YAHOO AUTOS
By Nicole Wakelin
Preston Tucker wanted to build cars like no one had ever seen before. But his hopes were crushed under the heels of a fraud investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Although Tucker won his case, the company never recovered and only 51 examples of the Tucker 48 were built.
Prior to the 48, there was another car that never made it beyond the concept stage. That car was the Tucker Torpedo. But according to Wired, there are plans to bring that concept to life. This ambitious goal has been set by the son and grandson of a man who, for one day, owned a Tucker dealership.
Joe Ida had the dealership back in 1940 and now his son Bob and grandson Rob are carrying on the legacy that he started. They already built their own Tucker 48, but now plan to build a full-scale version of a car that exists as nothing more than a 1/4 scale model and a bunch of sketches.
Helping them on the project will be Sean Tucker, who is an automotive engineer at Mack Truck and happens to be the great-grandson of Preston Tucker. The group is using all the original guidelines for how the car was intended to be built 70 years ago, including the engine which called for an air-cooled motor. They’ll be using a late 90′s Porsche 6-cylinder which fits the bill.
To help construct the body, they made a 3D scan of the model then CNC-machined full-size wood pieces. The final step for the body is overlaying that wood with metal that will be hammered into the right shape.
The most challenging part of the project will be getting all the interior components. They intend for everything to work, but they also want it to stay true to the design aesthetic of the original concept. No word on when the car will be finished.
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