I saw a car worth millions at the 2024 Chicago Auto Show, and it wasn't a Lamborghini.
Preston Thomas Tucker sought to design "The Car of Tomorrow" that featured everything the Big Three was ignoring: safety.
The Tucker 48 featured seat belts, a third headlight that turned as the wheels turned to shine light on a drivers blind spot, a removable front windshield with tempered glass, disc brakes, and a padded dashboard.
In 1948, Tucker secured a factory in Chicago (present-day Ford City Mall at 79th/Cicero) and built 50 of them there.
However, just before Tucker was about to really take off, the SEC launched an investigation for stock fraud and illegally pre-selling accessories. The allegations were proven baseless and led to a full acquittal of Tucker at trial. Tucker suspected that the Big Three automakers and Michigan Senator Homer S. Ferguson both had a role in the Tucker Corporation's demise, although this is still debated a little bit today.
47 Tuckers are still on the road today, and one was on display at the Klairmont Kollections Automotive Museum's booth at McCormick Place. All are worth millions of dollars.
It's regarded as the first production car with seat belts, which became mandated in 1968. Padded dashboards became standard on cars in the 1970s. Subaru, Chevrolet, Mazda, Ford, Volkswagen and BMW all offer adaptive headlights on some of their models.
The Big Three destroyed Tuckers image, then stole his ideas.
The LucasFilms movie "Tucker: The Man and His Dream" is available to watch for free with ADs on YouTube.
In 1948, Tucker secured a factory in Chicago (present-day Ford City Mall at 79th/Cicero) and built 50 of them there.
However, just before Tucker was about to really take off, the SEC launched an investigation for stock fraud and illegally pre-selling accessories. The allegations were proven baseless and led to a full acquittal of Tucker at trial. Tucker suspected that the Big Three automakers and Michigan Senator Homer S. Ferguson both had a role in the Tucker Corporation's demise, although this is still debated a little bit today.
47 Tuckers are still on the road today, and one was on display at the Klairmont Kollections Automotive Museum's booth at McCormick Place. All are worth millions of dollars.
It's regarded as the first production car with seat belts, which became mandated in 1968. Padded dashboards became standard on cars in the 1970s. Subaru, Chevrolet, Mazda, Ford, Volkswagen and BMW all offer adaptive headlights on some of their models.
The Big Three destroyed Tuckers image, then stole his ideas.
The LucasFilms movie "Tucker: The Man and His Dream" is available to watch for free with ADs on YouTube.
