One of the most famous cars that came from a company that eventually failed was the Tucker 48 which was developed and invented by Preston Tucker. Unfortunately, because of the charges that came against him, brought about mostly by other automakers in the country, Preston Tucker was never able to produce and develop the inventions he had come up with that might have eventually made things better for the automotive world. The one thing we can all think of when the name Preston Tucker comes up is his famous car, which only was produced in 51 units, but this man had a lot more to offer.
Tucker was a man that was an inventor at heart and he knew there were better ways to make things work and function in the automotive industry. If it wasn’t for the federal litigation that ruined him financially he might have been able to bring some of his inventions to the market much sooner. He was granted several patents for the inventions he came up with, some of which would have made it into vehicles in the 1950s if the Tucker car company had been able to continue to flourish and grow.
A few of the patents he owned
Before World War II, with the thought and knowledge that air-to-air combat would be an important part of the war, Tucker developed a gun control mechanism that would be better than what was currently being used. This mechanism was on that used electricity to control the gun turret and he was granted two patents for the invention. Unfortunately, this design was never used in combat by the military because his company wasn’t equipped to manufacture the devices and create the numbers that would be needed to fill a military order.
Some of the items he had in his cars that were considered to be on the cutting edge of design included items such as a steering wheel that was contained in the car’s instrument panel, which he received a patent for but was never able to develop. the Tucker autos also used a Torsilastic suspension which was another item he had a patent for so that he could put it in his cars. He was also granted a patent for an independent wheel suspension which was another item that was designed by him but it never made it to the car because the patent wasn’t granted until 1950.
Preston Tucker developed or invented several items for cars and for other areas of the industry in order to help develop and create the next level of technology. The Tucker 48 was originally thought to be the “Car of Tomorrow” as one of the most advanced vehicles ever built. Unfortunately, the federal court case cost him his company and eventually he passed away shortly after the case came to a conclusion. If he had been successful, Tucker might have been able to offer us more of these items in the cars that were a staple of the 1950s and 1960s.