After Halloween, a new model has arrived in my house: this time is the turn of the Tucker Torpedo (Kyosho), a particular car produced in the 1948 by Preston Tucker in only 51 items. The story of this car is incredible: Preston Tucker took a different tack, designing a safety-conscious car with innovative features and modern styling. His specifications called for a rear engine like Porsche, disc brakes, fuel injection, the location of all instruments on the steering wheel, a windshield that popped out in a collision and a padded dashboard. It featured a directional third headlight, dubbed the "Cyclops Eye", for use in turns, in a fashion similar to the prewar Czech Tatra T87 (the Tatra cars also had a rear mounted, air-cooled engine and advanced streamlining): it lit up whenever the car was steered by more than 10 degrees, a feature now known as Adaptive Headlights.
   The Tucker story and legacy were recounted in the 1988 movie, Tucker: The Man and His Dream. Starring Jeff Bridges, the film was produced by George Lucas and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who owns one of the 47 remaining Tuckers in existence (the 1003, sold at auction in September 2005 for $385,000).

Posted by: Fabiano on Fri 11/9/2007 at 11:34

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