Preston Tucker
Encyclopedia
Preston Thomas Tucker was an American
automobile
designer and entrepreneur.
He is most remembered for his 1948 Tucker Sedan
(known as the "Tucker '48" and initially nicknamed the "Tucker Torpedo"), an automobile which introduced many features that have since become widely used in modern cars. Production of the Tucker '48 was shut down amidst scandal and controversial accusations of stock fraud on March 3, 1949. The 1988 movie, Tucker: The Man and His Dream
is based on Tucker's spirit and the saga surrounding the car's production.
farm near Capac, Michigan
. He grew up outside Detroit in the suburb of Lincoln Park, Michigan
. Tucker was raised by his mother, a teacher, after his father died of appendicitis
when Preston was 2 years old. First learning to drive at age 11, Tucker was obsessed with automobiles from an early age. At age 16, Preston Tucker began purchasing late model automobiles, repairing/refurbishing them and selling the cars for a profit. He attended the Cass Technical High School
in Detroit, but he quit school and landed a job as an office boy for the Cadillac Motor Company, where he used rollerskates to make his rounds more efficiently. In 1922, young Tucker joined the Lincoln Park, Michigan
police department (against the pleas of his mother), his interest stirred by his desire to drive and ride the fast, high-performance police cars and motorcycles. His mother had him removed from the force, pointing out to department officials that at age nineteen, he was below the department's minimum required age.
Tucker and his new wife, Vera (married in 1923 at age 20), then took over a 6-month lease on a gas station near Lincoln Park, running the station together. Vera would run the station during the day, while Preston worked on the Ford Motor Company
assembly line. After the lease ran out, Tucker quit Ford and returned to the police force again, but in his first winter back he was banned from driving police vehicles by the force after using a blowtorch to cut a hole in the dashboard of a cruiser to allow engine heat to warm the cabin. During the last couple of months at the gas station, Tucker began selling Studebaker
cars on the side. He met well known automobile salesman Mitchell W. Dulian, who hired Tucker as a car salesman at his Detroit dealership. Tucker did very well with Dulian, but his dealership was a long drive from Tucker's Lincoln Park home, so Tucker quit and returned to the police force for the last time. A few months later, Dulian, still impressed with Tucker's immediate success as a salesman, invited Tucker to move south with him to Memphis, Tennessee
to work as sales manager. (Dulian would later become sales manager for the Tucker Car Corp.) Dulian was transferred a couple of years later; Tucker stayed in Memphis and was a salesman for Ivor Schmidt (Stutz
) and John Fischer (Chrysler), where he became general sales manager. While managing Chrysler sales in Memphis, Tucker made a connection with Pierce-Arrow
. In 1933, Tucker moved to Buffalo, New York
and became regional sales manager for Pierce-Arrow automobiles, but after only two years he moved back to Detroit and worked as a Dodge
salesman for Cass Motors.
. Having a heavy interest in the race cars and their designers, Tucker met Harry Miller, maker of more Indianapolis 500
-winning engines than any other during this period. Tucker moved to Indianapolis to be closer to the racing car development scene and worked as the transportation manager for a beer distributor, overseeing the fleet of delivery trucks for the company.
A better engineer than businessman, Miller declared bankruptcy in 1933 and was looking for new opportunities. Tucker convinced Miller to join him in building race cars, and they formed "Miller and Tucker, Inc.", in 1935. The company's first job was building 10 souped-up Ford V-8 racers for Henry Ford
. The time to develop and test the cars 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. Miller and Tucker, Inc. continued race car development and various other ventures until Miller's death in 1943. Tucker and Miller were close friends and he even helped his widow pay for Miller's funeral costs. While working with Miller, Tucker met the Chevrolet brothers and chief mechanic/engineer John Eddie Offutt, who would later help Tucker develop and build the first prototype of the Tucker '48. Tucker's outgoing personality and his involvement at Indianapolis made him well known in the automotive industry by 1939.
hospital from an appendectomy, Tucker was reading the news about war looming on the horizon in Europe. He got the idea of developing a high-speed armored combat vehicle. In 1939, Tucker moved his family back to Michigan and bought a house and property in Ypsilanti
. He remodeled an old barn on his property and began and operated a machine shop called the Ypsilanti Machine and Tool Company, planning to use the facility to develop various automotive products.
Opportunity arose for Tucker from the Dutch government, who wanted a combat vehicle suited to the muddy Dutch terrain. Continuing his working relationship with Harry Miller, Tucker and Miller began designing a narrow-wheelbase armored combat car, powered by a Miller-modified Packard
V-12 engine. The car was nicknamed the "Tucker Tiger".
At least one prototype of the combat car was built. Production of the car was to be done at the Rahway
, New Jersey
factory owned by the American Armament Corporation. The Germans
invaded Holland in the spring of 1940, before Tucker could complete the deal, and the Dutch government lost interest, so he completed the prototypes and opted to try to sell the vehicle to the U.S. government. The car could reach over 115 mph (185 km/h), far in excess of the design specifications. The U.S. military felt the vehicle was too fast and had already committed to other combat vehicles. The highly-mobile power-operated gun turret featured on the Tucker combat car, which became known as the "Tucker Turret", earned the interest of the U.S. Navy. Harry Miller would later take some of the designs from the Tucker Combat Car to American Bantam where he was involved in the development of the first Jeep
.
The Tucker Turret was soon in production (initially at Tucker's Ypsilanti machine shop). It was used in PT boat
s, landing craft
, and B-17 and B-29 bombers. Tucker's patents for the turret were licensed out to various manufacturers to mass produce the turret in the high volume to meet demand. Tucker's patent rights were stolen and Tucker was embroiled in lawsuits for years trying to recoup royalties for use of his patents on the turret.
(USAAC). Development of a single prototype of the airplane was started, powered by a straight 8-cylinder engine developed/influenced by Harry Miller, called the Miller L-510. Nicknamed the "Peashooter", this fighter competed for WWII government war contracts. However financial problems within the company slowed the development of the prototype and the USAAC allowed the contract to lapse.
During World War II
, Tucker became associated with Andrew Jackson Higgins
, builder of Liberty ships, PT boats and landing craft. Higgins acquired Tucker Aviation Corporation in March 1942, and Tucker moved to New Orleans, Louisiana to serve as a vice-president of Higgins Industries, specifically in charge of the Higgins-Tucker Aviation division. This entity was to produce gun turrets, armament and engines for Higgins' torpedo boats. This relationship did not work out and Tucker severed his association with Higgins in 1943. Higgins referred to Preston Tucker as "The world's greatest salesman. When he turns those big brown eyes on you, you'd better watch out!"
After 1943, Tucker moved back to Michigan intending to start his own auto company, the Tucker Corporation.
, 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.
Tucker's first design appeared in Science Illustrated magazine in December 1946, showing a futuristic version of the car with a hydraulic drive system designed by George Lawson, along with a photo of a 1/8 scale model blown up to appear full sized, titled the "Torpedo on Wheels". This was only an early rendering of the proposal, with its design features yet to meet reality, but the motoring public was now excited about the Tucker.
To finish the prototype design and get construction underway, Tucker hired famed stylist Alex Tremulis
, previously of Auburn
/Cord
/Duesenberg
, on December 24, 1946 and gave him just six days to finalize the design. On December 31, 1946, Tucker approved Tremulis' preliminary design. Tucker's future-car became known as the "Tucker Torpedo" from the first Lawson sketch; however not desiring to bring to mind the horrors of WWII, Tucker quickly changed the name to the "Tucker '48". With Tremulis' design sketch, a full page advertisement was run in March 1947 in many national newspapers claiming "How 15 years of testing produced the car of the year". Tucker said he had been thinking about the car for 15 years. This second advertisement described specifically many of the innovative features Tucker proposed for his car, many of which would not make it to the final car, while many others did. This advertisement had the public very excited about this car, but Tucker had much work to do before a prototype was ready to be shown.
To finalize the design, Tucker hired the New York design firm J. Gordon Lippincott
to create an alternate body. Only the front end and horizontal taillight bar designs were retained for the final car. Another car, a sportier version of the Tucker '48 called the Tucker Talisman, was sketched as well, but never left the drawing board.
To diversify his corporation, Tucker imported Italian engineer Secondo Campini
, who was well known and respected in the aviation industry. He was put in charge of pursuing a US Air Force development contract, hoping to use Tucker's huge Chicago factory to someday build more than just cars. Campini and Tucker also began developing plans for a gas turbine
-powered car to be produced by Tucker.
The Tucker Export Corporation was also formed, based in New York, which was established as an entity to manage worldwide sales of Tucker's cars. Headed by Tucker's long-time friend, Colombian Max Garavito, distributorships were set up internationally, including South America and South Africa.
Tucker assembled a group of leaders for his corporation that read like a "who's who" of the automotive industry:
Tucker and his colleagues were able to obtain the largest factory building in the world, the 475 acres (1.9 km²) Dodge Chicago Aircraft Engine Plant, which was later known as the Chicago Dodge Plant
, from the War Assets Administration
. The facility had previously been used to build the massive Wright R-3350
Cyclone engines for B-29 Superfortress
aircraft during WWII. Tucker, thinking long-term, believed this large facility would fit his long-term goal of producing an entire line of Tucker automobiles under one roof.
Tucker signed the lease in July 1946, contingent on him raising $15 million in capital by March 1947. Tucker needed this money to get going, so he began raising money by selling dealership rights and floating a $20 million stock issue through the Chicago brokerage firm Floyd D. Cerf. With over $17 million in the bank by 1947, the Tucker Corporation was up and running.
While Tucker ultimately got the plant, he was not able to move in until September 1947, due to delays caused by counter-claims and disputes over the plant between Tucker and the Lustron Corporation. This delayed Tucker by almost a year, during which time development of the car continued at his Michigan machine shop. Tucker planned for 60,000 cars a year with 140/day produced for the first 4 months and 300/day produced after this.
Tucker suffered another setback when his bids to obtain two steel mills to provide raw materials for his cars were rejected by the WAA under a shroud of questionable politics.
Tucker's specifications for his revolutionary car called for a rear engine
, a low-RPM 589 cubic inch engine with hydraulic valves instead of a camshaft
, fuel injection
, direct-drive torque converter
s on each rear wheel (instead of a transmission), disc brake
s, the location of all instruments within the diameter and reach of the steering wheel, a padded dashboard, self-sealing tubeless tires, independent springless suspension, a chassis which protected occupants in a side impact, a roll bar within the roof, a laminated windshield designed to pop out during an accident, and a center "cyclops" headlight which would turn when steering at angles greater than 10 degrees in order to improve visibility around corners during night driving.
While most of these innovations made it to the final 51 prototypes, several were dropped due to cost and lack of time to develop such mechanically complicated designs. The low-RPM 589-cubic-inch engine with its individual torque converters, mechanical fuel injection, and the disc brakes were all dropped during the design and testing phase.
Having run out of time to develop the 589-cubic-inch engine for the car, Tucker ultimately settled on a modified 334 in3 (5.47 L) Franklin O-335 aircraft engine. He liked the engine so much he purchased its manufacturer, Aircooled Motors in New York, for $1.8 million in 1947. This secured a guaranteed engine supply for his car.
The Securities and Exchange commission bothered the Tucker Corporation from its earliest days. The SEC was embittered after small automaker Kaiser-Frazer
was given millions of dollars in grants towards development of a new car, and subsequently squandered the money. While Tucker took no money from the federal government, small upstart automakers were under intense SEC scrutiny, and Tucker was no exception.
One of Tucker's most innovative business ideas caused the most trouble for the company and was used by the SEC to spark its formal investigation. His Accessories Program raised funds by selling accessories before the car was even in production. Potential buyers who purchased Tucker accessories were guaranteed a spot on the dealer waiting list for a Tucker '48 car. Tucker also began selling dealerships before the car was ready for production, and at the time of the trial had sold over 2000 dealerships nationwide at a price of $7500 to nearly $30,000 each.
Feeling pressure from the SEC, Harry Aubrey Toulmin, Jr., the chairman of the Tucker board of directors, resigned and wrote a letter to the SEC on September 26, 1947, in an attempt to distance himself from the company. In the letter, Toulmin indicated that he quit "because of the manner in which Preston Tucker is using the funds obtained from the public through sale of stock." Describing Tucker as "a tall, dark, delightful, but inexperienced boy", Toulmin added that the Tucker '48 machine "does not actually run, it just goes 'goose-geese'" and "I don't know if it can back up." In reply, Tucker stated that he had asked Toulmin to resign "to make way for a prominent man now active in the automobile industry." The "prominent man" turned out to be Preston Tucker himself.
In late 1947, a radio segment on Tucker by popular journalist Drew Pearson
criticized the Tucker '48, calling it the "tin goose" and noting that the first prototype "could not even back up" (referring to Toulmin's "goose-geese" comments). The first prototype lacked a reverse gear because Tucker had not had time to finish the direct torque drive by the time of the car's unveiling. This was corrected in the final driveline, but the public damage was done and a negative media feeding frenzy resulted. Tucker responded by publishing a full page advertisement in many national newspapers with "an open letter to the automobile industry", where he subtly hinted that his efforts to build the cars were being stymied by politics and an SEC conspiracy. Nonetheless, dealership owners began filing lawsuits to recover their money, and Tucker's stock value plummeted.
Otto Kerner, Jr.
began a grand jury investigation in February 1949. On March 3, 1949, a federal judge handed control of the Tucker Corporation over to Aaron J. Colnon and John H. Schatz. Soon thereafter on June 10, 1949, Tucker and six other Tucker Corporation executives were indicted on 25 counts of mail fraud, five counts of violations of SEC regulations and one count of conspiracy to defraud. The indictment included 46-year-old Tucker, Harold A. Karsten, 58, "alias Abe Karatz"; Floyd D. Cerf, 61 (whose firm had handled the stock offering); Robert Pierce, 63; Fred Rockelman, 64; Mitchell W. Dulian, 50, Tucker sales manager; Otis Radford, 42, Tucker Corporation comptroller; and Cliff Knoble, 42, Tucker advertising manager.
Tucker publicly called the charges "silly and ridiculous" and hailed the indictment as "an opportunity to explain our side of the story". Tucker and his colleagues' defense was handled by a team of attorneys led by William T. Kirby
.
Another publication, Collier's magazine
, ran an article critical of Tucker on June 25, 1949, which included leaked details of the SEC report (which was never released publicly). This article was reprinted in Readers Digest as well, expanding the scope of the negative press concerning Preston Tucker.
The trial began on October 4, 1949, presided over by Judge Walter J. LaBuy
. Tucker Corporation's factory was closed on the very same day. At that point, only 37 Tucker '48s had been built. A corps of 300 loyal employees returned to the factory (some without pay) and finished assembly of another 13 cars for a total production of 50 cars (not including the prototype).
At trial, the government contended that Tucker never intended to produce a car. Throughout the trial, the SEC report on Tucker was classified as "secret" and Tucker's attorneys were never allowed to view or read it, but it was leaked to the press nevertheless.
As the trial proceeded, the government and SEC brought several witnesses (mostly former Tucker employees) to highlight the rudimentary methods used by Tucker to develop the car; the early suspensions were installed three times before they worked, and early parts were taken from junkyards to build the prototype. Answering back in Tucker's defense, designer Alex Tremulis
testified that it was common industry practice to use old car parts for prototype builds, and pointed out this had been done when he was involved with developing the 1942 Oldsmobile under General Motors
.
Tucker Vice President Lee Treese testified that Tucker's metal stamping and parts fabrication operations were 90% ready to mass produce the car by June 1948 and that outside interference had slowed the final preparations for production. This back and forth between the prosecution and the defense continued until November 8, 1949, when the judge demanded the SEC prosecutors "get down to the meat of the case and start proving the conspiracy charge."
Defense attorney Kirby directed attention to automaker Kaiser-Frazer
, pointing out that early models of their government-funded new car model had been made of wood and that when this project failed, Kirby stated in court documents that "Kaiser-Frazer didn't get indicted, and they got 44 million dollars in loans from the government, didn't they?" All told Kaiser-Frazer had received nearly $200 million in government grants, but did not produce the car they promised.
After a break for Christmas, the trial resumed in January 1950. The government's star witness, Daniel J. Ehlenz, a former Tucker dealership owner and distributor from St. Paul, Minnesota, testified that he had lost $28,000 in his investment in the Tucker Corporation. However, on cross-examination, the defense used this witness to their advantage when Ehlenz testified that he still drove his Tucker '48 given to him by Tucker and that the car had 35000 miles (56,326.9 km) on it and still cruised smoothly at 90 miles per hour (40.2 m/s).
The tide turned in Tucker's favor when the government called its final witness, SEC accountant Joseph Turnbull, who testified that Tucker had taken in over $28 million dollars and spent less than one-seventh of it on research and development of the car. He stated that Tucker had taken over $500,000 of the investors' money for himself, but never delivered a production car. Kirby rebutted Turnbull's claims on cross-examination, asking for proof of the allegations of financial mismanagement from Tucker's seized financial records. Turnbull was unable to offer such evidence. In closing his witness testimony, Kirby asked Turnbull, "You are not here suggesting these figures are figures of monies taken fraudulently, are you?" Turnbull's answer was, "Not exactly, no."
After this final SEC witness, Tucker's defense attorneys surprised everyone by refusing to call any witnesses to the stand. Defense attorney Daniel Glasser told the court, "It is impossible to present a defense when there has been no offense".
In his closing arguments, Kirby became tearful and emotionally told the jury to "stop picking at the turkey," and stated that Tucker "either intended to cheat and that's all they intended to do or they tried in good faith to produce a car. The two are irreconcilable." He then invited the members of the jury to take a ride in one of the eight Tucker '48's parked in front of the courthouse before they made their decision.
On January 22, 1950, after 28 hours of deliberations, the jury returned a verdict of "not guilty" on all counts for all accused. Tucker had prevailed at the trial, but the Tucker Corporation, now without a factory, buried in debt, and faced with numerous lawsuits from Tucker dealers angry about the production delays, was no more.
In the early 1950s, Tucker teamed up with investors from Brazil and auto designer Alexis de Sakhnoffsky
to build a sports car
called the Carioca. Tucker could not use the Tucker name for the car, as Peter Dun, of Dun and Bradstreet, had purchased the rights to the name. The Tucker Carioca was never developed.
Tucker's travels to Brazil were plagued by fatigue and, upon his return to the United States, he was diagnosed with lung cancer
. Tucker died from pneumonia as a complication of lung cancer on December 26, 1956, at the age of 53. While the death certificate read "pneumonia", according to Alex Tremulis
, the real cause of death was "a broken heart." Tucker is buried at Michigan Memorial Park in Flat Rock, Michigan
.
Tucker's defense attorney, William T. Kirby, later became Chairman of the Board of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
Otto Kerner, Jr.
, the US attorney
who had aggressively pursued the Tucker Corporation, was ironically, later convicted on 17 counts of bribery, conspiracy, perjury, and related charges for stock fraud in 1974. He was the first federal appellate
judge
in history to be jailed. He was sentenced to three years in prison and fined $50,000.
The location of the former Tucker Corporation at 7401 S Cicero Ave, Chicago, IL 60629-5818, is now the corporate headquarters of Tootsie Roll Industries
and the Ford City Mall
(the building was owned for a time by Ford Motor Company
). The building is so large that it was split in two, and even with a large open area between the two resulting buildings, each structure is still substantial.
Tucker's 1948 Sedan's revolutionary ideas in car safety helped formulate car safety standards. The Tucker family held on to Aircooled Motors until 1961, when it was sold to Aero Industries.
Today, remaining original stock certificates for Tucker Corporation common stock, circa 1947, are valuable to collectors, and are worth more than when originally issued. Stock certificates of over 10,000 shares were personally signed by Preston Tucker himself, making these the most desirable.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
designer and entrepreneur.
He is most remembered for his 1948 Tucker Sedan
1948 Tucker Sedan
The 1948 Tucker Sedan or Tucker '48 Sedan was an advanced automobile conceived by Preston Tucker and briefly produced in Chicago in 1948...
(known as the "Tucker '48" and initially nicknamed the "Tucker Torpedo"), an automobile which introduced many features that have since become widely used in modern cars. Production of the Tucker '48 was shut down amidst scandal and controversial accusations of stock fraud on March 3, 1949. The 1988 movie, Tucker: The Man and His Dream
Tucker: The Man and His Dream
Tucker: The Man and His Dream is a 1988 biographical film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Jeff Bridges. The film recounts the story of Preston Tucker and his attempt to produce and market the 1948 Tucker Sedan, which was met with scandal between the "Big Three automobile...
is based on Tucker's spirit and the saga surrounding the car's production.
Early life (1903-1933)
Preston Tucker was born on September 21, 1903, on a peppermintPeppermint
Peppermint is a hybrid mint, a cross between the watermint and spearmint . The plant, indigenous to Europe, is now widespread in cultivation throughout all regions of the world...
farm near Capac, Michigan
Capac, Michigan
Capac is a village in Mussey Township, St. Clair County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,775 at the 2000 census.-History:Capac was founded and platted by a group of men from Romeo headed by George R. Funstan and Judge DeWitt C. Walker in 1857. The judge named it after Huayna...
. He grew up outside Detroit in the suburb of Lincoln Park, Michigan
Lincoln Park, Michigan
Lincoln Park is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It lies in an area of cities and communities known as Downriver. The population was 38,144 at the 2010 census . The settlement was organized as a village in 1921, and reorganized as a city in 1925. The area was originally home to...
. Tucker was raised by his mother, a teacher, after his father died of appendicitis
Appendicitis
Appendicitis is a condition characterized by inflammation of the appendix. It is classified as a medical emergency and many cases require removal of the inflamed appendix, either by laparotomy or laparoscopy. Untreated, mortality is high, mainly because of the risk of rupture leading to...
when Preston was 2 years old. First learning to drive at age 11, Tucker was obsessed with automobiles from an early age. At age 16, Preston Tucker began purchasing late model automobiles, repairing/refurbishing them and selling the cars for a profit. He attended the Cass Technical High School
Cass Technical High School
The Cass Tech Technicians football team is a high school football program in Division 1 Public School League, representing the prestigious Cass Technical High School in Detroit, MI. Cass Tech High School has long been recognized nationwide for its extraordinary football program dating back to its...
in Detroit, but he quit school and landed a job as an office boy for the Cadillac Motor Company, where he used rollerskates to make his rounds more efficiently. In 1922, young Tucker joined the Lincoln Park, Michigan
Lincoln Park, Michigan
Lincoln Park is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It lies in an area of cities and communities known as Downriver. The population was 38,144 at the 2010 census . The settlement was organized as a village in 1921, and reorganized as a city in 1925. The area was originally home to...
police department (against the pleas of his mother), his interest stirred by his desire to drive and ride the fast, high-performance police cars and motorcycles. His mother had him removed from the force, pointing out to department officials that at age nineteen, he was below the department's minimum required age.
Tucker and his new wife, Vera (married in 1923 at age 20), then took over a 6-month lease on a gas station near Lincoln Park, running the station together. Vera would run the station during the day, while Preston worked on the Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
assembly line. After the lease ran out, Tucker quit Ford and returned to the police force again, but in his first winter back he was banned from driving police vehicles by the force after using a blowtorch to cut a hole in the dashboard of a cruiser to allow engine heat to warm the cabin. During the last couple of months at the gas station, Tucker began selling Studebaker
Studebaker
Studebaker Corporation was a United States wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 under the name of the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, the company was originally a producer of wagons for farmers, miners, and the...
cars on the side. He met well known automobile salesman Mitchell W. Dulian, who hired Tucker as a car salesman at his Detroit dealership. Tucker did very well with Dulian, but his dealership was a long drive from Tucker's Lincoln Park home, so Tucker quit and returned to the police force for the last time. A few months later, Dulian, still impressed with Tucker's immediate success as a salesman, invited Tucker to move south with him to Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
to work as sales manager. (Dulian would later become sales manager for the Tucker Car Corp.) Dulian was transferred a couple of years later; Tucker stayed in Memphis and was a salesman for Ivor Schmidt (Stutz
Stutz Motor Company
The Stutz Motor Company was a producer of luxury cars based in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. Production began in 1911 and continued through 1935. The marque reappeared in 1968 under the aegis of Stutz Motor Car of America, Inc., and with a newly defined modern retro-look. Although the company is...
) and John Fischer (Chrysler), where he became general sales manager. While managing Chrysler sales in Memphis, Tucker made a connection with Pierce-Arrow
Pierce-Arrow
Pierce-Arrow was an American automobile manufacturer based in Buffalo, New York, which was active from 1901-1938. Although best known for its expensive luxury cars, Pierce-Arrow also manufactured commercial trucks, fire trucks, camp trailers, motorcycles, and bicycles.-Early history:The forerunner...
. In 1933, Tucker moved to Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
and became regional sales manager for Pierce-Arrow automobiles, but after only two years he moved back to Detroit and worked as a Dodge
Dodge
Dodge is a United States-based brand of automobiles, minivans, and sport utility vehicles, manufactured and marketed by Chrysler Group LLC in more than 60 different countries and territories worldwide....
salesman for Cass Motors.
Auto racing and the Indianapolis 500 (1933-1939)
During the early 1930s, Tucker began an annual one-month trek to the Indianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis Motor Speedway
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, located in Speedway, Indiana in the United States, is the home of the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race and the Brickyard 400....
. Having a heavy interest in the race cars and their designers, Tucker met Harry Miller, maker of more Indianapolis 500
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...
-winning engines than any other during this period. Tucker moved to Indianapolis to be closer to the racing car development scene and worked as the transportation manager for a beer distributor, overseeing the fleet of delivery trucks for the company.
A better engineer than businessman, Miller declared bankruptcy in 1933 and was looking for new opportunities. Tucker convinced Miller to join him in building race cars, and they formed "Miller and Tucker, Inc.", in 1935. The company's first job was building 10 souped-up Ford V-8 racers for Henry Ford
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
. The time to develop and test the cars 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. Miller and Tucker, Inc. continued race car development and various other ventures until Miller's death in 1943. Tucker and Miller were close friends and he even helped his widow pay for Miller's funeral costs. While working with Miller, Tucker met the Chevrolet brothers and chief mechanic/engineer John Eddie Offutt, who would later help Tucker develop and build the first prototype of the Tucker '48. Tucker's outgoing personality and his involvement at Indianapolis made him well known in the automotive industry by 1939.
Tucker Combat Car and the Tucker Gun Turret (1939-1941)
In late 1937, while recovering in an IndianapolisIndianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
hospital from an appendectomy, Tucker was reading the news about war looming on the horizon in Europe. He got the idea of developing a high-speed armored combat vehicle. In 1939, Tucker moved his family back to Michigan and bought a house and property in Ypsilanti
Ypsilanti, Michigan
Ypsilanti is a city in Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 22,362. The city is bounded to the north by the Charter Township of Superior and on the west, south, and east by the Charter Township of Ypsilanti...
. He remodeled an old barn on his property and began and operated a machine shop called the Ypsilanti Machine and Tool Company, planning to use the facility to develop various automotive products.
Packard
Packard was an American luxury-type automobile marque built by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan, and later by the Studebaker-Packard Corporation of South Bend, Indiana...
V-12 engine. The car was nicknamed the "Tucker Tiger".
At least one prototype of the combat car was built. Production of the car was to be done at the Rahway
Rahway, New Jersey
Rahway is a city in southern Union County, New Jersey, United States. It is part of the New York metropolitan area, being 15 miles southwest of Manhattan and five miles west of Staten Island...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
factory owned by the American Armament Corporation. The Germans
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
invaded Holland in the spring of 1940, before Tucker could complete the deal, and the Dutch government lost interest, so he completed the prototypes and opted to try to sell the vehicle to the U.S. government. The car could reach over 115 mph (185 km/h), far in excess of the design specifications. The U.S. military felt the vehicle was too fast and had already committed to other combat vehicles. The highly-mobile power-operated gun turret featured on the Tucker combat car, which became known as the "Tucker Turret", earned the interest of the U.S. Navy. Harry Miller would later take some of the designs from the Tucker Combat Car to American Bantam where he was involved in the development of the first Jeep
Jeep
Jeep is an automobile marque of Chrysler . The first Willys Jeeps were produced in 1941 with the first civilian models in 1945, making it the oldest off-road vehicle and sport utility vehicle brand. It inspired a number of other light utility vehicles, such as the Land Rover which is the second...
.
The Tucker Turret was soon in production (initially at Tucker's Ypsilanti machine shop). It was used in PT boat
PT boat
PT Boats were a variety of motor torpedo boat , a small, fast vessel used by the United States Navy in World War II to attack larger surface ships. The PT boat squadrons were nicknamed "the mosquito fleet". The Japanese called them "Devil Boats".The original pre–World War I torpedo boats were...
s, landing craft
Landing craft
Landing craft are boats and seagoing vessels used to convey a landing force from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. Most renowned are those used to storm the beaches of Normandy, the Mediterranean, and many Pacific islands during WWII...
, and B-17 and B-29 bombers. Tucker's patents for the turret were licensed out to various manufacturers to mass produce the turret in the high volume to meet demand. Tucker's patent rights were stolen and Tucker was embroiled in lawsuits for years trying to recoup royalties for use of his patents on the turret.
Tucker Aviation Corporation and Higgins-Tucker Aviation (1941-1943)
In 1940, Tucker formed a start-up, the Tucker Aviation Corporation, with the goal of manufacturing aircraft and marine engines. The corporation (Tucker's first) was initially based at his shop behind his Michigan home. A public corporation with stock certificates issued, Tucker raised enough to develop the design for a fighter aircraft, the Tucker XP-57, which earned the interest of the United States Army Air CorpsUnited States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...
(USAAC). Development of a single prototype of the airplane was started, powered by a straight 8-cylinder engine developed/influenced by Harry Miller, called the Miller L-510. Nicknamed the "Peashooter", this fighter competed for WWII government war contracts. However financial problems within the company slowed the development of the prototype and the USAAC allowed the contract to lapse.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Tucker became associated with Andrew Jackson Higgins
Andrew Higgins
Andrew Jackson Higgins was the founder and owner of Higgins Industries, the New Orleans-based manufacturer of "Higgins boats" during World War II. General Dwight Eisenhower is quoted as saying, "Andrew Higgins ... is the man who won the war for us. .....
, builder of Liberty ships, PT boats and landing craft. Higgins acquired Tucker Aviation Corporation in March 1942, and Tucker moved to New Orleans, Louisiana to serve as a vice-president of Higgins Industries, specifically in charge of the Higgins-Tucker Aviation division. This entity was to produce gun turrets, armament and engines for Higgins' torpedo boats. This relationship did not work out and Tucker severed his association with Higgins in 1943. Higgins referred to Preston Tucker as "The world's greatest salesman. When he turns those big brown eyes on you, you'd better watch out!"
After 1943, Tucker moved back to Michigan intending to start his own auto company, the Tucker Corporation.
Tucker Corporation and the 1948 Tucker Sedan (1944–1947)
After the war, the public was ready for totally new car designs. But the Big Three Detroit automakers had not developed any new models since 1941, and were in no hurry to introduce them. This provided great opportunities for new, small independent automakers who could develop new cars more rapidly than the huge legacy automakers. Tucker saw this as his opportunity to develop and bring his "car of tomorrow" to market. Another small automaker, StudebakerStudebaker
Studebaker Corporation was a United States wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 under the name of the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, the company was originally a producer of wagons for farmers, miners, and the...
, 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.
Tucker's first design appeared in Science Illustrated magazine in December 1946, showing a futuristic version of the car with a hydraulic drive system designed by George Lawson, along with a photo of a 1/8 scale model blown up to appear full sized, titled the "Torpedo on Wheels". This was only an early rendering of the proposal, with its design features yet to meet reality, but the motoring public was now excited about the Tucker.
To finish the prototype design and get construction underway, Tucker hired famed stylist Alex Tremulis
Alex Tremulis
Alexander Sarantos Tremulis was an industrial designer in the North American automotive industry...
, previously of Auburn
Auburn Automobile
Auburn was a brand name of American automobiles produced from 1900 through 1936.-Corporate history:The Auburn Automobile Company grew out of the Eckhart Carriage Company, founded in Auburn, Indiana, in 1875 by Charles Eckhart...
/Cord
Cord Automobile
Cord was the brand name of a United States automobile, manufactured by the Auburn Automobile Company from 1929 through 1932 and again in 1936 and 1937....
/Duesenberg
Duesenberg
Duesenberg was an Auburn, Indiana based American luxury automobile company active in various forms from 1913 to 1937, most famous for its high-quality passenger cars and record-breaking racing cars.-History:...
, on December 24, 1946 and gave him just six days to finalize the design. On December 31, 1946, Tucker approved Tremulis' preliminary design. Tucker's future-car became known as the "Tucker Torpedo" from the first Lawson sketch; however not desiring to bring to mind the horrors of WWII, Tucker quickly changed the name to the "Tucker '48". With Tremulis' design sketch, a full page advertisement was run in March 1947 in many national newspapers claiming "How 15 years of testing produced the car of the year". Tucker said he had been thinking about the car for 15 years. This second advertisement described specifically many of the innovative features Tucker proposed for his car, many of which would not make it to the final car, while many others did. This advertisement had the public very excited about this car, but Tucker had much work to do before a prototype was ready to be shown.
To finalize the design, Tucker hired the New York design firm J. Gordon Lippincott
Lippincott
Lippincott is a consulting firm that primarily deals with brand strategy and the development of corporate identities. The firm was founded in 1943 by J. Gordon Lippincott and Walter P. Margulies as Lippincott & Margulies....
to create an alternate body. Only the front end and horizontal taillight bar designs were retained for the final car. Another car, a sportier version of the Tucker '48 called the Tucker Talisman, was sketched as well, but never left the drawing board.
To diversify his corporation, Tucker imported Italian engineer Secondo Campini
Secondo Campini
Secondo Campini was an Italian engineer and one of the pioneers of the jet engine.Campini was born at Bologna, Emilia-Romagna. In 1931 he wrote a proposal for the Italian Air Ministry on the value of jet propulsion and in 1932 demonstrated a jet-powered boat in Venice...
, who was well known and respected in the aviation industry. He was put in charge of pursuing a US Air Force development contract, hoping to use Tucker's huge Chicago factory to someday build more than just cars. Campini and Tucker also began developing plans for a gas turbine
Gas turbine
A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of internal combustion engine. It has an upstream rotating compressor coupled to a downstream turbine, and a combustion chamber in-between....
-powered car to be produced by Tucker.
The Tucker Export Corporation was also formed, based in New York, which was established as an entity to manage worldwide sales of Tucker's cars. Headed by Tucker's long-time friend, Colombian Max Garavito, distributorships were set up internationally, including South America and South Africa.
Tucker assembled a group of leaders for his corporation that read like a "who's who" of the automotive industry:
- Fred Rockelman; Tucker VP and Sales Director (Formerly president of Plymouth)
- Hanson Brown; Executive VP (Formerly VP for General Motors)
- KE Lyman; Development engineer (Formerly of Bendix CorporationBendix CorporationThe Bendix Corporation was an American manufacturing and engineering company which during various times in its 60 year existence made brake systems, aeronautical hydraulics, avionics, aircraft and automobile fuel control systems, radios, televisions and computers, and which licensed its name for...
and Borg-Warner) - Ben Parsons; Tucker engineering VP and chief engineer (International fuel injection expert)
- Lee S. Treese; VP of manufacturing (Formerly a Ford executive)
- Herbert Morley; Director of materials (Formerly Borg-Warner plant manager)
- Robert Pierce; VP and Treasurer (Formerly secretary of Briggs Manufacturing)
Tucker and his colleagues were able to obtain the largest factory building in the world, the 475 acres (1.9 km²) Dodge Chicago Aircraft Engine Plant, which was later known as the Chicago Dodge Plant
Dodge Chicago Plant
The main building of the Dodge Chicago plant covered eighty-two acres and occupied over 30 city blocks and at the time it was the largest building in the world. Although Mr...
, from the War Assets Administration
War Assets Administration
The War Assets Administration was established in the Office for Emergency Management, effective March 25, 1946, by EO 9689, January 31, 1946. American factorieshad produced massive amounts of weaponry during the World War II...
. The facility had previously been used to build the massive Wright R-3350
Wright R-3350
The Wright R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone was one of the most powerful radial aircraft engines produced in the United States. It was a twin row, supercharged, air-cooled, radial engine with 18 cylinders. Power ranged from 2,200 to over 3,700 hp , depending on the model...
Cyclone engines for B-29 Superfortress
B-29 Superfortress
The B-29 Superfortress is a four-engine propeller-driven heavy bomber designed by Boeing that was flown primarily by the United States Air Forces in late-World War II and through the Korean War. The B-29 was one of the largest aircraft to see service during World War II...
aircraft during WWII. Tucker, thinking long-term, believed this large facility would fit his long-term goal of producing an entire line of Tucker automobiles under one roof.
Tucker signed the lease in July 1946, contingent on him raising $15 million in capital by March 1947. Tucker needed this money to get going, so he began raising money by selling dealership rights and floating a $20 million stock issue through the Chicago brokerage firm Floyd D. Cerf. With over $17 million in the bank by 1947, the Tucker Corporation was up and running.
While Tucker ultimately got the plant, he was not able to move in until September 1947, due to delays caused by counter-claims and disputes over the plant between Tucker and the Lustron Corporation. This delayed Tucker by almost a year, during which time development of the car continued at his Michigan machine shop. Tucker planned for 60,000 cars a year with 140/day produced for the first 4 months and 300/day produced after this.
Tucker suffered another setback when his bids to obtain two steel mills to provide raw materials for his cars were rejected by the WAA under a shroud of questionable politics.
Tucker's specifications for his revolutionary car called for a rear engine
RR layout
In automotive design, a RR, or Rear-engine, Rear-wheel drive layout places both the engine and drive wheels at the rear of the vehicle. In contrast to the RMR layout, the center of mass of the engine is between the rear axle and the rear bumper....
, a low-RPM 589 cubic inch engine with hydraulic valves instead of a camshaft
Camshaft
A camshaft is a shaft to which a cam is fastened or of which a cam forms an integral part.-History:An early cam was built into Hellenistic water-driven automata from the 3rd century BC. The camshaft was later described in Iraq by Al-Jazari in 1206. He employed it as part of his automata,...
, fuel injection
Fuel injection
Fuel injection is a system for admitting fuel into an internal combustion engine. It has become the primary fuel delivery system used in automotive petrol engines, having almost completely replaced carburetors in the late 1980s....
, direct-drive torque converter
Torque converter
In modern usage, a torque converter is generally a type of hydrodynamic fluid coupling that is used to transfer rotating power from a prime mover, such as an internal combustion engine or electric motor, to a rotating driven load...
s on each rear wheel (instead of a transmission), disc brake
Disc brake
The disc brake or disk brake is a device for slowing or stopping the rotation of a wheel while it is in motion.A brake disc is usually made of cast iron, but may in some cases be made of composites such as reinforced carbon–carbon or ceramic matrix composites. This is connected to the wheel and/or...
s, the location of all instruments within the diameter and reach of the steering wheel, a padded dashboard, self-sealing tubeless tires, independent springless suspension, a chassis which protected occupants in a side impact, a roll bar within the roof, a laminated windshield designed to pop out during an accident, and a center "cyclops" headlight which would turn when steering at angles greater than 10 degrees in order to improve visibility around corners during night driving.
While most of these innovations made it to the final 51 prototypes, several were dropped due to cost and lack of time to develop such mechanically complicated designs. The low-RPM 589-cubic-inch engine with its individual torque converters, mechanical fuel injection, and the disc brakes were all dropped during the design and testing phase.
Having run out of time to develop the 589-cubic-inch engine for the car, Tucker ultimately settled on a modified 334 in3 (5.47 L) Franklin O-335 aircraft engine. He liked the engine so much he purchased its manufacturer, Aircooled Motors in New York, for $1.8 million in 1947. This secured a guaranteed engine supply for his car.
Turmoil surrounding Tucker Corporation (1946-1948)
Kaiser-Frazer
The Kaiser-Frazer Corporation was the result of a partnership between automobile executive Joseph W. Frazer and industrialist Henry J. Kaiser. In 1947, the company acquired the automotive assets of Graham-Paige, of which Frazer had been president before the Second World War...
was given millions of dollars in grants towards development of a new car, and subsequently squandered the money. While Tucker took no money from the federal government, small upstart automakers were under intense SEC scrutiny, and Tucker was no exception.
One of Tucker's most innovative business ideas caused the most trouble for the company and was used by the SEC to spark its formal investigation. His Accessories Program raised funds by selling accessories before the car was even in production. Potential buyers who purchased Tucker accessories were guaranteed a spot on the dealer waiting list for a Tucker '48 car. Tucker also began selling dealerships before the car was ready for production, and at the time of the trial had sold over 2000 dealerships nationwide at a price of $7500 to nearly $30,000 each.
Feeling pressure from the SEC, Harry Aubrey Toulmin, Jr., the chairman of the Tucker board of directors, resigned and wrote a letter to the SEC on September 26, 1947, in an attempt to distance himself from the company. In the letter, Toulmin indicated that he quit "because of the manner in which Preston Tucker is using the funds obtained from the public through sale of stock." Describing Tucker as "a tall, dark, delightful, but inexperienced boy", Toulmin added that the Tucker '48 machine "does not actually run, it just goes 'goose-geese'" and "I don't know if it can back up." In reply, Tucker stated that he had asked Toulmin to resign "to make way for a prominent man now active in the automobile industry." The "prominent man" turned out to be Preston Tucker himself.
In late 1947, a radio segment on Tucker by popular journalist Drew Pearson
Drew Pearson (journalist)
Andrew Russell Pearson , known professionally as Drew Pearson, was one of the best-known American columnists of his day, noted for his muckraking syndicated newspaper column "Washington Merry-Go-Round," in which he attacked various public persons, sometimes with little or no objective proof for his...
criticized the Tucker '48, calling it the "tin goose" and noting that the first prototype "could not even back up" (referring to Toulmin's "goose-geese" comments). The first prototype lacked a reverse gear because Tucker had not had time to finish the direct torque drive by the time of the car's unveiling. This was corrected in the final driveline, but the public damage was done and a negative media feeding frenzy resulted. Tucker responded by publishing a full page advertisement in many national newspapers with "an open letter to the automobile industry", where he subtly hinted that his efforts to build the cars were being stymied by politics and an SEC conspiracy. Nonetheless, dealership owners began filing lawsuits to recover their money, and Tucker's stock value plummeted.
SEC trial and demise of the Tucker Corporation (1949-1950)
In 1949, Tucker surrendered his corporate records to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. United States AttorneyUnited States Attorney
United States Attorneys represent the United States federal government in United States district court and United States court of appeals. There are 93 U.S. Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands...
Otto Kerner, Jr.
Otto Kerner, Jr.
Otto Kerner, Jr. was the 33rd Governor of Illinois from 1961 to 1968. He is best known for chairing the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders and for accepting bribes....
began a grand jury investigation in February 1949. On March 3, 1949, a federal judge handed control of the Tucker Corporation over to Aaron J. Colnon and John H. Schatz. Soon thereafter on June 10, 1949, Tucker and six other Tucker Corporation executives were indicted on 25 counts of mail fraud, five counts of violations of SEC regulations and one count of conspiracy to defraud. The indictment included 46-year-old Tucker, Harold A. Karsten, 58, "alias Abe Karatz"; Floyd D. Cerf, 61 (whose firm had handled the stock offering); Robert Pierce, 63; Fred Rockelman, 64; Mitchell W. Dulian, 50, Tucker sales manager; Otis Radford, 42, Tucker Corporation comptroller; and Cliff Knoble, 42, Tucker advertising manager.
Tucker publicly called the charges "silly and ridiculous" and hailed the indictment as "an opportunity to explain our side of the story". Tucker and his colleagues' defense was handled by a team of attorneys led by William T. Kirby
William T. Kirby
William T. Kirby was a founding member of the board of directors and Chairman of the Board of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation....
.
Another publication, Collier's magazine
Collier's Weekly
Collier's Weekly was an American magazine founded by Peter Fenelon Collier and published from 1888 to 1957. With the passage of decades, the title was shortened to Collier's....
, ran an article critical of Tucker on June 25, 1949, which included leaked details of the SEC report (which was never released publicly). This article was reprinted in Readers Digest as well, expanding the scope of the negative press concerning Preston Tucker.
The trial began on October 4, 1949, presided over by Judge Walter J. LaBuy
Walter J. LaBuy
Walter J. LaBuy was a United States federal judge.Born in Dodge County, Wisconsin, LaBuy received an LL.B. from DePaul University College of Law in 1912. He was in private practice in Chicago, Illinois from 1912 to 1933. He was a member of the Board of Commissioners, Cook County, Illinois from...
. Tucker Corporation's factory was closed on the very same day. At that point, only 37 Tucker '48s had been built. A corps of 300 loyal employees returned to the factory (some without pay) and finished assembly of another 13 cars for a total production of 50 cars (not including the prototype).
At trial, the government contended that Tucker never intended to produce a car. Throughout the trial, the SEC report on Tucker was classified as "secret" and Tucker's attorneys were never allowed to view or read it, but it was leaked to the press nevertheless.
As the trial proceeded, the government and SEC brought several witnesses (mostly former Tucker employees) to highlight the rudimentary methods used by Tucker to develop the car; the early suspensions were installed three times before they worked, and early parts were taken from junkyards to build the prototype. Answering back in Tucker's defense, designer Alex Tremulis
Alex Tremulis
Alexander Sarantos Tremulis was an industrial designer in the North American automotive industry...
testified that it was common industry practice to use old car parts for prototype builds, and pointed out this had been done when he was involved with developing the 1942 Oldsmobile under General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
.
Tucker Vice President Lee Treese testified that Tucker's metal stamping and parts fabrication operations were 90% ready to mass produce the car by June 1948 and that outside interference had slowed the final preparations for production. This back and forth between the prosecution and the defense continued until November 8, 1949, when the judge demanded the SEC prosecutors "get down to the meat of the case and start proving the conspiracy charge."
Defense attorney Kirby directed attention to automaker Kaiser-Frazer
Kaiser-Frazer
The Kaiser-Frazer Corporation was the result of a partnership between automobile executive Joseph W. Frazer and industrialist Henry J. Kaiser. In 1947, the company acquired the automotive assets of Graham-Paige, of which Frazer had been president before the Second World War...
, pointing out that early models of their government-funded new car model had been made of wood and that when this project failed, Kirby stated in court documents that "Kaiser-Frazer didn't get indicted, and they got 44 million dollars in loans from the government, didn't they?" All told Kaiser-Frazer had received nearly $200 million in government grants, but did not produce the car they promised.
After a break for Christmas, the trial resumed in January 1950. The government's star witness, Daniel J. Ehlenz, a former Tucker dealership owner and distributor from St. Paul, Minnesota, testified that he had lost $28,000 in his investment in the Tucker Corporation. However, on cross-examination, the defense used this witness to their advantage when Ehlenz testified that he still drove his Tucker '48 given to him by Tucker and that the car had 35000 miles (56,326.9 km) on it and still cruised smoothly at 90 miles per hour (40.2 m/s).
The tide turned in Tucker's favor when the government called its final witness, SEC accountant Joseph Turnbull, who testified that Tucker had taken in over $28 million dollars and spent less than one-seventh of it on research and development of the car. He stated that Tucker had taken over $500,000 of the investors' money for himself, but never delivered a production car. Kirby rebutted Turnbull's claims on cross-examination, asking for proof of the allegations of financial mismanagement from Tucker's seized financial records. Turnbull was unable to offer such evidence. In closing his witness testimony, Kirby asked Turnbull, "You are not here suggesting these figures are figures of monies taken fraudulently, are you?" Turnbull's answer was, "Not exactly, no."
After this final SEC witness, Tucker's defense attorneys surprised everyone by refusing to call any witnesses to the stand. Defense attorney Daniel Glasser told the court, "It is impossible to present a defense when there has been no offense".
In his closing arguments, Kirby became tearful and emotionally told the jury to "stop picking at the turkey," and stated that Tucker "either intended to cheat and that's all they intended to do or they tried in good faith to produce a car. The two are irreconcilable." He then invited the members of the jury to take a ride in one of the eight Tucker '48's parked in front of the courthouse before they made their decision.
On January 22, 1950, after 28 hours of deliberations, the jury returned a verdict of "not guilty" on all counts for all accused. Tucker had prevailed at the trial, but the Tucker Corporation, now without a factory, buried in debt, and faced with numerous lawsuits from Tucker dealers angry about the production delays, was no more.
Speculation and controversy surrounding the Tucker Corporation
Despite the outcome of the trial, speculation has continued with regard to the question of whether Tucker genuinely intended to produce a new car and bring it to market, or whether the entire enterprise was a sham, designed for the sole purpose of collecting funds from gullible investors. Tucker collectors of the Tucker Automobile Club of America have amassed over 400,000 drawings/blueprints, corporate documents, and letters which they believe suggest that Tucker was, in fact, developing the manufacturing process necessary to mass produce the Tucker '48. They also point to the fact that by the time of the investigation, Tucker had hired over 1900 employees, including teams of engineers and machinists. At the trial, the Tucker VP Lee Treese testified that they were 90% ready with industrial machinery at the Chicago plant to mass produce the vehicle.Later life and death (1950-1956)
Preston Tucker's reputation rebounded after the acquittal. His optimism was remarkable; after the trial was over, he was quoted as saying, "Even Henry Ford failed the first time out". Tucker Corporation assets were auctioned off publicly in Chicago. One remaining Tucker '48 car was given to Preston Tucker, and another to his mother.In the early 1950s, Tucker teamed up with investors from Brazil and auto designer Alexis de Sakhnoffsky
Alexis de Sakhnoffsky
Count Alexis de Sakhnoffsky was a Russian-American industrial designer, known principally for his Streamline-style automotive designs. Born in Moscow in 1901, Sakhnoffsky emigrated to Switzerland in 1919 and by the 1920s had become a well-known designer of European sports cars...
to build a sports car
Sports car
A sports car is a small, usually two seat, two door automobile designed for high speed driving and maneuverability....
called the Carioca. Tucker could not use the Tucker name for the car, as Peter Dun, of Dun and Bradstreet, had purchased the rights to the name. The Tucker Carioca was never developed.
Tucker's travels to Brazil were plagued by fatigue and, upon his return to the United States, he was diagnosed with lung cancer
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
. Tucker died from pneumonia as a complication of lung cancer on December 26, 1956, at the age of 53. While the death certificate read "pneumonia", according to Alex Tremulis
Alex Tremulis
Alexander Sarantos Tremulis was an industrial designer in the North American automotive industry...
, the real cause of death was "a broken heart." Tucker is buried at Michigan Memorial Park in Flat Rock, Michigan
Flat Rock, Michigan
- Racial makeup :As of the census of 2000, there were 8,488 people, 3,181 households, and 2,306 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,266.9 per square mile . There were 3,291 housing units at an average density of 491.2 per square mile...
.
Tucker legacy
In 1954, a group of investors tried to revive the Tucker Corporation by soliciting investors (mostly former Tucker distributors and dealer owners) for a new car. This effort was led by George A. Schmidt, former president of the Tucker Dealers Association. They developed sketches for a sleek 2-door convertible, but were unable to generate enough support to get off the drawing board.Tucker's defense attorney, William T. Kirby, later became Chairman of the Board of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
Otto Kerner, Jr.
Otto Kerner, Jr.
Otto Kerner, Jr. was the 33rd Governor of Illinois from 1961 to 1968. He is best known for chairing the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders and for accepting bribes....
, the US attorney
United States Attorney
United States Attorneys represent the United States federal government in United States district court and United States court of appeals. There are 93 U.S. Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands...
who had aggressively pursued the Tucker Corporation, was ironically, later convicted on 17 counts of bribery, conspiracy, perjury, and related charges for stock fraud in 1974. He was the first federal appellate
United States court of appeals
The United States courts of appeals are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal court system...
judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
in history to be jailed. He was sentenced to three years in prison and fined $50,000.
The location of the former Tucker Corporation at 7401 S Cicero Ave, Chicago, IL 60629-5818, is now the corporate headquarters of Tootsie Roll Industries
Tootsie Roll Industries
Tootsie Roll Industries is a manufacturer of confectionery in the United States. Its best-known products have been Tootsie Rolls and Tootsie Pops....
and the Ford City Mall
Ford City Mall
Ford City Mall is a shopping mall located on the southwest side of Chicago in the West Lawn neighborhood on 76th Street and Cicero Avenue. Opened in 1965, the mall includes Carson Pirie Scott, JCPenney, Marshalls, and Old Navy.-History:...
(the building was owned for a time by Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
). The building is so large that it was split in two, and even with a large open area between the two resulting buildings, each structure is still substantial.
Tucker's 1948 Sedan's revolutionary ideas in car safety helped formulate car safety standards. The Tucker family held on to Aircooled Motors until 1961, when it was sold to Aero Industries.
Today, remaining original stock certificates for Tucker Corporation common stock, circa 1947, are valuable to collectors, and are worth more than when originally issued. Stock certificates of over 10,000 shares were personally signed by Preston Tucker himself, making these the most desirable.