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The Car of Tomorrow

It was the car of tomorrow. With futuristic engineering and pioneering safety features that were way ahead of their time, this vehicle showcased exceptional ideas and an uncrushable spirit.

A Man of Exceptional Ideas and Spirit

He was also a man with exceptional ideas and an unbreakable spirit. This combination made for an epic story of post-war optimism, forward-thinking automotive design, and government interference that brought down a promising new car company.

Everything You Need to Know

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en(car engine revving)(brakes screeching)- It was the car of tomorrow.With futuristic engineeringand pioneering safety features,that were way ahead of their time.He was also a man with exceptional ideasand an uncrushable spirit.Together the two make for an epic storyof post war optimism, forwardthinking automotive designand government interferencethat brought downa promising new car company.This is everything you need to knowto get "Up to Speed" on Tucker.(digital music)- Born in 1903, Preston Tuckergrew up outside of Detroit.And like all good motor city kids,he loved cars since he was little.At 16 he was already buying used carsto fix up and sell for a profit.A few years later, heworked as an office boyat Cadillac headquarterson the Ford assembly lineand ran a gas station.Tucker would do anything aslong as it involved cars.He even had three separatestints as a police officerjust to drive the souped up cop cars.His mom wasn't too stoked on thatbut she didn't have to worry longbecause he soon got fired for makingsome customs mods on his police cruiser.But it wasn't the kind ofmod you're thinking of.- Oh, God.Man, it's freaking freezing in here.I could really use some heat.(tools whirring)- Yeah that's better.- Tucker, you can't cutholes in your police cruiser.- But Chief.- You're threw, Tucker.I don't even know whyI gave you this badgeand this gun three times.You're like, 16-years-old.I assume this is the past andthing are different back now.But still, it seems veryodd that a teenager wouldhave three differentstints as a police officer.- In the early 1930's,Tucker started spendinga lot of time at theIndianapolis Motor Speedway.Because what red-blooded,Detroit native, car loverwouldn't also love the Indy 500?There he met Harry Miller.Miller was a great engineer,but not a good business man.And he went bankrupt.So, Tucker talked Millerinto starting a businessdeveloping race cars with him.They worked together for the next 10 yearsand Tucker became a wellknown name around the car biz.He also meet John Eddie Offutt at Indy.Another mechanic who would play a partin the creation ofTucker's car of the future.When the prospect of WorldWar II loomed in 1939,Tucker moved fromIndianapolis back to Michiganand...What the (beep) is that word?Y-P-S-I-L...Who the (beep) names a city that?Back to Michigan and openedthe Ypsilanti Machine and Tool Company.He and Miller dabbled in everythingfrom high-speed armored, combat vehiclesand gun turrets, to airplaneengines throughout the war,but none of panned out.What Tucker really wantedto do, was build hislong held idea of the firstcompletely new car in 50 years.The Big Three Detroitautomakers hadn't debutedanything for several years.You know, 'cause of the war.The great one.That gave smaller automakersan opportunity to fill the gap.Tucker really wanted to be an automaker.He had a stream line concept createdby designer George S. Lawson.It had two doors that stretched upinto the slopping roofline, headlamps mountedon pivoting front fendersthat turned when cornering.And a fixed center, that'sright, center headlight.The car was supposed tohave a fuel-interjected,rear-mounted 589 cubic inch,aluminum, flat-six engine,with hydraulic valve train,and two hydraulicallydriven torque converterspowering the rear wheels,instead of a normal drive train.No traditional transmission or anything.Weird.Tucker advertised the ultramodern safety orientedtorpedo concept in ScienceIllustrated Magazineand the public ate it up.But Lawson's design was too far fetchedand after two years ofwork, he still wasn't ableto give Tucker a real car he could showto potential buyers.So, in 1946, formerAuburn/Cord/Duesenberg/Dub-Dubtwo jet designer, AlexTremulis, took over design.What he sketched up in just six days,ended up being the ultimatecar's ultimate form.Tremulis kept the modern fast-back look,but turned it into a realistic design.He added two more doors, and madethe center cyclops eyeheadlight pivot whenthe steering angle was at more than 10°,while the outer headlight stayed fixed.- Whoa.- To get the car intoproduction as fast as possiblethe rotating fenders were axed.Tuckers wish list calledfor magnesium wheels,fuel injection, disk breaks, seat belts,safety glass, a built-in roll bar,a padded dashboard, andindependent springless suspension.By the time Tremulis camealong, Tucker had alreadysigned a lease on thebiggest factory in the world.The Dodge Chicago Aircraft Engine Plant.It had 475 acres that Tuckerwas sure could producean entire auto lineup.But he had to raise $15million in less than a yearto pull it off and thatwas going to be tough.'Cause that's a lot of money now,and that's even more money back then.(soft piano music)So, Tucker raised themoney by arranging oneof the first ever company stock IPOsand selling dealership rights for the carthat didn't even exist yet.This was all pretty unusual.And at the time the U.S.Securities and Exchange Commissionwas keeping a close eye onsmall, up-start automakers.So, the SEC was like...- Dude, there's a huge possibilitythat this car is gonna flop.- And Tucker was all...- No way, man, this is gonna be huge.- Look, you put in those dealer contractsthat there's a good chancethat this goes south,or we're shutting you down.- Fine.God.I'll change the contracts.I'm not trying to defraud anybody.I'm trying to revolutionizethe auto industry, man.- Tucker started advertisingthe future Tucker '48in early '47.He called it a car ahead of its timeand made the ridiculousclaim that 15 yearsof testing had gone into it.But even Tucker's wife, Vera, thoughtthe add was kind of misleading (laughs).The SEC agreed with Vera and filed awaythe misleading ad as ammunitionin a looming investigation.In the meantime, the firstprototype was being built.And development of thenew 589, flat-six enginewas underway, with the helpof fuel injection expert, Ben Parsons.It was designed to have 200HP and runat an ultra low RPM, like1,000 RPM at 60 miles an hour.But the innovativehydraulic valve operationrequired high oil pressure anda 24 volt electrical system.The engine needed 60 volts to start-upand cranked for a long time.(car sputtering)- A world premier party was scheduled atthe Chicago factory for June of 1947.So, there had to be a working prototypeto show the crowd, regardless of problems.Tucker's engineers managed to put togethera semi-functional car built arounda 1942 Oldsmobile, andcalled it the Tin Goose.But the Tin Goose didn'thave a reverse gear.And two of the independent suspension armsbroke under the car's own weight the nightbefore the premier.Ugh, talk about bad timing.It was repaired so it could roll again,but the 589 engine was extremely noisyand difficult to start.But Tucker would not be phased.He told the band to play extra loudto cover the thunderous engine noises.And made sure they played the whole night.The press reported thatthe car couldn't back up.And that is drovegoose-geese down the road.Must be a hipster 1940's lingo.- Ah, this is drivinggoose-geese down the road.- Hey there, Governor, look you gota little slack in your step.You need a peppy pick up?Try Edmond's Cocaine pills.Is your baby making teething noises?Give him some Edmond's Cocainepills and bottle of whiskey.That's medicine back now.- Desperate for an engine, he found thatthe 166 HRSPRS, Franklin, 0335 flat-six,used in Bell 47 helicopters, would work.Tucker's son, and his oldIndy 500 buddy, Eddie Offutt,converted it fromair-cooled to water-cooled.Though no one is sure why.More than 18,000 miles worthof full-throttle testingactual testing this time,proved the engine's reliability.So, Tucker bought theentire engine company.Then he canceled alltheir aircraft contractsto focus on automotive engine production.Turns out that was 65% of allthe US's post-war aviationengine production contracts.The transmission was awhole nother boone doggle.The only thing thatseemed like it would workwas a 1930's Cord transmission.So, they scavenged 22of them from junk yardsand adapted some of them to work withthe Tucker 48's rear engine lay-out.They were always fragile though.And couldn't handle the power ofthe 335 cubic inch, flat-six.Engineers at Tucker'smachine and tool company,redesigned the Cordtranny and strengthenedit to create their ownunit called, the Tucker Y1.Why?Because it was built in Ypsilanti.The Y1 transmission hadan electric vacuum shiftmechanism connecting itto the column shifterinstead of a mechanical linkage.And it had problems too.Tucker brought in Warren Rice, creatorof the Buick Dynaflo in the Road Master.Rice and the engineeringteam, came up withthe Tucker-matic, whichwas really an early CVT.It had two torque convertersand only 27 moving parts,compared with traditionalmodern day automatics.It was revolutionary.But only Tucker-matics wereever installed in the cars.(car starting)(engine revving)- The engine and transmission were mountedon a separate sub-framethat only used six bolts.So, the whole drive train couldbe dropped in half an hour.Tucker imagined that engineneeding work, could justbe quickly and easilyswapped with a loaner engine.That sounds a lot likeTesla's Battery Swap Program.Only Tucker thought ofit about 30 years beforeElan Musk was even born.The strangeness continued withthe four-wheel independent suspension.Instead of steel springs,components were madeof Firestone rubber, thatwas vulcanized to geta specific spring ring.Similar to the Indy 500 racecars Tucker had worked on.They ended up being super stiff,which was good forhandling, but made removingthe rear wheels tough, since there wasn'tany suspension droop.As with brand new cars development,plenty of things didn't work outthe way Tucker hoped.The fuel injection, diskbreaks, magnesium wheels,ad his fancy transmission, allhit the cutting room floor.But a lot of his innovative ideas madeit through to production.All the instrumentation and car controlswere within reach of the driver.At the time, gauges and knobs wereusually spread out across the whole dash.Glove boxes were on the door panels,to keep the area underthe padded dashboarda clear crash zone for better safety.It also kept the integratedroll bar in the roof,and the pop-out, shatter proof windshield.Concepts that were improvedduring endurance testingat Indianapolis Motor Speedway,when Ofutt rolled a Tucker '48 three timesat 95 miles per, and thecar was still drivable.Despite all the troubles,the Tucker corporationhad 1,900 employees andwas actively buildingpre-production cars.And the public was still excited to seethe car of tomorrow become a reality.The company needed more money,so Tucker came up with the ideafor a Tucker Accessories Program.It raised $2 million more dollars,by guaranteeing buyers aspot on the waiting listfor the new car if theypre-purchased accessorieslike radios, seat covers, luggage.Who would do that? (laughs)Sounds nuts.That was the final straw for the SEC.And in 1948, a formal investigationof Tucker Corporation began.The government thought the company justwanted to scam people out of their moneyand never planned to build a car.In 1949 all Tucker Corporation files wereturned over to authorities and Tuckerand six other company executiveswere indicted on charges of violatingSEC regulations and conspiracy to defraud.The SEC leaked its reports to the press.And negative coverage cast doubt onthe company in the public's mind.Tucker felt that government politicshad been foiling his plans all along.And he was unfairly takingthe brunt of their aggression.In October, the Chicago factory shut downafter having built only 37 cars.But about 300 of the most loyal employeescame back to build 13 more.Some even without pay.Over the course of the four month trial,Tucker proved he really was trying to makethe car of tomorrow a reality.And all charges weredropped in January of 1950.Unfortunately, by then, boththe Tucker Corporation'sreputation and it finances were ruined.Amazingly, Tucker didn'tlet the whole debaclecrush his spirit.Saying even Henry Fordfailed on his first try.Over the next few years, he linked upwith some Brazilian investors to developa new sports car called a Carioca.I think.After all the hardships he'd enduredright as the resilient Preston Tuckerwas ready to try again, he learnedthat his next battle would be one thathe couldn't win.Lung cancer was the one thingthat finally slowed him down.He died in 1956.He was 53-years-old.And the Carioca never came to be.Without Tucker, we might not have manyof the safety featuresthat cars have today.Laminated safety glass, and crumple zones,are just two of the now standard elementsthat Tucker pioneered.Today, 47 of the 51 Tucker48's are still around.And they're some ofthe rarest classic carsof all time.A lot of them are on display in museums.And they don't come up for sale often.And when they do, theygo for a lot of coin.Like this one that sold at Barrett Jacksonfor $3 million in 2012.Though the company nevergot off the ground,and the cars were few, Tucker's remarkablestory and innovativeideas made a lasting markon the auto industry.Big thanks to the Petersen museumfor letting us shoot in their vault.Tuckers are hard to find and they havethe only one we know of.(triumphant music)Yo, we make a video every single day.So make sure you don't miss any of them.Click on this subscribe button right here.Check out this episode of Up to Speed.Check out this episode of Up to Speed.Follow me on Instagram @JamesPumphrey.Follow Donut on Instagram @DonutMedia.♪ I love you ♪