I tend to be a conspiracy theorist when it comes to giant corporations, especially when innovative forward thinking entrepreneurs capture the public imagination as Tucker did. Always thought of AMC as the Big 3's hedge against monopoly divestiture, they were poor enough and niche not to pose a threat to market share. If that conspiracy theory is true, the Big 3 didn't need Tucker to survive. Always enjoy your content and commentary Ed!

I'm generally adverse to conspiracy theories, on the other hand I used to work for GM. GM has always had a huge advertising arm as well as a powerful lobbying group. What goes on in the upper echelons of GM is held as tight as any state secret. The one thing we do know about GM is that they are focused on making money and controlling the economy of their industry. I do not have proof that GM used its lobbying agents to initiate or otherwise assist the SEC trial, but boy does that feel like GM to me. GM has been described as an octopus, each arm has a semi-independance, it is likely that only a small group knew about it and only one person was in contact. Whew, does that sound crackpot or what? Still I think it's likely. GM's advertising arm has all the power it needs to start a rumor, especially when the independent agents are fearful of losing a client. Even the dealers must have played a part. A customer comes in to look at the cars and innocently asks the salesman what they think of Tucker. The salesman has been given a script and knows what to say. And yes, it is hard to create a manufacturing endeavor from the ground up. But all entrenched companies want to limit competition, even hair dressers and barbers. Could it be that the many failures and sales of auto manufacturers over the years were helped along by competitors? Most US citizens would consider that fair game. Yes, a crackpot theory to be sure. BTW, the Brits seem to be quite capable of doing it to themselves. Why do I think the above is likely? I was there when GM dismantled New Departure Hyatt roller bearings. It was not pretty, not aboveboard, and not fair.

What are the movie clips you used

@@jaxkills4cash832 Tucker: The Man and His Dream, directed by Francis Ford Coppola in 1988.

what happened to the 50 cars that did get made ???

An interesting coda to this story.

@@astafford8865 Or a corrupt grifter ‘businessman’ as president. A Biff Tannen. That would never happen in this decade.

@@RustOnWheels I know right. By the way, how's your record high gas prices, 40 year high inflation, two negative quarters of gdp, proxy war with Russia, border crisis with record high illegal border crossings and enough fentanyl being smuggled into the country to kill every single American, and baby formula and a children's medication shortages doing?

reminds me of something that happened to nissians ceo recently in japan proof that american is or was one of the most free/fair countries in the world

Just looked him up. Go figure: he was a Democrat. Corrupt to the core since 1828.

I also read that those who tested the car, found it to be a very fine car!

My 3x grandfather was in Union Army of Civil War. He never saw a Tucker.

Just think if he hadn’t been run out of business he might have been able to make a car with a front trunk with more room.

Your right. What a car from someone that really likes old cars.

It was a pleasure working on this episode!

Tucker Carlson is a doosh!!!

Jeff Bridges starred in the terrific 1988 movie 'Tucker:The man and his dream'. Loved the Tuckers ever since then!

As soon as I turned on KZfaq and saw it I clicked and liked before it started

Was it? Or just all hype?

If the Tucker 48 was, as you and many more claim, "Ahead of its time" why has there yet to be a similar design appear and succeed? A large sedan with a rear mounted, liquid cooled engine. It's going on 75 years since Tucker folded. Still waiting!

@@scootergeorge7089 Yes, the problem is not having the radiator at the front. Skoda learned this with the 1000 MB which became the Estelle. Similarly, it has taken some long time to perfect the cooling of rear engined buses.

Merry Christmas to you too!

​@@john1703 The overheating wasn't problem on Franklin (O-355) engine. The radiator was placed between engine & rear bumper and it works pretty well. There was NO huge 'vacuum pocket' behind streamlined Tucker in move, which can make troubles with cooling on rear-engine bus. Tucker test drivers, which squezed this lemon long & hard, complained multiple blowing tires and collisions with birds. The car was simply too fast.

There's nothing "rightly so" about that. If Tucker couldn't make his company profitable, that's one thing, but there was no need to destroy him personally. The competition alone could have buried the Tucker company.

Wait what?

That was the scuttlebutt, but at the same time, and until quite recently, GM offered a book of options that they offered if you were willing to wait while they built it.

I have seen it before with various other car start ups, it's easy to design a car, but it's not so easy to design a car ready for production.

That seems fairly punitive. He tried something that didn't work - he wasn't a war criminal.

It's interesting that you say this. There have been so many people that throughout history started so many 'revolutionairy' car (companies). Why is it that this one is so well known, even after 70 years?

@@EdsAutoReviews such a good question. Specifically for the Tucker, I think there’s a few factors. Firstly it is such a unique vehicle. There’s absolutely nothing else like it - the third headlight, the rear engine, the exterior design- it looks nothing like the cars of the 40s. Second, I think the movie made about it kind of imprinted it in the publics mind, kind of like how Ford v. Ferrari with Matt Damon and Christian Bale made the public aware of Ken Miles for the first time in decades, and now his legacy will live on for a long long time.

Leaking coolant? Pretty difficult thing for an AIR COOLED ENGINE to do.....

@@alexclement7221 all the Tucker engines were converted from air cooled to liquid cool. Ed even stated. The engine wasn't originally engineered to be liquid cooled when it was designed for light helicopters. I mentioned the VW air cooled engine as it sounds vaguely similar to the Tucker engine. The Tucker engine definitely does not sound like a V8.

51 is the number typically cited.

We have one Tucker in Brazil, the engine went to a museum and the body is in a museum too, but with a Cadillac chassis underneath

According to the film Tucker: The Man And His Dream, there were 46 Tuckers registered as of 1988. In 2012 a Tucker was sold at an auction for 1.6 million dollars. Producer of the film, Francis Ford Coppola, has a Tucker in his collection.

Frogswurld is correct, 58 cars plus the first unnumbered prototype had at least STARTED being constructed however only 51 are considered COMPLETED. Even that number is contested as some of those were lacking engines or transmissions at liquidation (1050 lacked both), and 1027 was completed but wrecked during testing (as seen in the movie.)

@@kerblammo1600 - 51 is the most accepted number.

Thank you for this great compliment!!

Thank you for reaching out Donald! (Also through email!)

I've noticed the imfo many years ago than Tucker was inspired by streamlined Tatras.

Right! They were supposed to, but he was talked out of it because it would make the car seem less sturdy and less safe than it was.

TFL has a whole series of video covering the vehicles you mentioned.