Preston Tucker and His Battle to Build the Car of Tomorrow Free

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Eddie Offutt had been driving all night at 90 mph. It felt slow to him as the stands flashed by his car. Here, on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he normally drove much faster. Even so, the rough brick surface of the two-and-a-half-mile oval chewed the car's tires. Offutt sailed around the oval with the pedal almost to the floor, watching the miles add up on the odometer of his "waltz blue" Tucker. Offutt was in charge of a team testing the revolutionary Tucker '48 sedan, then the hottest thing in the automotive world. More thanpeople had written letters to the car's manufacturer asking how they could buy one. So many people paid admission to see one displayed in New York City that the venue outgrossed some Broadway plays running nearby. The car's namesake, Preston Tucker, had unveiled the car to the world on June 19, Tucker, a brilliant salesman and showman, Preston Tucker and His Battle to Build the Car of Tomorrow promising a newer, safer, and more reliable car than those the auto giants in Detroit churned out. His rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive automobile featured better traction and more passenger space than its competitors, along with disc brakes and an automatic transmission, long before those became standard in the industry. Its padded dash and sturdy frame would better protect passengers in a collision, and the car would drive more smoothly and cost less than other vehicles on the market. The established car companies had stopped assembling new automobiles inspending the last few years building tanks and airplanes for America's forces in World War II. Now, as peacetime production resumed, these companies were struggling to bring fresh new models to the market. Tucker's bold alternative was raising a stir. Eddie Offutt lapped the track at 90 mph, worrying little about business problems as he noted how smoothly Tucker ran. Offutt, Preston Tucker's lead mechanic, had met his employer at Indianapolis years before, when Tucker had worked with famed race car builder Harry Miller. Now Tucker had sent his team to Indy with a fleet of seven Tucker '48s to test the cars' endurance and resolve last-minute bugs. The cars weren't in mass production yet, but Tucker had assembled enough to display them around the country and build consumer interest. As daylight began to break at Indianapolis, Offutt's drive took a dramatic turn. Just as he entered a curve at high speed, the sedan's engine stalled. In a fraction of a second, the rear of the car swung out from behind him. As he fought to regain control, the right rear tire blew out. The vehicle's tires, with a new tubeless design by Goodrich, Preston Tucker and His Battle to Build the Car of Tomorrow seen nothing but heavy driving in the previous days as the team had clocked a thousand miles at high speed, virtually nonstop around the speedway, often without even slowing for corners. Offutt lost control. He skidded onto the grass of the infield and the car turned sideways. Then it flipped. The driver held on as it tumbled over and over again, three times in all. The windshield popped out. Finally, the car landed on its wheels. Offutt climbed out and surveyed the damage. He had bruised an elbow but suffered no other injuries. Other than the missing windshield, some minor body damage, and the tire that had blown out as he lost control, Offutt saw nothing wrong with the car. Later, Offutt and the others would realize the accident was the result of a simple mistake made in the early morning darkness. At AM, Offutt had stopped to refuel the car. A mechanic had reached for the wrong container in the dark and placed aviation fuel in the vehicle, which the Tucker engine was not tuned to run on. For now, Offutt replaced the tire and drove the vehicle off the Preston Tucker and His Battle to Build the Car of Tomorrow. The Tucker team was conducting the Indianapolis tests in strict Preston Tucker and His Battle to Build the Car of Tomorrow. The Tucker '48 had been subjected to oddball rumors and gossip, like a persistent story that the car could not drive in reverse. No matter how many times they demonstrated the cars backing up, the story dogged Tucker's men. Tucker could not afford leaked test results, especially if something went wrong. Fortunately, the tests were a spectacular success. The team logged thousands of miles in the Tucker '48s and found only a few minor problems, all easily resolved. And Offutt's crash was not caused by the failure of a Tucker part. If anything, the crash underscored Tucker's assertions about his car's safety: it had rolled three times after crashing at 90 mph, and the driver had walked away with nothing but scrapes and bruises. The team drove the caravan of Tucker '48s back to Chicago, satisfied with their results. Only the damaged Offutt car had to be trailered home — because it was missing its windshield. But not all was well at the Tucker Corporation in Chicago. The Securities and Exchange Commission had announced that it was investigating Tucker, suspecting him of bilking investors with a massive fraud scheme. The latest headlines about Tucker accused him of perpetrating a hoax, suggesting that his cars weren't real and his factory was a sham. But everyone who saw the Tucker '48 sedan believed Tucker had built an amazing car. The vehicle was revolutionary, and Tucker had built it despite vocal critics who said it was impossible. Tucker had not resolved one problem though: the cars were taking Preston Tucker and His Battle to Build the Car of Tomorrow long to get to market. Could Tucker save his business? Offutt would witness just how serious the disconnect was between the reality and the government's suspicions in earlywhen he was summoned to appear before a grand jury and grilled about the Tucker '48s. The US attorney not only believed the cars were fake but thought Offutt knew it too. Offutt told the attorney about the successful tests at Indianapolis. The attorney then asked him, "How were the cars taken to Indianapolis — trucked down or driven down? Offutt stuck to his answer, which was the truth. The cars had not been "trucked" down; they had all been driven to Indianapolis under their own power. Offutt offered to let the attorney and the jurors visit the Tucker plant and see the cars. The offer had been made before, many times. And so the stage was set for a trial that would ruin an innocent man, Preston Tucker, and doom the corporation building the spectacular Tucker '48 automobile. People who met Preston Tucker described him as an extraordinary salesman. Six feet tall, he exuded a confidence that could make you believe whatever he was pitching at the moment. He was always well dressed in public, usually in a suit with a fancy necktie. But his most striking characteristic was his ability to speak easily with anyone, to put his listener at ease. His powers of persuasion worked on journalists too: several interviewed Tucker and wrote about him in such glowing terms it was apparent they had fallen under his spell. He did not come across as slick. He spoke in a folksy style, sometimes misusing words, much to the dismay of his close friends and family members. Speaking of a car with its gas pedal depressed, he might say that the car "exhilarated," or when talking finance to board members, he would reference the recent "physical year. Those who knew him best said there was much more to the salesman than an unpretentious charm. To Cliff Knoble, an advertising man who worked closely with Tucker, "he possessed a warmth and humanness that made men eager to help him. This, perhaps, was his biggest flaw. People who worked with Tucker in his most important years said that he sometimes discarded advice from experts and deferred instead to friends. Family members saw Preston not as a salesman, of course. To them he was trusting, taking people at face value. His granddaughter says he was not suspicious of anyone. Loving and warm to those around him, he was often even goofy, especially with children. His home was overrun with his own and those of other family members. And he would speak to anyone, always as an equal. Preston Thomas Tucker was born in Capac, Michigan, a small farming community about thirty miles west of Port Huron, roughly sixty miles north of Detroit, on September 21, His father, Shirley Harvey Tucker, was a railroad engineer, and his mother's maiden name was Lucille Caroline Preston. Shortly after Preston's birth, the young family moved in with Lucille's parents, Milford A. Preston and Harriet L. Preston, in Evart, Michigan. Lucille gave birth to another boy, William, in Preston's father died of appendicitis on February 3,when Preston was three. To make ends meet, Lucille taught at the local one-room schoolhouse in a community known as Cat Creek, just west of Evart. When he was in the fourth grade, Preston befriended a boy a year older, Fay Leach. In later years, Leach would watch Tucker's name appear in the news and remember the time the two had spent in the nearby farm fields. While Leach and the others were doing their chores, Tucker would be talking and asking questions of the older kids. Often, the conversation turned to what fascinated Tucker the most: "these new machines — the automobile. In Lucille decided to move to Detroit to look for work. She briefly worked in an office and then returned to teaching. Money was tight; by the family had six Preston Tucker and His Battle to Build the Car of Tomorrow living with them. Cars continued to Preston Tucker and His Battle to Build the Car of Tomorrow Preston, and as a teenager he spent much of his time frequenting local service stations and used car lots, talking to the workers and examining the cars. He even landed a job in the auto industry as an "office boy" at Cadillac in His stint there was short but legendary. Preston Tucker and His Battle to Build the Car of Tomorrow | Chicago Review Press

Steve LehtoJay Leno. In stepped Preston Tucker, a salesman extraordinaire who announced the building of a revolutionary new car: Preston Tucker and His Battle to Build the Car of Tomorrow Tucker '48, the first car in almost a decade to be built fresh from the ground up. Tucker's car, which would include ingenious advances in design and engineering that other car companies could not match, captured the interest of the public, and automakers in Detroit took notice. Here, author Steve Lehto tackles Tucker's amazing story, relying on a huge trove of documents that has been used by no other writer to date. It is the first comprehensive, authoritative account of Tucker's magnificent car and his battles with the government. And in this book, Lehto finally answers the question automobile aficionados have wondered about for decades: exactly how and why the production of such an innovative car was killed. His articles have been published by the Huffington Post, Michigan History, and other publications. He lives in Boca Raton, Florida. Jay Leno was the long-time host of the Tonight Show. His extensive collection of classic cars is world famous. Preston Tucker and His Battle to Build the Car of Tomorrow | The Henry Ford

JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. Your purchase helps support The Henry Ford, an independent nonprofit organization celebrating the American experience of innovation, ingenuity and resourcefulness. The Tucker Torpedo is a rare vehicle not seen on the road or at a weekend cruise. It was designed as an innovative car of the future in that never was put into fast production whereby only 51 were made. Henry Ford Museum is one of the remaining 47 possessors of this historic vehicle which carries its own interesting backstory. The author, Steve Lehto, tackles the story of Tucker's amazing rise and tragic fall, Preston Tucker and His Battle to Build the Car of Tomorrow on a huge trove of documents that has been used by no other writer to date. It is the first comprehensive, authoritative account of Tucker's magnificent car and his battles with the government. And in this book, Lehto finally answers the questions automobile aficionados have wondered about for decades: Exactly how and why was the production of such an innovative car killed? Dearborn, MI Click here for directions. Online store inquiries: call: Email: shop thehenryford. Skip to Content. Compare Products. Your purchases help support The Henry Ford. The Henry Ford. Popular Items. Safie Hand-packed Sweet Pickled Beets, 16oz. Who Was Rosa Parks? Skip to the end of the images gallery. Skip to the beginning of the images gallery. Product Number: Add to Cart. Add Preston Tucker and His Battle to Build the Car of Tomorrow Wish List Add to Compare. Be the first to review this product. Looking for Us? Visitor Info Tickets Membership. Contact Us For General information events, membership, etc. Event Network, Inc. All Rights Reserved.