anybody know what this is

[Jim parnell]

[Broken External Image]:

 

[Jim parnell]

[Broken External Image]:

 

[Gerry Mac]

Its a little square with a red x in the middle.



Gerry

 

[Gerry Mac]

Now its a very tiny picture but perhaps its a Tucker



edited to add photo:



[Broken External Image]:

 

[TrainTrac]

Yep, it's a 1948 Tucker.

 

[Gerry Mac]

Are we showing our age or what??





Gerry

 

[TrainTrac]

Speak for yourself, Gerry. I'm only 43.

 

[Steve McKellop]

I believe this is it. Got that in an email last week ........ or I wouldn't have known. I may be old but not THAT old!!

 

[Jerry Abson 3]

that car was so far ahead of its time, its not even funny. Great machines. Watch "Tucker - A Man and His Dream", good movie.

 

[Gary DiPietroSr]

Yes, the movie was good.

 

[Rodger Tellefson]

Nice looking Tucker.



Anyone know what the head light in the middle does? I do know, but want to see how many other know this fact. Also, if I recall correctly, the Tucker was the first with seat belts.

 

[Steve McKellop]

From my link...........



Headlight in the center turns with the steering wheel...



There are a few known glitches with the car: The first is that the center headlight didn't work as well as predicted (this could have been corrected with a lens change),

 

[Jerry Abson 3]

Very good, the headlight does turn with the wheel! Now, there is another auto maker doing the same, cant remember who though. But they brag about how innovative it is. Whatever. Yes, first with seat belts, also first with mid mounted / rear mounted engine!

 

[Kevin Lang]

Mid-mounted engine just seems mighty inconvenient to me, but this Mr. Tucker sounds like the John Delorean of his day.

 

[Shaun Tucker]

I wonder if I'm related distantly :huh:

 

[EddieS'04]

The tucker was the first to use the modern day safety glass also....

I think he also was the first to design a built in safty cage.



edit; the big three were the ones behind his demise....

 

[Jim parnell]

also had a helicopter engine in the rear according to the info I saw

 

[Gary DiPietroSr]

More on the movie...



<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mL-AFSAIln0&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mL-AFSAIln0&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

 

[TrainTrac]

Preston Tucker included a lot of features in his car that were considered "innovative" for the era, many of them being new safety features. Among them are:



1. Seat belts

2. Safety glass

3. Padded dash

4. The perimeter frame surrounded the vehicle for crash protection.

5. The steering box was behind the front axle to protect the driver in a front-end accident.

6. "Cyclops" center-mounted headlight that turned with the steering.



Ideas that never made it off the drawing board:



1. Disc brakes

2. Magnesium wheels

3. A direct-drive torque converter transmission



The Big Three decided that it would be way to expensive to incorporate these features into their products to keep them competitive, so they basically ran him out of business by using political influence. Ironically enough, many of these features eventually found their way into other companies vehicles over the decades as consumer demand dictated.

 

[ray moyer]

wow...never even seen one of those! lol