This Month in Tucker History

1946 - It was in November of 1946 that articles detailing concepts for the “Car of the Future” appeared on newsstands in both Mechanics Illustrated and Popular Mechanics magazines. A year later in November 1947, the Tucker Corporation was well on its way to bringing the Tucker ’48 to the car-hungry public.

1947 - The company launched a national advertising campaign featuring full-page (or two-page) ads in Colliers, Saturday Evening Post, Life, The New Yorker and Time magazines. Its ten-year lease of the former Dodge Chicago plant formerly began and the company was awarded six different patents. The day after the failed testing of the 589 engine, Tucker Corporation contracted with Hoffman Motor Development Company of Detroit, MI to build six engines. In the arrangement, Borg Warner Corporation would also develop three experimental transmissions for Tucker. The development of each would end just four months later when the Aircooled Motors 335 engine was selected to power the Tucker ’48.

1948 - By November of 1948, Tucker Corporation sees the value of its stock fall to an all-time low and suspends plant operations. In less than a year, criminal indictments are issued against Preston Tucker and seven associates, and a trial begins in October of 1949. By the following January all defendants in the case are found NOT GUILTY.