HI My father worked for New Jersey machine at the time that Preston Tucker was trying to gear up but needed funding that he could not get unless he had machines for the assembly line, kind of a catch 22. as my dad told the story Preston made a deal to get machines that all were defective (cracked castings and such) to place in his plant to appear that he had a working line to trick the bankers. My father in law ordered one that never got delivered, I believe he lived in Chicago at the time. I saw the order once but I don't know if it still exists, most likely not. I've always loved the cars. and as soon as the move was shown with an actual metallic red Tucker at Ford City mall, Chicago Illinois I had to see it. Rich
What an amazing piece of automotive history that car is! Way ahead of anything of its time! Preston was the Tesla of today! Amazing car and very beautiful indeed. Can you imagine the possibilities if Preston had succeeded?! My respect to the genius innovator! He would be thrilled to know today how important his dream car is today! I bet he's smiling from where ever he spirit is!🙏 and what is very cool for me, is that I used to live next to where that historic car was built in chicago.👌😎👍
Yes, it certainly would have changed the auto industry and accelerated innovation and technology across the entire industry. The competition would have needed to compete or get left behind.
In 1977, my parents bought me a car book. I still have it. In its pages is one of these Tuckers and the story around them. Is this perhaps the only Tucker outside North America? I hope to see this car one day. I have seen one of the 7 Bugatti Royales...Stumbled on that quite by accident in Berlin, but to see a Tucker would be amazing. Thanks for this..I enjoyed muchly.
looks like your getting quite the workout with that shaking steering wheel Glenn,maybe pull into Beaurepaires and get a wheel balance,lovely car bud and top movie too
Ford, GM, and Chrysler bought off the media because they couldn't come close to building the kind of car Tucker could. The big three wanted to keep building garbage and crush anyone who had a chance to succeed.
I saw this car driving down Toorak road about 2 or 3 years ago now, It has to be it as I think this is the only Tucker 48 in Australia. It definitely caught my eye.
Hollywood made a movie about Preston Tucker. Of course when Hollywood makes a movie based on an event in history they through the history out and "Hollywoodize" it. I remember a television ad from Lexus a few years where the ad gloated about the ability of the headlights to turn with the front wheels. I giggled and thought, "Preston Tucker beat y'all to it over 50 years ago".
Depends where it would have sat in the market...The Tatra 87 seems to be a close match, it did go into production. I must say, still being a non-unitary construction in 1948 doesn't scream modernity, but still, an intriguing car and good precis Glenn
I can see the similarity, but the Tucker was wider, more squat and hence most likely more stable. I've been fortunate to have been able to look round one - they are stunning vehicles.
Well, hindsight is a wonderful thing. Quite often consumers don't want what may be the best product out there for various reasons. The history is littered with cases like this. I've been to AACA museum in Pennsylvania where there are multiple Tuckers, complete ones and the ones with body off which shows how the original engine with hydraulic distrubutor for the valves, which was unworkable. (for whatever reason this is not mentioned in the video) Sure the Big 3 probably had a part in this but Tucker didn't help himself.
Some serious bearing noise coming from the drivetrain of that Tucker. Pretty sure that one of those cars in that collection belonged to Bing Crosby. The is easily verified, for every time it goes over a bump it goes "Ba Ba Ba boom"
I don't like the rear engine but pretty near car man was ahead of his time.. That's some $ rolling there turn in that on the insurance 😲 50 cars in a year that's almost a car a week he worked his ass off not even having a start to begin with
Why is the car howling?? Sounds like a bearing is going south. The engine is 335 cubic inches, and yes initially developed for Bell Helicopter. Early prototypes were equipped with a modified Cord transmission. No more than 17 cars were originally equipped but once it was discovered that the modified Cord was less than stellar; they developed the Y-1 transmission. Cars that were originally equipped with Cords, had them removed and Y-1s installed at the factory as no cars had been sold yet. As the years went by and some Y-1s developed issues, and repair parts simply do not exist; some enterprising owners located the earlier modified Cord transmissions (which were sold at auction in 1950) and reinstalled them in a few cars to keep them mobile. Two cars were equipped with Tuckers own "Tucker Matic" 2-speed automatic. #49 was initially equipped with a 3-speed Automatic developed by Borg-Warner but this transmission was removed at the factory before being shut down and has since been lost. One Tuckermatic car survives intact but the other one destroyed. However, it's transmission does survive. The "50-Car" necessity was simply made-up for the movie. There is no legal rule that you must produce 50 cars to maintain status as an auto manufacturer. Hollywood fluff. If I recall correctly, they had in-stock at the factory in June '47.... 125 complete engines; 75 complete Y-1's and approximately 10 more nearly complete body shells on top of the 50 cars produced. Why they stopped at 50 cars could be due to the fact that, with steel in short supply.... doors, hoods and trunklids couldn't be stamped. If I'm not mistaken, Tucker #51 has fiberglass doors and a hood which had to be hand-made to complete the car. As a matter of fact, following the trial and subsequent acquittal..... Mr Tucker and family briefly reconsidered hiring back a skeleton crew to complete the intended 125-car pilot run. The corporation was far from insolvent.... according to the book "The Indomitable Tin Goose", the corporation still had roughly 8-million dollars in it's coffers. The problem came down to simple maths. First and foremost; Tucker owed back-rent on the factory from June 1947 through February 1950. That alone was a couple million bucks. Steel could now be had to stamp out more bodies and body parts but some suppliers (for various pieces) hadn't been paid since June '47. I would imagine that to be a substantial sum as well. Plus wages to hire people back, get things running again.... but then would people be willing to purchase essentially what (at the time) was now a 3-year-old, prototype with a bad reputation? It was a good idea.... but Mr Tucker and family could not logically come up with a reason to continue and let the corporation go into receivership. They did however keep subsidiary Air-Cooled/Franklin Motors until 1961.
@@quagmiredavis4117 , where engines are involved no music is best. Much of our content doesn’t have it and for our new RUclips series specific productions there is zero music over the top of an engine. The engine makes the music for us. 👍
This isn’t about business it’s a reflection of the evil and hidden power in the world. This guy wouldn’t sell his soul so he didn’t share of the bounty.
Tucker was a fantastic movie. Any car person should watch it.
Exactly Troy
That’s a dream drive for you Glenn, Nice looking car for that generation. Well done 👍
Epic mate!...getting to drive such a rare beauty...big thumbs up!
Great video Glen - what a great honor to be able to drive such a rare vehicle
HI My father worked for New Jersey machine at the time that Preston Tucker was trying to gear up but needed funding that he could not get unless he had machines for the assembly line, kind of a catch 22. as my dad told the story Preston made a deal to get machines that all were defective (cracked castings and such) to place in his plant to appear that he had a working line to trick the bankers. My father in law ordered one that never got delivered, I believe he lived in Chicago at the time. I saw the order once but I don't know if it still exists, most likely not. I've always loved the cars. and as soon as the move was shown with an actual metallic red Tucker at Ford City mall, Chicago Illinois I had to see it.
Rich
What an amazing piece of automotive history that car is! Way ahead of anything of its time! Preston was the Tesla of today! Amazing car and very beautiful indeed. Can you imagine the possibilities if Preston had succeeded?! My respect to the genius innovator! He would be thrilled to know today how important his dream car is today! I bet he's smiling from where ever he spirit is!🙏 and what is very cool for me, is that I used to live next to where that historic car was built in chicago.👌😎👍
Yes, it certainly would have changed the auto industry and accelerated innovation and technology across the entire industry. The competition would have needed to compete or get left behind.
Theres 2 kindsof people in this world..... Thosethat have driven a Tucker , and those who haven't....what an awesome car.
In 1977, my parents bought me a car book. I still have it. In its pages is one of these Tuckers and the story around them. Is this perhaps the only Tucker outside North America? I hope to see this car one day. I have seen one of the 7 Bugatti Royales...Stumbled on that quite by accident in Berlin, but to see a Tucker would be amazing. Thanks for this..I enjoyed muchly.
Such a great car, having now seen two in person I feel pretty lucky though.
You are one very lucky man to get to drive it 👍👍
The big Three kiled him because he was so far ahead of what they made back then,that simple.
looks like your getting quite the workout with that shaking steering wheel Glenn,maybe pull into Beaurepaires and get a wheel balance,lovely car bud and top movie too
yeh i was thinking the same
The Tucker was a GREAT car!!!! 👍👍👍
I never knew that there was a Tucker in Australia ..... Sad story about a man and his dream .....
Can't believe its in Victoria of all places would love to see it in person
Sad that such an innovative car never really got off the ground.
Ford, GM, and Chrysler bought off the media because they couldn't come close to building the kind of car Tucker could. The big three wanted to keep building garbage and crush anyone who had a chance to succeed.
The big 4 obviously stirred the media into bagging the car so it wouldn’t threaten them. We need cars like this today.
Great car. Very clever tucker
This Tucker 1045!!!! It was originally GREY!!!! Nice car!!! I wish I could have it!!!!!
I saw this car driving down Toorak road about 2 or 3 years ago now, It has to be it as I think this is the only Tucker 48 in Australia. It definitely caught my eye.
Sounds like GM or Ford went to the press to screw Tucker over, I wish it went into production that’s a monster 6 cyl
It had Porsche 911 performance in its day.
Excellent content ,never heard of them but wow what a car
Good on you glen
Excellent video - Just subscribed - Thank you!
A beautiful car and yes way before its time - I have a Hot Wheels version to appreciate!
Hollywood made a movie about Preston Tucker. Of course when Hollywood makes a movie based on an event in history they through the history out and "Hollywoodize" it. I remember a television ad from Lexus a few years where the ad gloated about the ability of the headlights to turn with the front wheels. I giggled and thought, "Preston Tucker beat y'all to it over 50 years ago".
Depends where it would have sat in the market...The Tatra 87 seems to be a close match, it did go into production. I must say, still being a non-unitary construction in 1948 doesn't scream modernity, but still, an intriguing car and good precis Glenn
I can see the similarity, but the Tucker was wider, more squat and hence most likely more stable. I've been fortunate to have been able to look round one - they are stunning vehicles.
There is a great movie about it.
I'd like to see it, do you know the title?
@@306champion Tucker. The Man and His Dream 1988 Jeff Bridges.
Well, hindsight is a wonderful thing. Quite often consumers don't want what may be the best product out there for various reasons. The history is littered with cases like this. I've been to AACA museum in Pennsylvania where there are multiple Tuckers, complete ones and the ones with body off which shows how the original engine with hydraulic distrubutor for the valves, which was unworkable. (for whatever reason this is not mentioned in the video) Sure the Big 3 probably had a part in this but Tucker didn't help himself.
Some serious bearing noise coming from the drivetrain of that Tucker.
Pretty sure that one of those cars in that collection belonged to Bing Crosby.
The is easily verified, for every time it goes over a bump it goes
"Ba Ba Ba boom"
Seen one in southern Tassie near herdsman cove.
I would have ordered a Tucker Torpedo with a gun turret to take on Sydney traffic...& the optional Death Ray disintegrator just for good measure 👊🇦🇺
do those wheels need balancing or a alignment, that steering wheel is shaking a awful lot!
"The opposition running scared", I recon that accounts for the legal battle.
I was thinking the same. I bet it was GM or Ford or someone who started the rumour mill about investors money.
@@v8cool231 Unfortunately thats the way the world seems to work.
Is the steering wheel shaking or is it him?
I don't like the rear engine but pretty near car man was ahead of his time.. That's some $ rolling there turn in that on the insurance 😲 50 cars in a year that's almost a car a week he worked his ass off not even having a start to begin with
I was 7 minutes in before I figured out why he's consistently driving on the wrong side of the road.
So...how does it drive???
One sold at auction for $2,650,000.00
Why is the car howling?? Sounds like a bearing is going south.
The engine is 335 cubic inches, and yes initially developed for Bell Helicopter.
Early prototypes were equipped with a modified Cord transmission. No more than 17 cars were originally equipped but once it was discovered that the modified Cord was less than stellar; they developed the Y-1 transmission. Cars that were originally equipped with Cords, had them removed and Y-1s installed at the factory as no cars had been sold yet. As the years went by and some Y-1s developed issues, and repair parts simply do not exist; some enterprising owners located the earlier modified Cord transmissions (which were sold at auction in 1950) and reinstalled them in a few cars to keep them mobile.
Two cars were equipped with Tuckers own "Tucker Matic" 2-speed automatic. #49 was initially equipped with a 3-speed Automatic developed by Borg-Warner but this transmission was removed at the factory before being shut down and has since been lost. One Tuckermatic car survives intact but the other one destroyed. However, it's transmission does survive.
The "50-Car" necessity was simply made-up for the movie. There is no legal rule that you must produce 50 cars to maintain status as an auto manufacturer. Hollywood fluff. If I recall correctly, they had in-stock at the factory in June '47.... 125 complete engines; 75 complete Y-1's and approximately 10 more nearly complete body shells on top of the 50 cars produced. Why they stopped at 50 cars could be due to the fact that, with steel in short supply.... doors, hoods and trunklids couldn't be stamped. If I'm not mistaken, Tucker #51 has fiberglass doors and a hood which had to be hand-made to complete the car.
As a matter of fact, following the trial and subsequent acquittal..... Mr Tucker and family briefly reconsidered hiring back a skeleton crew to complete the intended 125-car pilot run. The corporation was far from insolvent.... according to the book "The Indomitable Tin Goose", the corporation still had roughly 8-million dollars in it's coffers. The problem came down to simple maths. First and foremost; Tucker owed back-rent on the factory from June 1947 through February 1950. That alone was a couple million bucks. Steel could now be had to stamp out more bodies and body parts but some suppliers (for various pieces) hadn't been paid since June '47. I would imagine that to be a substantial sum as well. Plus wages to hire people back, get things running again.... but then would people be willing to purchase essentially what (at the time) was now a 3-year-old, prototype with a bad reputation? It was a good idea.... but Mr Tucker and family could not logically come up with a reason to continue and let the corporation go into receivership.
They did however keep subsidiary Air-Cooled/Franklin Motors until 1961.
Ahead of its time. Flat six like a Porsche or Subaru U can hear the thing.
Why the damnl Music
Because it was produced for TV and the networks required music. I agree and much of our content doesnt use it.
@@GlennEverittMasterofMachines
Figure a way with out music
@@quagmiredavis4117 , where engines are involved no music is best. Much of our content doesn’t have it and for our new RUclips series specific productions there is zero music over the top of an engine. The engine makes the music for us. 👍
I think I may have seen one at MGM in Vegas back in 1997. Can anyone verify there was one there please?
This is good example of politicians getting involved in private history for the personal political gain monetary gain, and satisfy their ultra egos
Way Too good a car to fail to go into production. The competition was really ugly by comparison.
This isn’t about business it’s a reflection of the evil and hidden power in the world. This guy wouldn’t sell his soul so he didn’t share of the bounty.
Shut the music off, and pay attention to driving.
Why the steering wheel shimmy??? 🤔