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Tucker #1027 was rolled during testing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway by Tucker in 1948. The engine and transmission were removed at the factory, and the chassis was sold at the factory auction. The ACAA Museum used to own some body panels to wrecked Tucker #1018, other parts were either lost or used in restoration of other Tuckers.
Preston Thomas Tucker (21 September 1903 – 26 December 1956) was an American automobile entrepreneur who developed the innovative Tucker 48 sedan, initially nicknamed the "Tucker Torpedo", an automobile which introduced many features that have since become widely used in modern cars.
In 1947 Air-cooled Motors was purchased for $1.8 million by the Tucker Car Corporation to produce an engine for the 1948 Tucker Sedan. [3] After the purchase, Tucker cancelled all of the company's aircraft contracts so that its resources could be focused on making automotive engines for the Tucker.
Tucker: The Man and His Dream is a 1988 American biographical comedy-drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, starring Jeff Bridges as inventor Preston Tucker.The film recounts Tucker's story and his attempt to produce and market the Tucker 48, which was met with scandal between the Big Three automobile manufacturers and accusations of stock fraud from the U.S. Securities and Exchange ...
Reports on this car quote it as being "remarkably silent and smooth running" and "almost total absence of vibration". [8] Two American manufacturers briefly produced cars with flat-six engines—the 1948 Tucker 48 (water-cooled, based on the Franklin O-335) and the 1960–1969 Chevrolet Corvair (air-cooled). [9]
In 1947 this engine was modified into a water-cooled version by the Tucker Car Corporation for use in the 1948 Tucker Sedan. Tucker liked the engine so much that he purchased the Aircooled Motors/ Franklin Engine Company , and it remained under the ownership of the Tucker family until 1961.
Although rare, aircraft engines have occasionally been chosen as the powerplant for road-going cars. One prime example is the Tucker 48, which was produced in 1947 and 1948 and powered by a flat-six Franklin O-335 helicopter engine. [38]
The first production Tucker automobiles were powered by a converted Franklin helicopter engine supplied by Air Cooled Motors. Carl Doman, an engineer with Air Cooled, built a higher horsepower engine, 275 horsepower vs 166 horsepower, but was voted down by management who felt the car was fast enough with the stock powerplant.