Preston Thomas Tucker (September 21 1903 - December 26 1956) was an American car designer.
Born in Capac, Michigan, Tucker was the designer of the innovative Tucker '48. His vision was to create the "car of the future," sporting features such as safety glass, seat belts, a third headlight which turned as the driver turned the steering wheel, and an engine in the rear of the vehicle.
Tucker was a controversial character with a charming personality. Ultimately, his dream of the car of the future was brought down by problems with production, combined with an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission. He was eventually cleared of all charges, but not until the automobile was effectively killed. It has been suggested that the plans for the vehicle were too radical, and would have created a car with which existing auto makers would have to catch up to, and that the real reasons for the demise of the company involved sabotage.
The 1988 movie Tucker: The Man and His Dream starred Jeff Bridges and was produced by George Lucas and directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
Preston Tucker is also known for creating an armored vehicle for World War II that could do 80+ MPH. Though the Army turned down the vehicle because they didn't think a vehicle should go over 35 MPH, the military did use the design for the turret cannon mounted on the vehicle. The Tucker Turret was used on planes such as the B-17 and B-24.
