1948 Tucker 48 Sedan

Conceived by Preston Tucker, the Automobile was produced in Chicago in 1948. Only 51 cars were made before the company closed its doors. How and why the company failed is the subject of much debate.

Many of the features of the Tucker were innovative and ahead of the car's time. The directional third headlight would activate at steering wheel angles greater than 10 degrees. The car had a rear engine and rear-wheel drive. The entire engine and transmission were mounted on a separate subframe which made for easy removal.

For safety purposes, the frame has support and a roll bar integrated into the roof, and the dashboard was padded for added safety. The doors extended into the roof for easy entry and exit.

Even with these innovations, Tucker needed money and with scrutiny by the SEC, Tucker's fortunes were in trouble.

This particular example is number 52 of the 51 produced. Tucker stopped assembling cars in 1948, however, parts still remained. When a court order stopped production on March 3, 1949, an inventory of the parts and cars made. The company listed 38 complete cars and an additional 13 more cars that were waiting for final assembly. Some of those parts include a chassis and firewall stamped with the serial number 1052.

65 years after the Tucker factory was shut down, assembly of the final Tucker began. The work was completed in early 2014.

By Daniel Vaughan | Aug 2015