1947 - 1948
- The world premiere of the much-hyped Tucker '48 car was set for June 19, 1947. Over 3,000 people showed up at the Tucker factory in Chicago for lunch, a train tour of the plant, and the unveiling of the first Tucker prototype. The unveiling looked doomed, however, as last-minute problems with the car cropped up. The night before the premiere, two of the Tin Goose's independent suspension arms snapped under its own weight. (The Tin Goose was very, very heavy; much more than the other Tucker '48's) Minor engine problems were fixed, and the car was presentable by the time of the premiere. However, the experimental 589 engine was extremely loud. Tucker told the band to play as loud as possible to drown out the noise. As the car was driven on to the platform, the liquid coolant burned over and some steam escaped from the car, but no one seemed to notice. A skeptical journalist named Drew Pearson reported publicly that the car was a fraud because it could not go backward and that it went "goose-geese" going down the road. This hurt the public view of Tucker's car, at a time in history when journalists and public officials were more trusted than they are today. Despite the fact that this problem was limited to the first prototype only, a symptom of the speed with which the first car was put together, the damage was done in the court of public opinion. A negative media feeding frenzy resulted.
Tucker suffered another setback when his bids to obtain two steel mills to provide raw materials for his cars were rejected by the WAA under a shroud of questionable politics. - Engine
Tucker had promised 150 hp (112 kW), and his innovative 589 was not working out. The large 589 in³ (9.7 L) engine functioned, but the motor's valve-train proved problematic and could only produce approximately 88 hp (66 kW). The high oil pressure required a 24 volt electrical system and long cranking time at start-up. Having wasted nearly one year trying to make the 589 work, Tucker started looking for alternatives.
The company first tried the Lycoming aircraft engine but it would not fit in the car's rear engine compartment. A Franklin air-cooled flat-6 engine, the O-335 made by Air Cooled Motors (and originally intended for the Bell 47), fit, and its 166 hp (124 kW) pleased Tucker. He purchased four samples for $5,000 each, and his engineers converted the 334 ci (5.5 L) engine to water cooling (a decision that has puzzled historiographers ever since). The Franklin engine was heavily modified by Tucker's engineers, including Eddie Offut and Tucker's son Preston Jr at his Ypsilanti machine shop. Using an aircraft engine in an automobile application required significant modification, so much so that very few parts of the original Franklin engine were retained in the final Tucker engine. This durable modification of the engine was tested at maximum power for 150 hours, the equivalent of 18,000 miles (29,000 km) at full throttle.
Tucker quickly bought Air Cooled Motors for $1.8 million to secure the engine source, then canceled all of the company's aircraft contracts so that its resources could be focused on making automotive engines for the Tucker Corporation. This was a significant event, since at the time of Tucker's purchase, Franklin held over 65% of post-war U.S. aviation engine production contracts. The loss of income was significant. - Transmission
With the 589 and its torque converters (and no reverse) out, Tucker now needed a transmission to mate with the Franklin O-335. They decided to try adapting designs intended for front-engine/front wheel drive use. The Cord 810/812 4-speed electro-vacuum manual transmissions fit the design requirements and were used initially. The Cord 810/812 could not handle the power and torque of the O-335 engine, shearing off the teeth from first gear if the engine was gunned off the line. Trying to solve this problem, Tucker and his engineers modified the Cord 810/812 by installing stronger gears and lengthening the case. The modified Cord was named the Tucker Y-1 (Ypsilanti-1) and was installed in most Tuckers. The Cord 810/812 and Tucker Y-1 used a Bendix electric vacuum shift mechanism, with no mechanical linkage to the steering column shift lever. These versions had problems with electrical connections and vacuum leaks which hindered shifting, so a new design was needed.
A Borg-Warner 3-speed automatic was tested and was installed on car #1048, but Tucker ultimately wanted to design his own transmission for the car. - To solve the transmission problems with a new design, Warren Rice, creator of the Buick Dynaflow transmission, was consulted. A unique continuously variable automatic transmission, called the "Tuckermatic" was designed, which was strong enough to handle the Franklin O-335's power and torque. It was a simple but effective design with double torque converters and only 27 parts, about 90 fewer than normally required for an automatic. The double torque converters allowed a continuously variable drive ratio with only one forward gear and one reverse gear which used the torque converters to vary resistance based on load.
Three versions of the Tuckermatic were made, the R-1, R-1-2, and R-3, (R for Warren Rice, its designer). The first version, the R-1, was not installed on any of the final cars. It required the engine to be off in order to select a gear. The R-1-2 was improved by adding a lay-shaft brake to allow gear selection while the engine was running. This version was installed on cars #1026 and 1042 only. The R-3 version had further improvements including a centrifugal clutch to help shifting between forward and reverse even further, however it was never installed in any of the final cars.
Because the two torque converters on the Tuckermatic made the engine/transmission unit longer, the fuel tank in the Tucker '48 had to be moved from behind the rear seat to in front of the dashboard for all Tuckers from car #1026 forward, even though only two of them actually had the Tuckermatic installed. This had the added advantage of improving weight distribution on the car. - Suspension and body
Suspension designs, especially the front suspension, had to be changed throughout development. Rather than springs, Tucker used an elastomeric (rubber) 4-wheel independent suspension similar to that which was used on the race cars he developed with Harry Miller at the Indianapolis 500. The rubber elastomers were developed with assistance from the Firestone Tire Company and used a special vulcanization process to produce a specific spring rate.
Tucker's suspension designs were plagued by severe stiffness throughout development which, while good for handling, caused front wheel corner lift when cornering on uneven surfaces. The test bed and the Tin Goose had a double-rubber disc type front and rear suspension, similar to Miller's race cars, which was too weak for the weight of a passenger car. On cars #1001 and 1002 the rear wheels could not be removed without removing the fender or suspension due to the stiffness of the suspension and the rear wheel arch fender design. On cars #1003-on the rear fender shape was changed so the tire could be removed easily. Aside from the fender changes, the rear suspension remained the same from car #1001-on.
The front suspension was installed in 3 versions on the car (aside from the rubber-disc style used on the Tin Goose). Cars #1001–1002 used a rubber torsion tube design which suffered from severe toe-in during heavy braking. Tucker then switched to a rubber sandwich-type suspension (with a rubber block sandwiched between upper and lower A-arms) on cars #1003–1025, however this type was severely stiff. On cars #1026-on Tucker finally settled on a suspension design with a modified version of the rubber torsion tube with the toe-in braking problem corrected.
The front bumper of the car was lengthened from car #1003-on to prevent the center headlight from being the forward most point on the car. The lengthened bumper protected the center headlight from being crushed if the car were pulled too close to a wall or barrier.
Original Tucker Paint Codes:
100 – Black
200 – Waltz Blue
300 – Green
400 – Beige
500 – Grey (Silver)
600 – Maroon - Funding and publicity
Having raised $17,000,000 in a stock issue, one of the first speculative IPOs, Tucker needed more money to continue development of the car. He sold dealerships and distributorships throughout the country. Another money maker was the Tucker Accessories Program. In order to secure a spot on the Tucker waiting list, future buyers could purchase accessories, like seat covers, radio, and luggage, before their car was built. This brought an additional $2,000,000 into the company.
With the final design in place, Preston Tucker took the pre-production cars on the road to show them in towns across the country. The cars were an instant success, with crowds gathering wherever they stopped. One report says that Tucker was pulled over by a police officer intent on getting a better look at the car.
To prove the road-worthiness of his cars, Tucker and his engineers ran several cars at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in several endurance tests. During this testing, car #1027 was rolled at high speed while driven by mechanic Eddie Offut. The car's safety features were proven when Offut walked away from the severe crash. During the crash, the windshield popped out as designed, and afterward the car started up and was driven off the track. - SEC investigation and demise of Tucker Corporation
One of Tucker's most innovative business ideas caused trouble for the company, however. His Accessories Program raised funds by selling accessories before the car was even in production. After the war, demand for new cars was greater than dealers could supply, and most dealers had waiting lists for new cars. Preference was given to returning veterans, which meant that non-veterans were bumped down on the waiting lists indefinitely. Tucker's program allowed potential buyers who purchased Tucker accessories to obtain a guaranteed spot on the Tucker dealer waiting list for a Tucker '48 car.
This concept was investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the United States Attorney, and led to an indictment of company executives. Although all charges were eventually dropped, the negative publicity destroyed the company and halted production of the car.
To counteract the bad press, Tucker again took the cars on the road. He scheduled a two-week public test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a few of the 37 cars that had been built. One car was rolled three times at 95 mph (160 km/h), and the driver (chief mechanic John Eddie Offutt) walked away with just bruises, verifying Tucker's safety features were effective. The car was started and driven away from the accident after changing a damaged tire. - Tucker '48 legacy
The first Tucker ever produced was a prototype sedan, known as the "Tin Goose". Fifty-eight frames and bodies were built at the factory. From these parts, 36 sedans were finished before the factory was closed. After the factory closed but before liquidation of his assets, Tucker retained a core of employees who assembled an additional 14 sedans for a total of 50. A 51st car was partially completed.
In the early 1950s, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida fairgrounds owner Nick Jenin purchased over 10 Tuckers, the original Tucker test bed chassis, numerous Tucker parts, photos and documents. He developed a traveling display called "The Fabulous Tuckers". He hauled the cars and memorabilia around the country for nearly 10 years displaying them at fairgrounds and car shows. His display highlighted the questionable politics and SEC fraud which brought Tucker down. Jenin sold off all his Tucker memorabilia to various sources, however some was left to rot under Ft. Lauderdale fairground bleachers and was later recovered and restored by Tucker collectors in the 1980s.
When the cars appear at auction, which is rare, they command prices attained by only a few marquee cars. Tucker #1038 sold in August 2008 at RM's Monterey auction for the record-setting price of $1,017,500. Tucker # 1041 sold at the Clars Auction on June 7, 2009 for $750,000. With the auction house buyers premium added, the total price for the sale of the car was $853,100. The car was on the auction block for a total of 7½ minutes. The previous owner paid $5,000 for the car in 1970. In August 2010 at RM's Monterey auction, Tucker #1045 sold for the record-breaking price of $1,127,500.
Fonte: http://en.wikipedia.org Características técnicas
Motor (Engine)-------------------------------------------------- F6 válvulas à cabeça Posição (Position)--------------------------------------------- traseiro longitudinal Válvulas (Valvetrain)------------------------------------------- 2 válvulas por cilindro; 12 válvulas no total Cilindrada (Displacemente)--------------------------------- 5473 cc Binário (Torque)------------------------------------------------- 504.0 Nm (372 ft·lb) (51.4 kgm) @ 2000 rpm Potência (Power)----------------------------------------------- 168.3 PS (166 bhp) (123.8 kW) @ 3200 rpm Comprimento (Length)---------------------------------------- 5563 mm Largura (Width)-------------------------------------------------- 2007 mm Altura (Heigth)--------------------------------------------------- 1524 mm Velocidade Máxima (Top Speed)------------------------- 193 km/h 0-100 km/h-------------------------------------------------------- Caixa de velocidades (Transmission)------------------- 4 velocidades manual
