Tucker Turret Car

[MotoCreations]

Preston Tucker was known for his rather infamous automobile manufacturing hiccup.  Unique car though and you can't dismiss that fact in itself.

Although folks have read about, most have never seen the Tucker Turret Car which although rejected by the military, it was the turret top itself that created a large bulk of Tucker's investment fund and opened doorways for later projects.

Someone recently found video of the Turret car.  Interesting given the time era.  Looks like fun -- but I'd hate to be inside it!

Tucker Combat Car

[GAAN]

I liked that movie

I think it had Jeff Bridges?

Love the car

[GAAN]

if i remember correctly

wasn't the turret car rejected by the military because it was too fast?

[Slide Panda]

Wow, never heard of that thing before.  Seems years even decades beyond it's time in some respects.  Too bad it never saw production

[Monster Dave]

Tucker was a man who could have very well changed the automotive industry significantly. In fact many of his innovations were and are still used in cars today. In fact his 1948 sedan was one of the first to employ mechanical fuel injection as well as disk brakes, not to mention a steerable headlight.

Unfortunatly due to Tucker's lack of funds, he opted to sell accessories for the cars before the cars were actually produced with the promise of delivery. However, when the government got involved, they nailed him for fraud claiming that Tucker never intended to produce the car. Subsequently even though he was acquitted of all charges, his business dream was ruined his and innovations for the automotive industry were cut short and only 16 cars were ever produced and later over the years a total of 50 were assembled from surplus parts. Today, the value of a Tucker Torpedo is well over 1 million dollars.

[GAAN]

He went against the grain

he was rubbed out by the industry

Conspiracy theory?...bullshit, he had a superior product and didn't play the game with the big 3 and they hung him legally

[bluemoco]

That Turret Car is neat and the video is very compelling.

Would the military folk really reject this car because it's too fast?  That surprises me.  My theory would be that the cost to manufacture the Tucker vehicle is very high, relative to the simple Jeep design that prevailed.

[Speeddog]

Probably cheaper than a tank at the time, and certainly faster.

Dunno if there's a current issue HUMVEE that's that well armored?

[Ddan]

It's got whitewalls.  How could they turn down whitewalls?

[Monster Dave]

OK, so how exactly did they come up with something soooo good as the Turret Car and have it get turned down?

Generally speaking, it boggles the mind!!

[NAKID]

I'm sorry, but I would like to see a demonstration of those tires holding up to a 50 cal...

[Monster Dave]

I'm sorry, but I would like to see a demonstration of those tires holding up to a 50 cal...

Oh come on, are you telling me that you doubt a military car that can go 100mph, has a turret and white walls, could stand up to a 50 cal round??? LOL 

[Speeddog]

Well, they didn't specify how far away the gun was. 

[aaronb]

Well, they didn't specify how far away the gun was. 

they didn't even specify the bullet came from a gun

[NAKID]

Ahhh, creative advertising huh?