Preston Tucker's car of the future evolved from several earlier concepts that had promised the world "The First Completely New Car in 50 Years". Only 51 examples of the Tucker '48 were built: The first prototype "Tin Goose" plus 50 additional pre-production units. The design was revolutionary for its streamlined styling and many technical firsts, but the initial concept for the car was even far more exotic than the car the public was introduced to on June 19, 1947. That initial Tucker concept, the one that only made it to the drawing boards and one known plaster model, is now being built full-sized in a New Jersey workshop where automotive dreams become reality.
At left, Rob Ida holds a copy of the "Torpedo on Wheels" magazine article from Alex Tremulis' personal archives of the Tucker concept. The car that Rob Ida is now building from scratch is the pre-Tremulis design for the Tucker Torpedo, the same one that inspired Joe Ida and his brothers to open a Tucker dealership and the same one that inspired Tremulis to approach Preston Tucker with his own ideas on the car's design that eventually became the Tucker '48.
It's by no coincidence that the Ida's Tucker builds are fully endorsed by Preston Tucker's descendents, after all, it was Rob Ida's Grandfather who had first signed up to be a Tucker dealer. Back in 1947, It would be Joe Ida, along with brothers Frank and Dominic, who was first inspired by the Tucker "Torpedo" dream car through initial reports in newspapers and magazines. The Ida's went through the process of buying a Tucker dealership and after having been officially open for only three days and taking 130 deposits on the Tucker '48, the Ida Brothers' Tucker dealership was forced to close its doors to new orders and the dream of supplying New Yorkers with the beautiful car were dashed. No Tucker cars were ever delivered, however the Ida's made sure to return each of their customer's deposits on the car. Everyone was disappointed.
Jump ahead 67 years and now it's Joe Ida's son and grandson, Bob and Rob, along with Preston Tucker's great-grandsons, Sean and Mike, who are building the Tucker from scratch. The car that's currently being built is called the Tucker "Torpedo", designed well before the car that today embodies the automotive images we think of when we hear the name Tucker. Indeed, this was an entirely different car than the Tucker '48, and one that only appeared in magazines and newsprint. The Ida's Tucker Torpedo will finally bring Preston Tucker's original concept car to the public for the first time in almost 70 years.
How Preston Tucker initially envisioned his car of the future and how it eventually became the Tucker '48 sheds light on how manufacturer's one-of-one show cars evolve into mass-produced automobiles for the buying public. So it's worth a look at how the Tucker design progressed through the years and morphed from the Torpedo concept into the Tucker '48 automobile.
The timeline breaks down the development into two distinct periods. George Lawson's initial design was called the "Torpedo" until his departure from the company around December of 1946. At that time Alex Tremulis was brought in and oversaw the development of the "Tin Goose" prototype and the 50 pre-production "Tucker '48's". Tremulis officially resigned on December 31, 1948, but stayed on with Tucker to help out until the very end and remained loyal to the vision throughout the remainder of his career and retirement.
December 1946 was pivotal in the design of the Tucker as that was the month which marked George Lawson's departure and the arrival of Alex Tremulis, as well as the name change from "Torpedo" to "Tucker '48.
TUCKER TORPEDO
It all started during 1944 when George Lawson would be the first to illustrate what Preston Tucker's "Car of the Future" would look like. Just as all designers are influenced by their prior work, so too was Lawson. He relied upon his earlier work as a GM designer in the Buick division to form his initial drawings for the Tucker Torpedo.
It all started during 1944 when George Lawson would be the first to illustrate what Preston Tucker's "Car of the Future" would look like. Just as all designers are influenced by their prior work, so too was Lawson. He relied upon his earlier work as a GM designer in the Buick division to form his initial drawings for the Tucker Torpedo.
 George Lawson's 1942 Buick concept that would form the basis for the initial Tucker Torpedo concept. Photo: Hemmings/Special Interest Autos |  Lawson's Tucker Torpedo illustration incorporating his 1942 Buick theme into the Tucker concept car. Photo: Hemmings/Special Interest Autos |
He may have started with his 1942 Buick concept, but he was also able to blend in Preston Tucker's revolutionary concepts into an exciting new package. The rear engine layout, aircraft-inspired streamlining, and headlights mounted on the moveable front fenders all contributed to the public's excitement over this all-new car. Preston Tucker was mounting a public relations campaign in order to acquire a manufacturing plant in which to build his new car, so these images were invaluable in providing his vision of what would be produced in the facilities. This was big news in the automotive world, especially as the "Big Three" had to rely on dated pre-war tooling for their post-war cars. Tucker, on the other hand, started with a clean slate and had no pre-war body stampings to limit his creativity for an all-new car design.
An early Tucker Torpedo brochure introducing the world to the revolutionary automobile. The public was thrilled with such promises for their post-war automobiles. Nothing like it had be seen before. Interest and support for Preston Tucker was growing, and safety with styling would be the Tucker's mantra.
The drawing which Lawson used to make the plaster model. This sketch is shown below, immediately next to the model.
Automobile designer George Lawson, Preston Tucker's first stylist for the Tucker automobile, working on the only known model for the Torpedo. Photo: Hemmings/Special Interest Autos
By the end of 1946, Preston Tucker had been making statements that his new car would be seen soon, yet he still only had drawings and a single 1:4 scale plaster model of the car. So in order to provide photos of the new car, the plaster model was placed in realistic settings and the photos retouched to look like a full-sized automobile.
 Front 3/4 view of the plaster model retouched to appear as a full-sized car. |  Convincing retouched photo of the plaster model in a realistic setting, used in Tucker advertising. |
DECEMBER 1946, A PERFECT STORM
By December 1946, after almost two years, George Lawson and Preston Tucker had a falling out over unkept promises. George Lawson sued Preston Tucker for $50,000 and presumably Tucker countered that he still had no car to show after almost two years' effort. The matter was eventually settled out of court with Tucker reportedly paying Lawson a $10,000 settlement.
By December 1946, after almost two years, George Lawson and Preston Tucker had a falling out over unkept promises. George Lawson sued Preston Tucker for $50,000 and presumably Tucker countered that he still had no car to show after almost two years' effort. The matter was eventually settled out of court with Tucker reportedly paying Lawson a $10,000 settlement.
December 1946 would also be noteworthy with the publication in Science Illustrated magazine in which the new Tucker Torpedo would be described as having a "series of spectacular engineering innovations." This would be the same image and description that would capture the hearts of Joe Ida and his brothers as well as Alex Tremulis. The page below is from Alex Tremulis' personal archives that he had saved. The article had made such an impression on the designer that he kept it for the rest of his life, after all it was this article that inspired him to pay Preston Tucker a visit that would shape automotive history.
Just as Tremulis was planning to get an interview with Preston Tucker, Tucker's planners and metalworkers were desperate to start building the first car. In September, Preston Tucker had promised a prototype car by Christmas. In October, he again promised a prototype demonstrator would be ready by the first of the new year. So by December, without Lawson to provide any guidance, the basics for what would become the Tin Goose were planned out in full scale by Tucker's production planners and mechanics.
In 1960, Charles Pearson described his frustrations inside Tucker's design studio, and directed his anger squarely at Lawson: "Early in December [1946], during the lull in the housing fight, I was complaining to one of the top men planning production that I wished to hell we had something better than the lousy art work we were using, because it was getting tougher to sell every day. It was too arty and stylized to start with and, worse, still, even a layman could see that it was a long way from the six-passenger sedan Tucker said he was going to build.
The production man said he was just as disgusted as I was, and if he had even an idea as to what the body and chassis were going to look like he could at least start figuring out how to build it. That was what started the first actual work on the final body design, and the entire job was completed in less than a month."
"The dimensions set up at this time were, with few exceptions, the ones that were used in the final body design. There was no great attempt at styling, though the side silhouette was nearly identical with the finished design. An extra four inches were allowed on wheelbase, because Tucker was still insisting on fenders that turned with the wheels, and the production man said there would be plenty of time to talk him out of that later." - Charles Pearson, The Indomitable Tin Goose, 1960
In 1960, Charles Pearson described his frustrations inside Tucker's design studio, and directed his anger squarely at Lawson: "Early in December [1946], during the lull in the housing fight, I was complaining to one of the top men planning production that I wished to hell we had something better than the lousy art work we were using, because it was getting tougher to sell every day. It was too arty and stylized to start with and, worse, still, even a layman could see that it was a long way from the six-passenger sedan Tucker said he was going to build.
The production man said he was just as disgusted as I was, and if he had even an idea as to what the body and chassis were going to look like he could at least start figuring out how to build it. That was what started the first actual work on the final body design, and the entire job was completed in less than a month."
"The dimensions set up at this time were, with few exceptions, the ones that were used in the final body design. There was no great attempt at styling, though the side silhouette was nearly identical with the finished design. An extra four inches were allowed on wheelbase, because Tucker was still insisting on fenders that turned with the wheels, and the production man said there would be plenty of time to talk him out of that later." - Charles Pearson, The Indomitable Tin Goose, 1960
ALEX TREMULIS ARRIVAL
The date of the first meeting Tremulis had with Preston Tucker was described by Charles Pearson in "The Indomitable Tin Goose" as being on Christmas Eve, 1946, but records show it may have actually taken place a few days later, with a call for an appointment on the 27th and a meeting on the 28th with Preston Tucker, Lee Treese (VP of Manufacturing), and Kenneth Lyman (VP of Engineering). At that meeting Lawson's drawings were reportedly discussed. But Tremulis had also described meeting Preston Tucker for the first time at the Drake Hotel on Christmas Eve and again at the offices at Tammen and Denison on New Year's Eve, so it's probable there were a series of meetings at various locations to discuss progress on Tremulis' new designs.
In any case, it was late December when Tremulis finally got an appointment with Preston Tucker. Tremulis had brought along his portfolio of futuristic concept cars. He had a wealth of prior experience as chief stylist at Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg as well as his design and custom builds while at Briggs Manufacturing, American Bantam and Custom Motors of Beverly Hills. By then, Tremulis was also an authority on streamlining, having designed many advanced jet aircraft and guided missiles for the US Army Air Force during World War II, often using the wind tunnel as a design aid. Tremulis' design philosophy of marrying aircraft technology with automobile design was identical to Preston Tucker's vision for his car.
Tremulis' timing was perfect. Preston Tucker, now without a stylist for his car with the unwelcome departure of Lawson, found his car's future designer in Tremulis. At the time, Tremulis was working at the industrial design firm of Tammen and Denison and the Tucker account would give him full authority to pursue his automotive design philosophy. Part of Tremulis' pitch to Tucker was undoubtedly the same as his April 1946 pitch to Henry Ford II.
The date of the first meeting Tremulis had with Preston Tucker was described by Charles Pearson in "The Indomitable Tin Goose" as being on Christmas Eve, 1946, but records show it may have actually taken place a few days later, with a call for an appointment on the 27th and a meeting on the 28th with Preston Tucker, Lee Treese (VP of Manufacturing), and Kenneth Lyman (VP of Engineering). At that meeting Lawson's drawings were reportedly discussed. But Tremulis had also described meeting Preston Tucker for the first time at the Drake Hotel on Christmas Eve and again at the offices at Tammen and Denison on New Year's Eve, so it's probable there were a series of meetings at various locations to discuss progress on Tremulis' new designs.
In any case, it was late December when Tremulis finally got an appointment with Preston Tucker. Tremulis had brought along his portfolio of futuristic concept cars. He had a wealth of prior experience as chief stylist at Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg as well as his design and custom builds while at Briggs Manufacturing, American Bantam and Custom Motors of Beverly Hills. By then, Tremulis was also an authority on streamlining, having designed many advanced jet aircraft and guided missiles for the US Army Air Force during World War II, often using the wind tunnel as a design aid. Tremulis' design philosophy of marrying aircraft technology with automobile design was identical to Preston Tucker's vision for his car.
Tremulis' timing was perfect. Preston Tucker, now without a stylist for his car with the unwelcome departure of Lawson, found his car's future designer in Tremulis. At the time, Tremulis was working at the industrial design firm of Tammen and Denison and the Tucker account would give him full authority to pursue his automotive design philosophy. Part of Tremulis' pitch to Tucker was undoubtedly the same as his April 1946 pitch to Henry Ford II.
Tremulis could immediately see numerous potential issues with the Lawson design and in his initial discussions with Preston Tucker he sought to re-design the car for mass market appeal and manufacturability.
On January 5, he met again with Preston Tucker, but this time he was joined by Harold Karsten (a/k/a Abe Karatz), Fred Rockelman and Preston Tucker Jr. This was to be a defining moment in automotive history.
TRANSITIONAL DESIGN
Tremulis had created a series of impressive renderings that fed off of Lawson's design, yet provided more practical design changes for post-war Americans. Specifically, he designed a four-door sedan where the doors opened into the roofline to allow ingress without bumping your head. On the bottom of the doors was a raised rocker panel so that the doors wouldn't hit the curb upon opening. The desire to seat three Chicago Bears linemen in the front and rear mandated a more conventional roofline, lower in the middle and higher on the sides, so that three could sit abreast in either the front or the back seat without the end passengers bumping their heads on the side windows. Each of the fenders sported streamlined sheet metal flowing back from the wheelwell that conveyed a unique blend of the pre-war pontoon fenders with the latest in flat-fendered side treatments.
On January 5, he met again with Preston Tucker, but this time he was joined by Harold Karsten (a/k/a Abe Karatz), Fred Rockelman and Preston Tucker Jr. This was to be a defining moment in automotive history.
TRANSITIONAL DESIGN
Tremulis had created a series of impressive renderings that fed off of Lawson's design, yet provided more practical design changes for post-war Americans. Specifically, he designed a four-door sedan where the doors opened into the roofline to allow ingress without bumping your head. On the bottom of the doors was a raised rocker panel so that the doors wouldn't hit the curb upon opening. The desire to seat three Chicago Bears linemen in the front and rear mandated a more conventional roofline, lower in the middle and higher on the sides, so that three could sit abreast in either the front or the back seat without the end passengers bumping their heads on the side windows. Each of the fenders sported streamlined sheet metal flowing back from the wheelwell that conveyed a unique blend of the pre-war pontoon fenders with the latest in flat-fendered side treatments.
  |   |
Preston Tucker was impressed, to say the least. From that point on, Tremulis would be the new Tucker's chief stylist in function if not in title, regardless whether or not he was still with Tammen and Denison or working directly for the Tucker Corporation. If there was a three-month contract between Tucker and Tammen and Denison (as he reportedly described in courtroom testimony), or if Tremulis was directly hired on the spot (as he had previously described in magazine articles), he was functionally the chief stylist for Preston Tucker, regardless of who signed his pay stubs.
In any case, Tremulis had managed to retain the styling cues and relative dimensions of the Lawson design, yet provided a clear and realistic direction in which to proceed. The moveable front fenders of the Lawson design were retained for the time being, but they would be entirely eliminated within the next few days. Charles Pearson had described the side silhouette of Tremulis' design being very close to the dimensions Tucker's men had laid out and it appears very close to the Torpedo's silhouette as well.
In any case, Tremulis had managed to retain the styling cues and relative dimensions of the Lawson design, yet provided a clear and realistic direction in which to proceed. The moveable front fenders of the Lawson design were retained for the time being, but they would be entirely eliminated within the next few days. Charles Pearson had described the side silhouette of Tremulis' design being very close to the dimensions Tucker's men had laid out and it appears very close to the Torpedo's silhouette as well.
In profile, both the Torpedo (top) and Tremulis' initial designs were dimensionally similar, a testament to Tucker's craftsmen who roughed out the initial dimensions to seat six. The same basic profile carried all the way through to Tremulis' final plan view for the Tucker '48 as of September, 1947.
THE END OF THE CYCLE FENDERS
As Alex Tremulis stated, his first task was to eliminate the moveable front fenders in favor of a more conventional design. Time was of the essence and the engineering difficulties in sorting out the cycle fenders did not support Preston Tucker's desire to have a prototype built within 60 days. So Tremulis re-designed the car with conventional fixed fenders, and made the center headlight turn with the wheels. He also eliminated the flowing pontoons from his first design series as he felt they were already dated. And Tremulis wasn't alone in his desire to remove his earlier pontoons. As Charles Pearson described them:
"I liked all except the front fenders which I thought stunk, and said so. My popularity couldn't have dropped faster with a sudden attack of smallpox. Tucker scowled at me for a week, though much later he admitted that at least he agreed with my logic." - Charles Pearson, The Indomitable Tin Goose, 1960.
Preston Tucker liked the first fenders and felt first impressions were usually correct, so the unique pontoons stayed. A great decision, as these characteristic fenders would forever be identified with the Tucker '48.
Tremulis' elegantly simple solution retained the safety factor of being able to see where you're turning, yet significantly shortened the timeline to completion of the first prototype.
As Alex Tremulis stated, his first task was to eliminate the moveable front fenders in favor of a more conventional design. Time was of the essence and the engineering difficulties in sorting out the cycle fenders did not support Preston Tucker's desire to have a prototype built within 60 days. So Tremulis re-designed the car with conventional fixed fenders, and made the center headlight turn with the wheels. He also eliminated the flowing pontoons from his first design series as he felt they were already dated. And Tremulis wasn't alone in his desire to remove his earlier pontoons. As Charles Pearson described them:
"I liked all except the front fenders which I thought stunk, and said so. My popularity couldn't have dropped faster with a sudden attack of smallpox. Tucker scowled at me for a week, though much later he admitted that at least he agreed with my logic." - Charles Pearson, The Indomitable Tin Goose, 1960.
Preston Tucker liked the first fenders and felt first impressions were usually correct, so the unique pontoons stayed. A great decision, as these characteristic fenders would forever be identified with the Tucker '48.
Tremulis' elegantly simple solution retained the safety factor of being able to see where you're turning, yet significantly shortened the timeline to completion of the first prototype.
 |  |
To support his argument for the design change, Tremulis used the safety aspect that resonated within Preston Tucker. He brought up the potential instability problems of the land speed record car of Frank Lockhart's 1928 Stutz Black Hawk. Like the Torpedo design, Lockhart's car incorporated front cycle fenders but Tremulis felt it was shown in wind tunnel tests that the car would not produce "weather cocking" at speed, in this case around 200 miles per hour. Weather cocking is a term used to describe a vehicle's tendency to turn into a strong wind and helps to straighten out a vehicle if it starts to get sideways. Without it, the stability of a car may be dangerously compromised.
Frank Lockhart and the Stutz Black Hawk. Lockhart would be criticized for forging ahead with trying to break speed records in the car when the US Army wind tunnel tests had shown it exhibited no "weather cocking" at speed. Lockhart was fatally injured in a crash on the beach at Daytona just months after an earlier crash.
It's doubtful that the Tucker Torpedo would have exhibited similar handling characteristics to Lockhart's Stutz, especially at only highway speeds, but Tremulis' safety angle was convincing. Undoubtedly, Charles Pearson and the production men would have given their full support to Tremulis' arguments for eliminating the cycle fenders.
TUCKER '48 BODY DESIGN FINALIZED
By January 14 1947, Preston Tucker, Alex Tremulis and Tucker's Vice President of Manufacturing, Lee Treese, were off to source new glass to fit the prototype four-door sedan. By then, the fixed-fenders of the car re-incorporated the flowing pontoons from Tremulis' first design renderings.
So the transition from Lawson's Torpedo design to Tremulis' Tucker '48 design was exceptionally quick. From the date of Tremulis' first reported interview with Preston Tucker to the time when Tremulis' fixed-fender design with flowing fenders first appeared, a maximum of 3 weeks had elapsed. If the first meeting between Tremulis and Tucker was after Christmas Eve and you allow for some time for the first drawings of the final design to have been created, then it looks like the time span of 6 days from initial concept to final design (as has been reported elsewhere) is entirely possible and even more remarkable. Whatever the actual date may have been, from that point on the building of the first prototype would be the focus of everyone involved for the next two months.
As Phil Egan would tell in his book "Design and Destiny: The Making of the Tucker Automobile": "Between the first of January and our [Lippincott Team] spring of 1947, Tremulis had managed a crash program calling for exhausting hours of work by a dedicated crew. They brought an automobile design project from scratch to a recognizable body shape in metal without a clay model (there had been an embryonic 1/8 size clay model of little help). For a production car undertaking this bordered on the ridiculous, but he had done it."
Egan further clarified: "Up until the time of our arrival, all efforts had been directed at forging the metal marvel [Tin Goose]."
TIN GOOSE
Phil Egan also gave the credit to Alex Tremulis for the naming of Tucker's first hand-built car. The prototype they were working on would be nicknamed the "Tin Goose" out of reverence to Bill Stout's Ford Trimotor airplane which shared the same nickname. That revolutionary airplane was one of the first all-metal aircraft to be used in civilian transport and had a safety and reliability record that was second to none. So much so that it was dubbed "The Safest Airliner Around". A fitting nickname for Tucker's safety car with aircraft-inspired looks.
TUCKER '48 BODY DESIGN FINALIZED
By January 14 1947, Preston Tucker, Alex Tremulis and Tucker's Vice President of Manufacturing, Lee Treese, were off to source new glass to fit the prototype four-door sedan. By then, the fixed-fenders of the car re-incorporated the flowing pontoons from Tremulis' first design renderings.
So the transition from Lawson's Torpedo design to Tremulis' Tucker '48 design was exceptionally quick. From the date of Tremulis' first reported interview with Preston Tucker to the time when Tremulis' fixed-fender design with flowing fenders first appeared, a maximum of 3 weeks had elapsed. If the first meeting between Tremulis and Tucker was after Christmas Eve and you allow for some time for the first drawings of the final design to have been created, then it looks like the time span of 6 days from initial concept to final design (as has been reported elsewhere) is entirely possible and even more remarkable. Whatever the actual date may have been, from that point on the building of the first prototype would be the focus of everyone involved for the next two months.
As Phil Egan would tell in his book "Design and Destiny: The Making of the Tucker Automobile": "Between the first of January and our [Lippincott Team] spring of 1947, Tremulis had managed a crash program calling for exhausting hours of work by a dedicated crew. They brought an automobile design project from scratch to a recognizable body shape in metal without a clay model (there had been an embryonic 1/8 size clay model of little help). For a production car undertaking this bordered on the ridiculous, but he had done it."
Egan further clarified: "Up until the time of our arrival, all efforts had been directed at forging the metal marvel [Tin Goose]."
TIN GOOSE
Phil Egan also gave the credit to Alex Tremulis for the naming of Tucker's first hand-built car. The prototype they were working on would be nicknamed the "Tin Goose" out of reverence to Bill Stout's Ford Trimotor airplane which shared the same nickname. That revolutionary airplane was one of the first all-metal aircraft to be used in civilian transport and had a safety and reliability record that was second to none. So much so that it was dubbed "The Safest Airliner Around". A fitting nickname for Tucker's safety car with aircraft-inspired looks.
Bill Stout's Tri-Motor airplane, nicknamed the "Tin Goose" gained a reputation for safety and reliability, qualities that Preston Tucker intended to emulate with the new Tucker automobile.
As the Tin Goose prototype was taking shape, Preston Tucker was satisfied that this new design could be shown to the public. Six weeks later, on February 28, Tremulis was asked to produce the artwork for a series of advertisements that would be used throughout the nation. The body of the car retained the flowing fenders.
One of several drawings produced by Alex Tremulis in February 1947 for advertising the new design of the Tucker '48.
Various ads placed nationwide as early as March 2nd of 1947 for the new Tucker '48.
At this point in the development of the Tucker '48's styling, all of the design changes away from the earlier Torpedo were made by Alex Tremulis and Preston Tucker. The Torpedo's original design was gone, the name was changed to the Tucker '48, the dimensions for the car were locked, and the Tin Goose build was well underway having its recognizable shape hammered out by Preston Tucker's master craftsmen. Even with the design at this advanced stage, Preston Tucker sought out further input, leaving no stone unturned in his quest for the ultimate post-war design.
On March 4, 1947, the design firm of Lippincott and Margulies was hired on as consultants to provide some fresh ideas.
On March 11 the Lippincott team arrived at the Tucker plant, led by Hal Bergstrom and accompanied by additional designers Budd Steinhilber, Tucker Madawick, Read Viemeister and Phil Egan. Here's how Phil Egan described Alex Tremulis' plant tour and his reaction to seeing the "Tin Goose" for the first time:
“Here we saw embryonic shapes in raw sheet metal coalescing into the frame and part of the body of an automobile. A nearby drop hammer pounded sheet metal from flat to contoured with ear-splitting vibrations, and the junctions of formed sheet and frame were fused under the bright sparks of welding torches. Elsewhere, men at work stations devoted themselves to the mechanical details of torching, cutting, bending, and drilling the parts of a prototype automobile. Alex [Tremulis} gave us a cursory introduction to all of this and then led us to the design area.
Since he had accepted the position of chief stylist in January, Alex had brought the design of the Tucker automobile from the nebulous to the three-dimensional. He had developed a firm layout of the car which he showed us in a 1/8 size drawing, with every outside and inside dimension carefully indicated.” - Phil Egan, Design and Destiny: The Making of the Tucker Automobile, 1989
It was at this time as well that there would finally be enough clay available to build two full-size models, one for the current design and one for the soon-to-arrive Lippincott team. Tremulis had begun work on what would become known as Clay #1 shortly before the Lippincott team's arrival. As Phil Egan would attest: "A two-man crew worked on the beginnings of a full-size clay model of a car. We could discern a shape in that brownish clay which was clearly the essence of the Tucker '48 I had seen in the newspaper advertisement. I noticed that the details at front and rear were vague, without resolution".
Further refinement of the Tucker ’48 details were carried out with design input from both the Lippincott Team and Tremulis, the significant details of which will be discussed later, but for now, the Tucker ’48 was complete enough to identify it as a distinctly different car than the one described as the Tucker Torpedo.
On March 4, 1947, the design firm of Lippincott and Margulies was hired on as consultants to provide some fresh ideas.
On March 11 the Lippincott team arrived at the Tucker plant, led by Hal Bergstrom and accompanied by additional designers Budd Steinhilber, Tucker Madawick, Read Viemeister and Phil Egan. Here's how Phil Egan described Alex Tremulis' plant tour and his reaction to seeing the "Tin Goose" for the first time:
“Here we saw embryonic shapes in raw sheet metal coalescing into the frame and part of the body of an automobile. A nearby drop hammer pounded sheet metal from flat to contoured with ear-splitting vibrations, and the junctions of formed sheet and frame were fused under the bright sparks of welding torches. Elsewhere, men at work stations devoted themselves to the mechanical details of torching, cutting, bending, and drilling the parts of a prototype automobile. Alex [Tremulis} gave us a cursory introduction to all of this and then led us to the design area.
Since he had accepted the position of chief stylist in January, Alex had brought the design of the Tucker automobile from the nebulous to the three-dimensional. He had developed a firm layout of the car which he showed us in a 1/8 size drawing, with every outside and inside dimension carefully indicated.” - Phil Egan, Design and Destiny: The Making of the Tucker Automobile, 1989
It was at this time as well that there would finally be enough clay available to build two full-size models, one for the current design and one for the soon-to-arrive Lippincott team. Tremulis had begun work on what would become known as Clay #1 shortly before the Lippincott team's arrival. As Phil Egan would attest: "A two-man crew worked on the beginnings of a full-size clay model of a car. We could discern a shape in that brownish clay which was clearly the essence of the Tucker '48 I had seen in the newspaper advertisement. I noticed that the details at front and rear were vague, without resolution".
Further refinement of the Tucker ’48 details were carried out with design input from both the Lippincott Team and Tremulis, the significant details of which will be discussed later, but for now, the Tucker ’48 was complete enough to identify it as a distinctly different car than the one described as the Tucker Torpedo.
And that is why the build of the Tucker Torpedo by Rob Ida Concepts is such a significant addition to automotive art. It will show the public for the first time in almost 70 years "The Car of the Future" as it would have looked had the Lawson design been built as originally promised.
LAWSON AND TUCKER INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
If there was any lingering doubt that these weren't two distinctly separate designs, one needs only to look at the intellectual property generated for the Tucker Torpedo and the Tucker '48. What transpired with the patent filings brings to light how the two designs were viewed by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
If there was any lingering doubt that these weren't two distinctly separate designs, one needs only to look at the intellectual property generated for the Tucker Torpedo and the Tucker '48. What transpired with the patent filings brings to light how the two designs were viewed by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
On January 16, 1947, shortly after George Lawson left the Tucker Corporation, he filed a patent application for what he considered his design of the Tucker Torpedo. The illustrations used for the patent application were the same photographs of the plaster model used in the early Tucker Torpedo advertising.
As part of the patent process, the inventor is required by law to disclose any and all prior art that they know of that may have relevance to their invention. In this case, Lawson disclosed that US Patent Number 88,083 may relate to this design. As it turns out, this patent was for the 1933 Pierce-Arrow Silver Arrow, a magnificent show car that was then considered to be a most daring design with radical streamlining.
In issuing a patent, the USPTO looks at all the prior art and makes a determination whether the applicant's design is significantly different than the prior art. If so then a patent may be granted. If the applicant's design is too similar to a prior design, the patent application will be rejected and the applicant must make significant changes in order to be awarded a patent. In the case of Lawson's application, the examiner took the Pierce Arrow Silver Arrow reference under consideration and issued the patent to Lawson on June 1, 1948, about a year-and-a-half after it was first filed. So in the eyes of the USPTO, the Lawson-designed Tucker Torpedo is not the same car, nor could it be confused with, the 1933 Pierce Arrow Silver Arrow. Their conclusion seems reasonable, as the comparison between the two are rarely made, if ever.
It's interesting to note that Lawson didn't assign this patent to the Tucker Corporation, so presumably his stance was that he alone owned the Torpedo design and Tucker had no rights to it. That viewpoint would certainly have been challenged by Tucker if Lawson performed the work as an employee of either Preston Tucker or the Tucker Corporation. Since Lawson didn't file the application until several weeks after he left Tucker, it can be assumed he knew that his patent application may be a potential source of negotiation in the future litigation that ensued. As it turned out, Tucker would not have needed Lawson's Torpedo patent for the production of the Tucker '48.
In any case, on March 15, 1947, Preston Tucker filed his own patent application for Tremulis' design that appeared in the Tucker '48 advertisements.
It's also important to note the references cited by the Tucker '48 patent. The first is a patent issued to designer George Walker in 1943 for a Bonn ad featuring the car of the future. It was considered by the USPTO and deemed not to have an impact with the issuance of the patent for the Tucker '48.
Most important is the second reference to the issued design patent of George Lawson for the Tucker Torpedo. In this case, the patent examiner reviewed the design in the Tucker Torpedo's issued patent and found that it wasn't the same as, nor could it be confused with, the design in the Tucker '48's application. Preston Tucker was awarded the patent for the Tucker '48 on June 14, 1949, over a year after the USPTO granted a patent on Lawson's Torpedo.
So in the eyes of the USPTO (representing the People of the United States), the Tucker '48 is uniquely different than the Torpedo, just as the Torpedo is uniquely different than the 1933 Silver Arrow.
And that's what brings us back to Rob Ida's build for the Lawson design of the Tucker Torpedo. By all accounts a completely different car than the Tucker '48 and one that deserves its own recognition as such. Without its images provided by George Lawson, Preston Tucker could never have secured Chicago's Dodge plant or captured the imaginations of the likes of Joe, Frank and Dominic Ida or Alex Tremulis. With Rob Ida's Torpedo, the world will be a richer place with the embodiment of the American Dream as it was first envisioned by Preston Tucker.
Photo of Rob Ida by Marc Steiner/Agency New Jersey.
Copyright 2014, Steve Tremulis
Special thanks to Hemmings Motor News/Special Interest Autos for their historical archives and images, and to Larry Clark, Tucker historian, for his tireless research and dedication to the Tucker automobile and all those that helped create it.
Some Tucker must-reads:
The Indomitable Tin Goose, Charles Pearson, 1960
Epitaph for The Tin Goose, Alex Tremulis, Automobile Quarterly, 1965
Design and Destiny: The Making of the Tucker Automobile, Phil Egan, 1989
Special thanks to Hemmings Motor News/Special Interest Autos for their historical archives and images, and to Larry Clark, Tucker historian, for his tireless research and dedication to the Tucker automobile and all those that helped create it.
Some Tucker must-reads:
The Indomitable Tin Goose, Charles Pearson, 1960
Epitaph for The Tin Goose, Alex Tremulis, Automobile Quarterly, 1965
Design and Destiny: The Making of the Tucker Automobile, Phil Egan, 1989
RSS Feed
