07 May Tucker v Porsche

Why do some people fail and others succeed in the auto industry? The annals of the motor industry contain numerous examples of entrepreneurs, car names and car companies that featured briefly, massively, or sometimes even ignominiously. Preston Tucker and Ferdinand Porsche were two historical contemporaries who started fledgling car companies at about the same time, but in quite different environments. During his post-graduate studies at the University of Tasmania, Leon Joubert made an fascinating academic comparison of their fortunes. Following is the first of a three-part article that, with his kind permission, draws extensively from Leon’s research and thesis.  

Part One: Preston Tucker

Preston Thomas Tucker (b.1903) is somewhat of an American folk hero and has been hailed a “visionary, innovator and entrepreneur” and “the patron saint of small start-ups with big dreams”. He even became the subject of a 1988 Francis Ford Coppola Oscar-nominated film ‘Tucker: The Man and His Dream’. Tucker has been described as being enthusiastic about cars as a child, and as a teenager he started work as an office boy for the Cadillac car company. In 1921, he enrolled at a technical school in Detroit but within two years was working as a Studebaker salesman, and progressed to become a regional sales manager for Pierce-Arrow cars by the 1930s. It has also been said that he had “an almost manic enthusiasm for the automobile”, but there is no record of him ever having had any formal training which relates directly to the automotive industry.

In 1935, Tucker met design engineer Harry Miller and became fascinated with motor racing. Tucker formed a company with Miller to build high performance engines and racing cars for Ford to race in the Indianapolis 500. The engines and/or cars were not successful and after 10 Miller-Ford racing cars were built, Ford cancelled the contract and the Miller-Tucker company folded. Tucker then formed the Tucker Corporation in 1946.

It is clear that Preston Tucker had no real expertise at designing or building cars. It has been claimed that the Tucker Torpedo was his own brainchild, but the actual design work was done by Alex Tremulis. The concept of using a horizontally-opposed, six-cylinder, rear-mounted engine (similar in concept to the Czechoslovakian Tatra – and the later Porsche 911) proved problematic for Tucker as his original 9,75-litre engine was underpowered and hopelessly too heavy. It required two batteries that weighed 60 kg each, and a 24-volt power supply just to start it….

To solve the problem, Tucker acquired 4,5-litre Franklin helicopter engines, which he converted from air cooling to water cooling – but he had to buy the Franklin company to ensure an engine supply… Other original design ideas for his car that fell by the wayside due to practical and cost difficulties were disc brakes and an automatic transmission.

There are many who argue that the Tucker Torpedo of 1946 was exceptionally original and innovative. However, the reality may be that the innovations (such as they were) were only relative to what was then accepted practice in the American automobile industry. One of the innovative features of the Tucker was its rear engine, which freed up interior space for occupants. However, this idea was no different from Porsche’s Beetle (1934) or any number of preceding front-wheel-drive designs, of which the American Cord (1929) and French Citroën Traction Avant (1933) had already spawned thousands of examples.

One undeniable attribute of Preston Tucker was his flair for improvisation. Set the improbable task of trying to build the first prototype of his car in 100 days, Tucker and his team actually produced a rolling (if not running!) prototype of the Torpedo for a public unveiling in time.

Academics usually argue that most entrepreneurs start with small financial resources but that was certainly not true for Preston Tucker. Tucker never thought ‘small’. To manufacture his dream car he obtained the lease of an ex-WWII aircraft plant situated on a 475 acre site (the main building alone covered 93 acres) in Cicero, Illinois, on condition that he could prove that he had $15-million in capital by the following year. To obtain finance, he began selling dealer franchises, had dealers pay in advance for the cars that he was going to produce, and succeeded in raising $6-million in this fashion.

Despite already being under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the manner in which he raised the first $6-million by selling dealer franchises, the SEC approved his second plan for a stock issue for $20-million, contingent upon him producing a functional prototype car. Tucker (barely) managed to meet this deadline, and by 1948 he was building cars and employing 1 600 people. But he was still short of money and raised another $2-million by forward selling accessories like radios and luggage sets for his cars. However, at this point the SEC stepped in and by mid-1948 Tucker filed for bankruptcy… By this time the company had produced 51 cars. The following year, Tucker was tried for conspiracy and mail fraud but was acquitted in 1950.

Several authors have argued that Tucker was deliberately harassed by the SEC and by political figures that had vested interests in the established motor companies based in Detroit. The charges levelled by the SEC and the Justice Department against Tucker in 1949 have also been described as “fabricated”. Tucker may have obtained some social capital from the public-at-large (mainly in the form of sympathy) but received precious little social capital from his peers, or people who were really able to help him. Sadly, Preston Tucker died in 1956 at the age of 53.

Leon Joubert

SA-born Leon Joubert has a multi-storied career as a banker, a Zimbabwean tobacco producer, and a specialist fleet and asset management consultant. He is a post-graduate alumni of the Wits School for Business Leadership and the University of Tasmania. Motoring has been a lifetime interest and he has been a freelance motoring writer for many years and is also a former Chairman of the South African Guild of Motoring Journalists. He competed successfully in motor sport at national and international levels with works teams and is still very active in classic car activities. He is a life member of the Porsche Club of Tasmania, is married to Gail, and they live in Old Beach, Tasmania.

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