14 Dec 06
Preston Tucker was an American entrepreneur keen to make a quick buck after World War II. With the US government putting a number of now-defunct munitions factories up for sale at favourable prices, and incentives on offer to kickstart the economy and revitalise manufacturing, Tucker saw an opportunity. Though his background was as a car salesman, Michigan-born Tucker had also been involved in building Indycars for Ford; he had designed an armoured personnel carrier for the Dutch army, and also developed a gun turret for WWII tanks. More pertinently, he was flamboyant, persuasive and charismatic, and he managed to secure a lease on a former Dodge plant in Cicero, south of Chicago, which had made B29 aero engines during the war.
Tucker took over the 475-acre site in 1946 on the understanding that he would amass capital of $15 million six months later. He did this by selling dealer franchises and issuing $20 million of stocks and share options before so much as a prototype had been made. The government threatened to repossess the plant, but somehow he hung on, and a prototype car was hurriedly constructed. Tucker hired stylist Alex Tremulis, who had made his name at Cord, Auburn and Duesenberg, and the Tin Goose was presented to the media, dealers and potential backers in June 1947.
The Tin Goose was a family-sized car, designed to fulfil Tucker's brief of a car that was very different and much more exciting than the dull models on offer from Ford, General Motors, Chrysler and so on. It was certainly different: its powerplant came from a Franklin six-cylinder, horizontally opposed, aircooled engine - one of a batch surplus from army helicopters. Tucker, no engineer, decided to have it converted to watercooling - and bought Franklin, to ensure undisrupted supply of the engine. The 165bhp 5.5-litre engine, developing 165bhp in various prototype forms, was relatively advanced, however, with fuel injection, overhead valves and hemispherical combustion chambers.
Tucker also decided to give the car a unique selling point: its safety. The Tucker Torpedo, as it was called to reflect its aerodynamic outline, featured disc brakes, a padded dashboard, pop-out windscreen, full carpeting and steering wheel-mounted instruments, with an external frame structure. A third 'cyclops eye' headlight turned with the steering for extra night-time vision. The car was unveiled to much razzmatazz, with over 3,000 people turning up to see it; it failed to start, but Tucker still managed to woo the crowds - and subsequently raise a further $17,000,000 by floating the company on the stock market. He also started selling accessories - car seat covers, radios, luggage - though this business, said to have raised a further $200,000,000, came under investigation.
