After World War II, the public was ready for new car designs and Preston Tucker had his sights aimed at producing something entirely new. The Tucker 48, commonly but incorrectly referred to as the Tucker Torpedo, was an automobile conceived in Ypsilanti, Michigan and briefly produced in Chicago, Illinois in 1948. Only 51 cars were made during the company’s short life, including the prototype known as the “Tin Goose.” The most recognizable feature of the Tucker 48 was a third directional “cyclops eye” headlamp. Centrally located, it would activate at steering angles greater than 10 degrees to light the car’s path around corners. Other unique safety features to the Tucker are a pop-out windshield in the event of a crash, padded dashboard, built in roll-bar in the roof, and a spacious front passenger crash “safety chamber” to duck into if you saw an accident was inevitable. Tuckers were rear-engined and powered by a modified horizontally opposed 334 CID boxer-6 engine originally designed for Franklin helicopters. Early Tuckers used pre-select manual transmissions from the 1936-37 Cord 810/812 but they proved troublesome, so these transmissions were modified by Tucker and renamed the Y-1 (Ypsilanti-1) transmission. At least three Tuckers were reportedly installed with TuckerMatic (automatic) transmissions, but only one is known to exist today. On March 3, 1949, the Tucker Car Corporation was forced to declare bankruptcy and cease all operations due to negative publicity initiated by the news media, a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation, and a heavily publicized stock fraud trial. All was later proven baseless in a court of law and Preston Tucker was acquitted of all charges. Unfortunately, by this time the company had been destroyed and Tucker cars would become yet another fascinating chapter in automotive history.

Meet “Preston” the Tucker owned by the Midwest Dream Car Collection. It is the 17th produced of the 50 production cars, and maintains its original body, engine, and transmission. In the 1970s Tucker #17 was in rough condition, and it was thought it could only be used as a parts car. Fortunately, the car was saved, and work was begun by at least two previous owners to begin the restoration. In 2003 several hundred thousand dollars were spent by then owner Fred Hunter to restore Tucker #17 back to showroom condition. Following the restoration the car has received numerous awards and honors. It was one of twelve Tuckers invited to Pebble Beach, and in 2011 this Tucker won Best of Show at a Concours event in Lakeland, Florida. The car is finished in a brilliant metallic emerald green paint very similar, if not exact, to the original Andante’ Green which was the original factory color. The interior was also completely redone to be as close to factory correct as possible. This Tucker is equipped with a 334 CID 6-cylinder engine adapted from a Franklin helicopter engine which is mated to a Y-1 (modified 1936-37 Cord) pre-select 4-speed manual transmission. This beautifully restored example was selected by The Franklin Mint when creating a 1:24 scale model of the Tucker and was also one of the Tucker’s featured in the 1988 movie “Tucker: The Man and His Dream” starring Jeff Bridges. Tucker #17 was previously owned by Keith and Eileen Carpenter of Parker, Colorado who affectionately named the car “Preston” after Preston Tucker, founder of Tucker automobiles. The Carpenter’s owned the car from 2006 until it was sold to the Midwest Dream Car Collection in March of 2024.

Keith and Eileen Carpenter, Parker, Colorado
Tucker Automobile Club of America
Wikipedia