The idea of taking the engine out easily to fix things would stretch the life of cars today by a lot.

That movie "Tucker" starring Jeff Bridges was pretty good.

A senator from Detroit was on the payroll of GM, and he played a major role in trumping up allegations against Tucker. Talk about corruption.

I firmly believe if Preston was left to reach for the sky, we would all be driving a Tucker or Tucker sub brand.

Isn't it funny that the big three now don't even have factories in America anymore and sell some of the worst cars in the last 20 years? Now we get our next Ford vehicle from Mexico instead of the hardworking, unionized hands of an American worker.

It is so sad how Preston was railroaded. Our government allowed this to happen. Now, look at all the illegal goings on and they get away with it. They flaunt it in our faces thinking they are untouchable. God Bless You boys the great grandsons. What a car !

The Big 3 automakers have always treated customers like garbage.

Don't forget what THEY did to John DeLorean. Same as Tucker, Musk, Nader etc. THEY don't like to be shown up....

Funny he mentions the "smell" of the interior. I get it. Cars prior to being mostly plastic had a completely different smell inside . Hard to explain unless you are old and remember that aroma. It's like trying to explain what TV sets prior to about 1965 "smelled like" when they were turned on. That aroma of hot vacuum tubes against a wooden cabinet. If a TV was running for over 30 minutes there was this smell of hot electrical parts and wood. Not really strong but you definitely could smell it.

These Tucker bros should do what DMC is doing. You can buy a new DeLorean right now in 2019. They should just revive the Tucker and sell it as a modern reproduction.

So much time, talking about everything around the Tucker 48, so little of the actual car. All I came away with was it had a helicopter engine, radio, and luggage.

My uncle Ben Gillespie Parsons senior was the VP for engineering of the Tucker car company and he used to tell me about it. I believe it was his idea for a flat opposed 6 cylinder engine. A truly amazing vehicle I was fortunate enough to find an extremely well-made model of the vehicle at a flea market. It's one of my cherished possessions

This reminded me of the Avro Arrow. A revolutionary fighter jet, built in Canada, that was way ahead of its time. This to was mothballed due to pressure from the US and was at that time, the fastest fighter jet in the world.

The jazz needs to be turned down, or off; hard to hear them talking.

Our Bad Karma that we can't have Good Things like the Honestly Built Tucker48! 🕯🌍

Tucker was a salesman who made a fortune during the war on his gun turret patent. He went into the car business underfunded (massively underfunded) and his IPO went nowhere because not enough investors trusted him. The big 3, and the little 5 were all running 3 shifts making every car they could given the rationing of materials after the war. Every car the established companies made had two cash-ready veterans fighting over it, willing to pay over invoice for it. So we are lead to believe that in this climate the Big 3 are afraid of an underfunded dreamer, with an empty building, with one small corner filled with guys hand-forming body panels and hand-making cars, at one price point, the price of which isn’t even established because he can’t manage costs or stop “improving”? I don’t buy it. Yeah, the big 3 did some bad against him, legally. Last I heard that’s called “competition” and no one gets left alone from competition based on the brilliance of their ideas. At the same time Henry J. Kaiser took the remains of the Graham-Paige company, and with Joe Frazier started Kaiser-Fraizer corporation. Within a year he was producing hundreds of thousands of cars a year, in a real factory, with a stamping plant (something Tucker didn’t have) its own engine plant (Continental) and most importantly, a nationwide dealership body that they were shipping cars to every month, eating some big 3 lunch. GM was so afraid of K-F they sold them Delco-Remy electrical components and Guide brand lighting parts. After 10 years in the business K-F threw in the towel on the auto business, having lost $100,000,000. By now the little 5 were struggling, by 1960 there would only be two small companies left, and their numbers weren’t impressive. Let’s talk about the Tucker car. Yes, it was revolutionary. As a C-grade US knock-off of a Tatra it was different. There were no roads, save for a few stretches of roads out west where the Tucker’s performance could be exploited. The freeway system was 10 away in the future. They are amazingly competent as cars, given their kluge build qualities. The movie is a good movie, it has what every good script needs, a good guy and a villain. It’s not accurate telling of history.

Back in the 1960's my Dad took me to see one of these Tuckers that the owner had in a warehouse up on the third or forth floor in the Twin Cities. The warehouse had big freight elevators that a car would easily fit in to get it off the ground floor. Its not the kind of car you would ever forget and I remember them commenting how the middle headlight would swivel when the steering wheel was turned. Of coarse the big three had their bought and paid for politicians shut down the Tucker company.

What a beautiful car. This is a real piece of Americana.

Hershey PA has an amazing Tucker museum display.

I was a cute young thing and Dave Cammack's bartender. other bar patrons told me to see his warehouse where he had three Tuckers. Dave had a passion for Tuckers and, although I'm not a car person, I will forever be wowed by Preston Tucker and what he created!

A lil view of how safe the tucker 48 was The entire front end from the headlights to the doors was a crumple zone (like in modern cars) the motor mounts where designed to send the engine under the rear seat, and it had airbags that came out of the doors Incase of a side collision (not as safe as thought because the bags where covered in asbestos dust to keep from sticking) integrated roll cage, suspension bench seats attached via vulcanized rubber to absorb some force, pop out glass

The Tucker looks a lot like the prewar Czech "Tatra 87", a rear engined v8 and 3 headlights, and very fast. Tatra also made a car that was the inspiration for the VW Beetle.

And Yes the big three have driven MANY companies under. They are still trying to short Tesla out of existence.

Sadly, there's an old adage that applies here that says, "no good deed ever went unpunished".

The demise of the Tucker was caused by multiple factors. One was Tucker's lack of expertise in the logistics of manufacturing on a large scale. The plant he purchased was clearly too big for his current abilities. But another was the clandestine participation of "plants" from the "Big Three" who committed subtle acts of sabotage. Heavy portions of the assembly line were located over structures that couldn't support them, for example. My father worked for Tucker and invested in it. At one point he worked on setting up the assembly line; at another he drove the cars on the test track, working out bugs with the transmission. He was convinced it was an excellent car, but also saw how things were often done that, in his mind, could only have been done deliberately to cause delay and extra expense. Yes, the Big Three had other competitors, but none had the cutting edge technologies and mindset that really threatened their continued dominance. And to conclude the Big Three had no collusion with Washington is pure naivete.

Wow theres so much I could write here! In the mid 90s A silver colored Tucker was on display here a the Montreal museum of fine arts, my friend blown away like me then turned to me and said "Elton! I touched a Tucker!" That was almost 10 years after watching the movie "Tucker A Man and his Dream"., which I still watch every year religiously (im 43 yrs old now). The fact that Preston's great grandsons were there (twins no less) with that amazing gold Tucker ( same exact shade of gold as the 61 Monarch painting I finished last year) was absolutely priceless! Keep it up boyz.

THANKS FOR SHARING,ACTUALLY ONE OF MY FAVORITES…🤗👍❤️I saw one running back in the 80’s at a car show in OHIO 💚💚💚

After he was run out of business, the factory was used to build Lustron Homes, all-steel with enameled panels. Like living in a kitchen appliance. The late 40s and early 50s were a terrible time for consumers.

Got 2 minutes in before my brain couldn't stand the talking + the loud jazz music. Who signed off on this?

As a Tucker aficionado, I found this very entertaining. The Tucker Brothers are a hoot. Must be Fun to go drinking with

Build something good and you will be attacked for it......What a sick system.

Movie came out on VHS when my son was at that "must watch repeatedly or will surely die" stage and a already a car enthusiast. I think we watched that video 1,000x. Such a great movie, I didn't mind replaying that! Loved the score. So sad what happened to Preston though.

What are they saying ! The jazz !! 😫

Cool video about a cool car! Those Tucker brothers seem like such happy and nice guys! Wish them the best.

Tucker was a design genius. The headlights that turn the direction your turning the wheel came with the 2015 Mercedes Benz S-Class. I know, I own one.

Very entertaining and fun to watch. Thanks for posting this.

The music makes it hard to hear the dialogue.

I always wanted to see one in person.

Could the Tucker Torpedo be brought back to Life?

The more things change … the more they stay the same. The government is corrupt and it is sad !

Preston Tucker actually wanted seat belts and the investors thought that customers would see it as an unsafe car since it had safety restraints. Instead he compromised to have that big giant space under the dash for people to jump under during a crash😂😂😂

The AACA museum in Hershey, Pa has three Tucker’s, most of the blueprints, many experimental engines, and half a display set up as a Tucker dealer would have been. It’s an amazing museum.

Preston Tucker’s been my hero for 20 years. Named my 2015 Model S “Preston”.

The vertical radio, Chevy citation 1982. Only took them 38 years to catch up!!

They really did a hit job in Tucker.

Tucker!! the one auto maker who ACTUALLY!! had the people in mind and not just corporate profits!

That is.... GORGEOUS!

See it to believe it! 🙌

Tucker as also desperately under capitalized, that is what really sunk the company. Too bad someone like Howard Hughes didn’t come the rescue.

I think it's an absolute tragedy what happened to Tucker.!!!

This makes me so sad for America. What we could have had and what we could have been and where we are now.

In 1995 I saw a Tucker driving down the Road new Pinckney, MI.

A real shame Tucker never was able to get his wonderful car in the mainstream. I guess it's just another case of corporate greed and paranoia.

this is interesting, but the music when people are talking is killing me!

I have seen #41 in San Francisco in the 1980s in the presidio on my lunch break a few times, I talked to the owner thanks!

it's amazing how consumerism trumped comfort in the 50s, going from cloth materials in the 40's to full vinyl in the 50's, we still have the sun, legs still get seat burn but they changed to save money.

I'm just half way surprised this thing isn't sitting in Jay Leno's garage.

What a car! Note the plush headliner...

Too bad we don't get to actually hear the engine or get to see that funky gear shift in action.

Major car manufacturers in the 1920s fought against four wheel brakes as they didn't want to spend the extra money, advertising four wheel brakes as unsafe.

The big three got nervous as it would have made even their high end models look like outdated.

When people complain about capitalism, and all the problems capitalism causes, I have to remember what FDR said during the Great Depression. He said "It is not that free markets have failed in our time, but that they have not yet been tried." If FDR didn't believe capitalism had yet been tried in 1930, what would he think about America as we know it today? If we go back 100 years to the year 1920, how many car companies existed in America then? More than 100. How many car companies are there in America today? In 1920 there were more than 100 motorcycle manufacturers, how many are there today? There were even more than 100 manufacturers of aircraft, how many are there today? Tucker was one of countless examples of people put out of business by anti-capitalists. "Capitalism" means "free markets," and in a "free market" anyone and everyone can work and compete. But how free are markets in America today? You cannot build anything without negotiating literally mountains of red tape. Every design, every material, every construction must be officially approved. To open a factory today to build a car takes a decade or more, and more time and money is spent on red tape and legal fees than construction and machinery. It was during WW2 that big business and a big wartime government consolidated their interests, and began making it impossible for new competitors to rise. The federal register, which now numbers millions of pages, and countless rules and regulations exists for the guise of protecting consumers and limiting the power of business. But the opposite is true. The new regulations do not affect businesses which are already extant, and who can afford to lobby for loopholes and exemptions, it is all but impossible to start a car company today.

At the time it was introduced, The Tucker was about the same price as a Cadillac. And Tucker had only a tiny fraction of the dealers that the major brands from GM, Ford, Chrysler, etc. had. And it had no track record or reputation for durability or reliablility. And it was underpowered compared to models from competing brands. Some see conspiracy in it's failure. I see market reality in why it failed.

They attacked Preston Tucker........(Just like Trump) !!

Hi from Michigan: If you would like to see a Tucker 48. There is one at the Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn, Michigan. • Cheers from The Detroit & Mackinac Railway 🚂

Too bad this guy was not allowed to make that awesome car. Corruption and greed suck

Sold luggage and radio's---to fund development? Not much money there. Boy, we sure don't understand what it takes to make things anymore.

Actually the Tucker was a terrible idea. I am a recently retired auto mechanic with 41 years of experience. I am also a vintage car enthusiast, hot rodder and drag racer. 20 years ago I had an opportunity to not only drive a Tucker, but to spend several hours inspecting the car, and how it was designed. It was very crude, even for the time, but at the same time would have been impossible to mass produce at anywhere near a reasonable price. It was clunky, had a super rough ride, and was noisier than my drag race car with open pipes. Because it was put together so quickly, it had a lot of compromises. It did have a very solid feel, much more so than a typical Detroit car of the day. The body and chassis were overbuilt, but that was one of the reasons why it would have been so expensive to build. Same thing with the engine. Derived from an air cooled aircraft engine converted to liquid cooling, it was very complex and expensive to build, and I doubt it would have been reliable. True, many Detroit engines were not all that reliable either, but when something did go wrong, they were simple, cheap, and easy to work on. I have to admit I did thoroughly enjoy driving it, I absolutely hate smooth, quiet, overly refined late model cars. To me a car is supposed to be a MACHINE, not a computer on wheels. I am not putting the Tucker down. I would love to own one. But it was anything but a practical car for mass production at the time, and most average car drivers would not have liked it, or been able to afford it.

Please for the love of our viewing experience don't make the background music so damn loud.

Amazing vehicle. You better beleive the Big 3 were nerveous.

Well done, he was ahead of his time

True. My father had one. Drove it until it died.

Sound dubbing 101 "don't mix brass instruments with human voice".

Wow, that color is absolutely amazing!

In the 90’s after Toyota announced introduction of hybrid car, the GM response was ‘just a Japanese stunt’. Now the can’t close their factories fast enough.

Swiveling headlights are today a fancy option on GM suvs

My gosh! I've literally just finished watching 'Tucker A Man and His Dream" and admit that I'd never heard of the man or his cars. Tucker's sin was that he offered a superior competitor to the The Big Three's inferior products. This reminds me of what happened to Leyland Australia in the 1970's when they produced the Force 7V - way ahead of it's GM, Ford and Chrysler competitors. These big Detroit based companies used the Federal Government of the day to kill of what would have been (and in fact is - some examples still exist) a vastly superior car to what was available in Australia at the time. What a pity the big guys always step on the little guys.

The irony is just too much. I just watched the Tucker movie two days ago. Shows the backwards attitude that prevails in America. Because of this government. How more advanced we would be if Preston Tucker was left to go. How many lives would have been saved? Because of the improvements he made. I love this country but because of one or two people in it you can be stifled.

A few years ago they had a Tucker gathering at Pebble Beach. While on the Tour D'Elegance, one of them dropped an axle (do a GOOGLE search for the pics of the axle on the road). I stopped to help in my lowly (but fully drivable) '55 Pontiac, and the owner (I believe the pres. of the club) was rude as could be. I took great joy in leaving them in a cloud of non-emissions controlled exhaust. That experience aside, I think Tuckers are one of the most over rated cars. If they'd been made in larger numbers, no one would pay any more attention to them then any other production American car of the time.

Good lord that jazz background.

My father is almost 87 years old, and he has always been fascinated with the Tucker Torpedo, as have I, but neither of us have ever seen one in person (there were only 50 made). Would you ever express interest in bringing it to the Iola Old Car Show?

I believe 2 blue tuckers in Australia.. have seen both driving on public roads to my astonishment.

I'm at 3:23. Can barely hear the dialogue with the background music blasting.

Yeah, I like atonal saxaphone jazz noodling under the dialog I'm trying to understand... nawt.

I appreciate this car so much. No one had thought of ANY of this at the time in America. I wish I could be driving a modern Tucker.

Wasn't the Tucker the 1st car to have seat belts? besides whatever is on the Tucker those innovations are on cars NOW

Everyone always blames the big three because it makes a good story, which is bolstered and dramatized by the movie, but the honest truth is that Tucker was selling dealer franchises, stock and accessories for cars that weren't in production. Tucker started selling dealerships and stock in 1946 and by by 1949, when the factory was closed down, he had never reached normal production. Only 37 cars were finished when the trial started, but loyal employees finished an additional 13 cars to bring the number to 50. Dealers had actually started suing Tucker before the SEC trial had started. Had Tucker made it to full production, these cars would have been very expensive, as much as a top of the line Cadillac, and he had only planned to build 60,000 a year. Tucker wouldn't have run the big three out of business.

That's wild my great grandfather is cliff knoble he was the marketing director for Tucker

This is so cool! I've always wanted to build my own car too, unfortunately a patent does not ensure a contract and it's just very expensive to hire companies to build new parts. I'd like to meet the great grand sons of Preston Tucker to talk about engines and inventions. Subscribing now.

There's speculation the big automakers at the time put Tucker out of business. They were basically scared of his design.

If you notice, cars passing the Tucker on the side, while on the road. True engineering if ever I saw.

I want a Tucker 48 but as that's highly unlikely in this lifetime I'll just settle for one of those T shirts.

Tucker wasn't the only victim in the car industry

Good video, although I’m surprised you made no mention of the 1988 movie “Tucker: The Man And His Dream”, starring Jeff Bridges as Preston tucker.

If you go to a remote area you'll notice all but a few trees are the same height. Tall trees attract lightning, and so did Tucker.

‘Competition is a sin.’ -John D. Fuckafella

Why is the music so loud? Why music at all? Music off now, can hear the engine, video finished. Good content, almost enjoyed that.

Great interview! Though the dream was murdered by the feds, it still lives on. ✨

Some ___ thought we needed to hear music in the background which just makes it harder to hear what is being said - thanks so much!!

Love em Tucker's! When do We go into Production?