01
Origins
Preston Tucker's 48 promised the future in 1947: a rear-mounted flat-six converted from helicopter use, a padded crash cabin with a windscreen designed to pop out on impact, and a central third headlamp that steered with the front wheels. The specification read like science fiction beside the warmed-over pre-war cars Detroit was selling, and deposits flooded in. Then came the SEC investigation over the company's unorthodox financing — dealerships and accessories sold before cars existed. Tucker was acquitted on every count in 1950, but the trial had destroyed the company; just 51 cars were built in a vast Chicago plant meant for thousands. Whether Tucker was a visionary strangled by the establishment or a promoter outrunning his engineering remains argued. The surviving cars, meticulously hoarded, now trade for millions either way.
1948 Tucker Torpedo rear · Sfoskett, Sfoskett on English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0
