About Tucker
The 1948 Tucker Sedan or Tucker '48 Sedan (also nicknamed the Tucker Torpedo) was an advanced automobile conceived by Preston Tucker and briefly produced in Chicago in 1948. Only 51 examples were made before the company folded on March 3, 1949, amid allegations of fraud.
Overview
After World War II, entrepreneurs like Henry J. Kaiser and Preston Tucker saw an opportunity to enter the automobile market. The United States government was auctioning off surplus factories and giving preference to upstarts rather than the large corporations that had benefitted from war production.
Studebaker was first with an all-new post-war model. But Tucker took a different tack, designing a safety car with innovative features and modern styling. His specifications called for a rear engine like Porsche, disc brakes, fuel injection, the location of all instruments on the steering wheel, and a padded dashboard.
Famed stylist Alex Tremulis, previously of Auburn/Cord/Duesenberg, was hired on December 24, 1946 and given just six days to finalize the design. On December 31, 1946, Tucker approved the design, dubbed the Tucker Torpedo. He had also hired another firm to create an alternate body, but only the horizontal taillight bar from that model appeared on the final car.
