TUCKER "The Man and the Car" 1948 (part 1)

[johnsendz]

ther would be no Ford city mall

[LoveTipsGuru]

Tucker and I have a few things in common- we both had a leg ran over by a car and we have a passion for cars! He bought wrecked cars and my Dad had a wrecking yard where I played for hours! We both have jumped from a plane. Wow, I love Mr. Tucker! I think it is sad that the Torpedo was shut-down! I want one. She is one sweet car!

[Thirdgen83]

I wish the volume was louder on this video...

[RobertoDallossi]

There's a Tucker in Brazil. Wanna see? "TUCKER TORPEDO.wmv"

[muscle280]

In 1947, Tucker made the first public announcement of the Tucker car in Life Magazine. It was a two page spread with all surfaces covered in silver ink. The very first design had an articulated front end which would bend as you steer, so the engine had to be in the rear. The swivel head light was all that remained of that idea. The Ypsilanti transmission, from the Cord, had easy finger tip shifting, but was unreliable. The engine was not revealed but something incredible hinted at.

[OpionatedOldMan]

When you think of the genius wasted and subverted by the gov't and public opinion...

[gopconservative78]

ah the 40's where you could beat your wife and have a lucky strike while you ran over a Negro......

[VegardMinde]

It's incredible to think that before the war the west ,in many ways, had better equipment than today !

[LazySniper]

The first engine used in a Tucker was a 9.7 L engine. This engine had starting problems and lots of drag on the engine and could only produce 88 hp. So he went with a 5.5 L flat 6 that produced 166 hp and 372 lbs/ft. The first transmission that they used wasn't strong enough to handel the power. The engine stripped all the teeth off the first gear.  Just a little fun fact.

[Lubeify100]

Toyota didn't think of safety first LOL

[mljhnr1]

Why on earth would they want put Tucker out of business. All Preston Tucker was trying to do was create a safer car for people. I know GM Motors, Ford, and Chrysler were scared that Tucker would make them go out of business, but really Preston Tucker was brillient.

[Zardoz99]

Malcolm Tucker? ... of the Buffalo Tuckers?

[homebuiltindoorplane]

this was so fantastic! Thanks so much for posting this wow! 

[IHS7]

RUN BUG, RUN!

[theflorgeormix]

he needed to tread a little carefully though because the big three employed a lot of people....they also helped win the war so they were in a powerful position...still, this Company is The Apple Computer of its day of the Auto industry that they wouldn't let succeed.

[Cooleemee43]

If this car were massed produced some problems would have surfaced that today are largely unknown. The big one is the weight of the rear engine was supposed to be inside the back axle and with the aircooled engine in place they didn't have the ability to redesign the placement of the engine. As it stands the engine hangs out over the end making it very easy to spin out in wet conditions. If thousands were on the road that would have been a huge issue.

[galoon]

@Cooleemee43 True about the upset weight distribution/handling problems caused by the rear engine--this issue actually first surfaced in the 1930s with the German Auto-Union grand prix racing cars, which were all mid-engined. Later in the production run, Tucker relocated the fuel tank to the front, which helped lessen the problem--the fact that the engine was aluminum helped some, too.

[sonofakbar]

great posting  .. thank you

[soccercleatscrush]

Great video find, I never saw this. I got to sit in and look over a Tucker here in New York about 20 years ago. Its too bad Tucker didn't get to build his car in mass as it was one outragious car; wonder what the US automobile industry would be now had he got to build his cars for the last 52 years.

[Airsoftcleaner]

He was the John DeLorean of his time.

[Tankboy26]

@Airsoftcleaner yeah, without the cocaine and MUCH better ideas...

[Airsoftcleaner]

Good Point

[Tankboy26]

SO far ahead of his time, and thats why the govt. shut him down.

[genYprogressive]

Make the Oil Companys bailout the struggling car companys.

[Tankboy26]

@genYprogressive dont we all wish... too bad that would fuck up their NWO plans.

[genYprogressive]

Hey at least the electric cars are back, now that they are forced to build the kind of cars that people want.

[Tankboy26]

oddly (and suspiciously) technology for such vehicles has not advance much further than the technology of the 70's, tonnes of heavyweight lead-acid batteries, and no REAL solution to re-charging them. the costs of purchasing such vehicles is far too high for the average American to purchase said vehicle, and when you get right down to it, fossil fuels are behind actually charging them. so where is the advantage? Where is the REAL reduction in our carbon-footprint?

[genYprogressive]

Of course. That is why they all have Lithium-ion batterties.

Believe me I have looked at this and even if the electricity that charged them came from coal the carbon-footprint will be reduced alot.

[Tankboy26]

@genYprogressive ok, ya got me there... 4got they were lithium-ion... regardless I'd still like to see something better... im all for either nat. gas (of which we have nearly and ENDLESS supply of) or hydrogen... imho, thats the way to go..

[sketchyinc]

@Tankboy26 Damn good point!

[KhmerSerey1]

Only 51 of these cars were built back in 1948 ,what a beauty ain't it ?? it got front seat passenger crash cellar and adjustable center headlight too...

[trh55]

Lots of hard working normal families.

[wizzard1956]

anybody know what the Tucker children are doing as generations have passed but I wonder if oil runs in the blood of the children and grandchildren , if anyone knows them write me here at my you tube site wizzard1956 or at my space as russell the wizzard Im a engineer who builds cars in Roswell New Mexico oct 23rd 2009

[Cooleemee43]

@wizzard1956 -The only thing I can tell you is that there was a company that was going to produce 51 new modern Tuckers with the same look of the original. Only a couple were produced but I remember the unveiling in Tuckers home town at the original family home. His grandson was there to celebrate the car and his father. It isn't much but you can probably find the story on the web somewhere. Good luck.

[Seattlecarnut]

Awesome video! I've seen the movie "Tucker: the Man and His Dream", starring Jeff Bridges, and was interested in the car ever since. It's too bad the company was shot down before it left the ground. Just think what would've been. We'd have rear-engined cars long before the Corvair. It may, or may not have taken over the auto industry, but it may have offered an alternative to what Detroit was currently offering at the time.

[jjlpinct]

what the second guy said....

one of thems a million bucks today

Good stuff thanks!

[elgatovolador71]

Imagine the technology he had back then no thanks to politics thats why mankind progress in this country sucks if Tucker were making cars today he would have V8s powerfull and economical as well diesel engines way much economical with sufficient power i hope the politicians that sunk the tucker corp. eating up their words and lauphings of what mr Tucker said it came out true the U.S. is buying and helping former enemies bunch of crap

[jbyrd0861]

not well worded gramaticaly....but well said...way to crush the inovative small man...hind sights 20/20 i guess

[Seattlecarnut]

@elgatovolador71 Unfortunately, big govt. and big business seems to see little guys like Preston Tucker as a serious threat.

[ATARI800XLfan]

@elgatovolador71 It was big business paying politicians off and running there competition out of business. It is the government not having enough rules against big business and letting them do whatever they want. That is why the country is the way it is.