'The Tucker used a Franklin air cooled flat six aircraft engine which
was converted to water cooling.'
Where was the radiator, was it up front? I knew it had an aircooled
airplane engine and didn't know it was modified for water cooling.
Jeff
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Tucker cars.
Author: GDWF22A(at)prodigy.com (MR RICHARD T TRENK SR) at INTERNET
Date: 10/6/97 9:07 AM
Ok Joe and others, I will offer another little story which I think
the list would enjoy.
In my prior message I mentioned working for Ford aircraft engine div
(AED) in Chicago.
This huge plant was at that time known to be the worlds largest
structure under one roof, at 80 acres.
During WW2 it was the Dodge torpedo plant but shut down after the war
ended. Later it reopened under Ford and made engines designed by
Pratt and Whitney (R4360 18 cyl piston, and J57E jet engines).
But.....between Dodge torpedos and Ford engines was a time in 1947-48
when Preston Tucker leased the joint to make his Tucker Torpedo Car.
I always wondered if he named the car after the plant???
Anyhow, I was a friend of Tuckers chief engineer Mr. Gene Haustine
(whose claim to fame was that he ran the last Fronty Ford engined car
at Indy in 1931). Gene hired me in 1948 (as I recall) as a consultant
engineer , draftsman and general assistent.
The Tucker used a Franklin air cooled flat six aircraft engine which
was converted to water cooling. It was a rear engine location and the
transmission was controlled by what I believe to be a Bendix Electric
hand type gear shift unit which was mounted on the steering column and
was very tiny and had a little lever to fit your right hand middle
finger. This shifter device was also seen on 1935-37 Hudson and
terraplane cars as well as the 1936-37 Cord car. (It was so unreliable
in the 30s that they always had a shut off switch and a common floor
shift handle you would screw into your trans. shift tower on the
floor).
Without a running engine we could not be certain this device would
work or the gears would actually move the car so it was decided we
would have a trial transmission test in the west side of the plant
where there was almost a 1/2 mile of indoor straight road.
The problem was.......we had a car assembled but no carb for it as
yet. Gene decided he would remove the engine lid (bonnet) and sit
astride the engine with a squirt gun oil can filled with gasoline and
would inject directly into the open manifold, just enough to get the
car moving and the driver would test the shifting action.
Gene practiced keeping the engine running in neutral and although it
coughed and was irregular it did keep running. Also it was nicely
warmed up as well.
So Gene climbs atop the engine and was holding on to the lip of the
engine bay with one hand and held the oil can in the other. He primed
the engine, the driver fired it up and by prior agreement the driver
engaged first gear and let out the clutch and Gene kept the engine
running while the car gained speed.
The floor was not as smooth as expected or else the surging of power
made Gene unstable for he overfueled the engine continually and it
back fired every few seconds, sending a good sized sheet of flame up
at Gene.
He soldiered on, keeping it going until all forward gears had been
tested, the car reversed and turned around and was driven "almost all
the way back". He never made it ! About a half block from our
waiting group, the car came to a stop as Gene quit with the oil can.
Then we see Gene running towards us waving his arms and yelling.
Seems the flames popping out of the manifold had been somewhat near
his crotch and his pants were now smoldering and the items inside the
crotch were in much distress.
No women being present, we helped him get those pants off quickly.
His eyebrows were all gone, his mustache was half length and looked
terrible and the forelock over his forehead was burned completely off
so he looked bald at the front. His face was a bit sooty looking.
He actually had no real burns anywhere but went into the mens room
nearby to check out his equipment more carefully. A pair of overalls
was produced for him to wear but he decided to put on the original
pants which had cooled down nicely.
Mr. Tucker was very pleased with the test run and agreed we did need
it done but ordered no more oil can fuel injection be performed as
there was too much fire hazard to the plant, car and engineer !
About a month after this event I was fired for no spoken reason but
later realized that the firm was going bankrupt and simply could not
manage their payroll.
I think about 20 cars might have been completed and another dozen in
mid construction by the time the plant was closed about another month
after I was let go.
I never got to drive one of the Tucker cars but it would have beaten
anything being built at that time as it had about 200 hp and weighed
about 3000 lbs. Also it was quite a low cd drag number for that era
so Preston Tucker figured to gear it for a max speed of about a true
120 mph. He was worried about finding tires which would hold up
above 100mph for sustained periods such as could be done out west.
For those of you who saw the movie "Tucker" about 1994(?) I would say
it was fairly accurate insofar as what I know about the venture.
Had I known they would make this movie I would have offered my
services as a consultant...perhaps they did have some people as
consultants who were there with me at that time?
As I look back upon the many interesting things I have had the good
fortune to see or participate in, I think I have been very lucky and
can't complain about much. Boredom is a terrible thing (they say).
I wouldn't know, since I never had any !
Dick T.
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