought the interest of the U.S. Navy. The Tucker Turret was soon in production — it was used in PT boats, landing craft, and B-17 and B-29 bombers. During World War II, Tucker managed one of the shipbuilders for the war effort.
The Tucker Torpedo
- Main article: Tucker Torpedo
Automobile production resumed immediately after the war, but the designs were old fashioned. Many entrepreneurs, including Henry Kaiser and Preston Tucker, saw an opportunity to enter the market. The United States government was auctioning off surplus factories and giving preference to upstarts rather than the large corporations that had benefitted from war production.
Tucker found a surplus factory in Chicago — the Chicago Dodge plant. It was said to be the largest factory in the world under one roof. During the war, 1,000 B-29 bomber engines were produced each month by more than 30,000 employees. The plant was modern, with air conditioning, and well equipped, with an on-site forge, foundry, tool shop, assembly line, railroad siding, power house, water reservoir, cafeteria, and 13,000-spot parking lot. Tucker beat GM, Ford, and others to win the right to purchase the factory. But shortly after moving in, Lustron, a manufacturer of prefab homes, was given the rights to the plant. Tucker lobbied the politicians and soon re-secured his factory.
Studebaker was first with an all-new post-war model. But Tucker took a different tack, designing a safety car with innovative features and modern styling. His specifications called for a rear engine like Porsche, disc brakes, fuel injection, the location of all instruments on the steering wheel, and a padded dashboard.
Famed stylist, Alex Tremulis, previously of Auburn/Cord/Duesenberg, was hired on December 24, 1946 and given just six days to finalize the design. On December 31, 1946, Tucker approved the design, dubbed the Tucker Torpedo. He had also hired another firm to create an alternate body, but only the horizontal taillight bar from that model appeared on the final car.
The mechanical components were innovative. The perimeter frame surrounded the vehicle for crash protection. The steering box was behind the front axle to protect the driver in a front-end accident. But numerous Tucker innovations were dropped. A four-wheel independent suspension, magnesium wheels, disc brakes, and a direct-drive torque converter transmission were all left on the drawing board. A novel V6 engine continued in development, but was eventually replaced by a Franklin helicopter engine, with Tucker purchasing that company to secure the engine source.
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 (or was cut), 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.
A 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" transmission with only 27 parts, about 90 less than normal. This transmission was to cause more trouble, however, as the initial prototype lacked a reverse gear. A skeptical press reported that the car could not go backward, hurting its reputation.
Collapse
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, one of the first speculative IPOs. Another money maker was the Tucker Accessories Program. Future buyers could buy accessories, like seat covers, the radio, and luggage, before their car was built. This brought an additional $2,000,000 into the company.
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 car was 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.
Not all was well with the company, however. The Accessories Program raised the attention of the Securities and Exchange Commission, who investigated the practice to determine if it was fradulent. They asked for the corporation's books and records, but agreed to wait while the board met. The investigation was not secret for long, however, as popular radio commentator Drew Pearson reported that it would "blow the company sky-high". The broadcast caused the stock to drop from $5 to $2, causing creditors and suppliers to demand their money. Tucker took several cars to Pearson's office to support his contention that development was continuing, but the radio man refused to apologize.
All activity at the plant halted while the SEC looked over its books, with 1,600 workers laid off. Rumors spread across the country, some calling the company a fraud, while others saw a conspiracy to stifle innovation in the automobile industry. In the end, the SEC report, hundreds of pages in draft form, was never issued.
Press coverage was equally divided. The Detroit News ran a headline on the "Gigantic Fraud" and called the car "a monstrosity". It said that a dozen Tucker executives would be indigted. Colliers Magazine blasted Preston Tucker, accusing him of "living it up" on the proceeds of the stock issue. Their photos of Tucker at his apartment damaged his reputation, but were deceiving. His lavish living space was actually a bargain — it was built for dwarfs! On the other side of the coin, Mechanix Illustrated called the Tucker Torpedo "Dynamite" and the "most amazing" car they had tested.
Aftermath
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 was changing from outrage at Tucker's fraud to anger at the press and the government.
In the Fall of 1948, Tucker had $8,000,000 in the bank, but the plant was still closed. The US Attourney announced a Grand Jury investigation. Tucker again courted press attention, arriving at the courthouse in a blue Tucker Torpedo.
On June 10, 1949, Tucker and three others were officially indicted for fraud. The trial began in October of that year, with the government contending that Tucker never intended to produce a car. After the Christmas recess, the trial turned in Tucker's favor. It went to the jury on January 22, 1950, and Tucker and his men were acquitted on all charges just 17 hours later. But the company was destroyed, with everything was sold off. Only Franklin Motors survived, but Tucker was out.
Preston Tucker's reputation rebounded after the acquittal. Investors from Brazil even approached him about building a sports car, the "Karaoke". But he died from cancer before the project saw fruition. Ironically, Otto Kerner, the US Attorney who had aggressively investigated Tucker for fraud, became the first Federal appellate judge in history to be jailed. His crime was stock fraud.