Preston Tucker

Preston Thomas Tucker (1903 to 1956) was an American automobile entrepreneur who developed the innovative Tucker 48 sedan, nicknamed the Tucker Torpedo, a car that introduced many features since widely used in modern cars. Born near Capac, Michigan, and raised near Detroit, he worked as a car salesman and sales manager, took an interest in racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and in 1935 formed Miller and Tucker, Inc. with the engine maker Harry Miller to build race cars. After the Second World War he set out to build his car of tomorrow and hired the stylist Alex Tremulis, whose preliminary design he approved on December 31, 1946. Production of the Tucker 48 was shut down on March 3, 1949 amid scandal and accusations of stock fraud, of which Tucker was eventually acquitted, and the 1988 film Tucker: The Man and His Dream is based on the story.