Tucker Torpedo, The first in America.

Preston Tucker built approximately 50 prototype vehicles, most of which still survive. A lot of people who were relatively young at the time were convinced Tucker was a crook, although there seems to be ample evidence to the contrary. He'd have had to get a lot more financial backing than he had in OTL: the days of a single entrepreneur starting up an automotive manufacturing business were pretty well gone (even someone as well-heeled as Henry Kaiser had a world of trouble as a contemporary of Tucker). Perhaps if Tucker and Kaiser had thrown in together in 1948 both might have survived: could be the managerial/marketing talents of Joseph Frazer might have been able to keep Kaiser, Frazer, and Tucker as viable independents at least into the late 1950s/early 1960s.

Taking that a step further, it's conceivable that K-F-T (Kaiser-Frazer-Tucker) could have been the nucleus for a merger involving the other major postwar independents that could still have Kaiser, Tucker, Packard, Studebaker, and Hudson on the road today in a sort of analog to GM.
 

maverick

Banned
Hmmm...

I very much like Preston Tucker and the Tucker Torpedo, so...

Hmmm...first, he'd need lots of financial support...could be convince Hughes or another millionaire to help?:p probably not, but its not like he was spending his money on better things...

How about destroying Ford? its not like Henry Ford hadn't dealed with the Nazis before the war and wasn't a Hitler supporter himself...or maybe we could use some weird interpretation of the Anti-trust laws to destroy Ford and leave lots of room for lots of independents...or we could destroy General Motors...

Finally, how about some cellebrity endorsement? maybe a surviving FDR or Harry Truman really like the Torpedo (remember the influence Reagan had on Tom Clancy's career)...or how about a Hollywood cellebrity? Orson Welles, Ingrid Bergman, Humphrey Boggart...one of them, did cellebrities had that sort of influence back then?
 
I very much like Preston Tucker and the Tucker Torpedo, so...
Me too, but...
What if The Tucker Torpedo had become the most selling car in America in late 40s?
is ASB. First, you have to overcome the postwar steel shortages. Tucker wasn't connected enough to have enough steel to build a really big number of cars, & AFAIK, he never considered fiberglass. (Darrin, anyone?:D) Second, you have to overcome the problems of trying to build cars in a factory designed for building B-24s. Third, you have to overcome the problems of no dealerships. (An alliance with Kaiser is actually a really good idea.) Fourth, you have to overcome the flaky design decisions: converting an aircooled engine to water cooling?:confused: Using a helicopter engine?:confused:
how about some cellebrity endorsement? ...Orson Welles, Ingrid Bergman, Humphrey Boggart...one of them, did cellebrities had that sort of influence back then?
Nice idea, but you need a real product & a solid company. Duesenberg tried this in the '30s with Gable, among others. Needless to say, it didn't work.:rolleyes:
How about destroying Ford?
ASB. GM couldn't do it...
 

maverick

Banned
Actually I was thinking of getting Huey Long or someone else to destroy Ford and GM...although that might be ASB in itself
 
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