1946
Tucker Torpedo
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following people got the answer correct:
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Green (Manchester, UK), Jeff,
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| 1946
Tucker Torpedo |
| Engine |
flat
six helicopter unit, overhead-valve. |
| Bore
X Stroke |
127mm
x 127mm |
| Capacity |
9651
cc |
| Maximum
power |
150
bhp |
| Transmission |
Tuckermatic
torque converter. |
| Chassis |
perimeter
frame |
| Suspension |
Independent,
rubber in torsion and wishbone links all round. |
| Brakes |
discs
all round. |
| Bodywork |
streamline
saloon |
| Max.
Speed (approx.) |
130
mph (210 kph) |
More
info on Tucker:
Link suggested by Frank Calandra (NY, USA)
http://www.tuckerclub.org
|
1946
Tucker Torpedo
Preston
Tucker was an inventive engineer who had worked with the great
Harry Miller in the 1930s, and saw the oppurtunity for producing
a super-safe 120 mph (193 kph) dream car to meet the new perceptions
of the atomic age.
Styled by ex-Duesenberg designer Alex Tremulis, the 1946 Tucker
Torpedo seemed to have met Preston Tucker's demand for a car
that was truly ahead of its time. At the rear of the streamlined
body - its drag coefficient was said to be only 0.30 which is
impressive even by today's standards - was originally mounted
a massive 9651 cc flat-six engine designed by Ben Parsons.
The intension was that this huge power unit would be low-stressed
and thus long-lived, but problems in readying this engine for
production prompted the adoption of a flat-six Franklin helicopter
engine, which had been converted to sealed-system water-cooling
to overcome customer prejudices. Tucker planned that later Torpedoes
would have a specially-built Caproni turbine engine.
The Torpedo was full of safety features that would not become
general practice for another 20 or 30 years, like all-round
disc brakes, a pop-out windscreen and padded dashboard.
Suspension was independent all-round, and early cars were fitted
with Tuckermatic transmissions which had only 30 basic parts.
Problems, however, dictated that production Torpedoes used an
ex-Cord four-speed manual gearbox with electric preselector
shift.
Tucker had produced some 50 cars in a former Dodge aircraft
plant in Chicago when he was taken to court by the Securities
Exchange Commission and accused of stock fraud after he had
applied for a $30 million loan from the US Reconstruction Finance
Committee.
Though Tucker was exonerated, the damage had been done; the
court hearing had labelled Tucker a fraud, and the public was
all too ready to believe the smear campaign. Production never
restarted.
Preston Tucker died of lung cancer in 1956 while negotiating
to build a small car, the Carioca, in Brazil.
|
