by Steve Lehto
5. Ibid. That it was a money order and not a check is from Tucker’s testimony at his deposition. The SEC report does not indicate the form of the payment—merely that the funds came from Ypsilanti Machine and Tool.
6. Pearson, Indomitable Tin Goose, 64.
7. Tucker Corp., Prospectus, 5.
8. Rockelman, “Behind the Gasoline Curtain,” 16.
9. Kamrowski, interview by the author.
10. The co-op was organized such that the tenants bought into the organization and then leased their units from the co-op itself. Owners like Tucker were often said to “own” or have “bought” their apartments, a description that elides the nuance of the situation but is not altogether inaccurate. This and all other information regarding the 999 apartment is from Rick Fizdale, interview by the author, September 13, 2014.
11. SEC, Tucker Corporation, 50.
12. Ibid., 51.
13. Ibid., 50.
14. Ibid., 52.
15. Tucker, deposition, 44.
16. Meader to Ferguson, December 15, 1947.
17. Pearson, Indomitable Tin Goose, 64.
18. SEC, Tucker Corporation, 52.
19. Ibid.
20. Ibid., 54.
21. Ibid.
22. Pearson, Indomitable Tin Goose, 74.
23. Ibid., 73.
24. Thomas T. Fetters, The Lustron Home: The History of a Postwar Prefabricated Housing Experiment (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2001), 31–37.
25. Tucker, “My Car Was Too Good,” 5.
26. Douglas Knerr, Suburban Steel: The Magnificent Failure of the Lustron Corporation, 1945–1951 (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2004), 76–77.
27. “Testimony to Be Heard on Plant Lease,” Sarasota Herald-Tribune, November 22, 1946.
28. US Senate letter from Meader, December 15, 1947.
29. “Plans for Tucker’s Car Plant Started in Night Club, Story,” Milwaukee Journal, November 22, 1946.
30. “Testimony to Be Heard on Plant Lease,” Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
31. “Plans for Tucker’s Car Plant,” Milwaukee Journal.
32. “Housing Inquiry Witness Missing,” Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA), November 25, 1946.
33. “Senate Committee Seeks Lost Witness in Housing Inquiry,” News and Courier (Charleston, SC), November 24, 1946.
34. “Senate Committee Seeks Lost Witness,” News and Courier.
35. Knerr, Suburban Steel, 84–88; “#259. Letter Accepting Resignation of Wilson Wyatt as Housing Expediter,” Harry S. Truman Library and Museum official website, accessed October 21, 2015, www.trumanlibrary.org/publicpapers/index.php?pid=1829.
36. Tucker, “My Car Was Too Good,” 5.
37. SEC, Tucker Corporation, 55.
10. BEFORE THE STOCK OFFERING
1. Pearson, Indomitable Tin Goose, 76.
2. Jeff Gordinier, “A Lot of Drive,” Los Angeles Times, August 11, 1988.
3. “Tremulis: The Genius Behind the Tucker,” Automobile Quarterly 26, no. 3 (1988): 248.
4. Ibid., 246.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid., 248.
7. Pearson, Indomitable Tin Goose, 87.
8. Gordinier, “A Lot of Drive.”
9. “Tremulis: The Genius,” Automobile Quarterly, 248.
10. Ibid.
11. Ibid., 246.
12. Peter Gareffa, “1967 Gyro-X Self-Balancing Car to Be Restored,” Edmunds.com, March 4, 2013, www.edmunds.com/car-news/1967-gyro-x-self-balancing-car-to-be-restored.html.
13. “Tremulis: The Genius,” Automobile Quarterly, 248.
14. Ibid.
15. Ibid.
16. Ibid.
17. Ibid., 252.
18. Gordinier, “A Lot of Drive.” There are slightly different versions of the story regarding how Tucker and Tremulis first met. One is that Tucker contracted with the design firm where Tremulis worked and then later offered Tremulis the job working at the Tucker Corporation. It seems a minor difference. See Egan, Design and Destiny, 28–29.
19. Tremulis, “Epitaph,” 62.
20. “Tremulis: The Genius,” 252.
21. Tremulis, “Epitaph,” 62.
22. Gordinier, “A Lot of Drive.”
23. “No Room for Dreams: Preston Tucker’s Fate,” Toledo Blade, September 18, 1988.
24. Tremulis, “The 1946–48 Tucker,” 1.
25. Tremulis, “Epitaph,” 58.
26. Tremulis, “The 1946–48 Tucker,” 1.
27. Tremulis, “Epitaph,” 58.
28. “Tremulis: The Genius,” Automobile Quarterly, 252.
29. Tremulis, “The 1946–48 Tucker,” 1.
30. Tremulis, “Epitaph,” 58.
31. Pearson, Indomitable Tin Goose, 88.
32. Tremulis, “The 1946–48 Tucker,” 1.
11. THE TIN GOOSE
1. Tremulis, “The 1946–48 Tucker,” 2. Egan wrote it was indeed Tremulis who gave the car the nickname the Tin Goose. See Egan, Design and Destiny, 75.
2. There is some debate regarding the year of the Oldsmobile. Egan suggests it was 1942; see Egan, Design and Destiny, 38. Pearson does not mention a year; see Pearson, Indomitable Tin Goose, 89. Alex Tremulis does not mention the donor Oldsmobile at all in his SAE paper, but in “Epitaph,” 57, he calls it a 1942; Steve Tremulis, nephew of Alex, believes it was a 1941, based on a trim tag found among Alex Tremulis’s tools, thought to be from the donor car to the Tin Goose.
3. Pearson, Indomitable Tin Goose, 89.
4. Egan, Design and Destiny, 35.
5. Ibid., 37.
6. Ibid., 38.
7. Ibid., 39.
8. Pearson, Indomitable Tin Goose, 95–96.
9. Egan, Design and Destiny, 39.
10. Ibid., 96.
11. Mark Lieberman and Ken Lehto, interview by the author, 2015. Ken Lehto is an automotive engineer with decades of experience in the automobile industry.
12. Tremulis, “The 1946–48 Tucker,” 2.
13. Ibid.
14. Ad from the New York Tribune, reprinted in Egan, Design and Destiny, photo 4.
15. “Step into a New Automotive Age in the Rear Engine Tucker,” advertising circular, courtesy of the Tucker Historical Collection and Library, Gilmore Car Museum.
16. “Torpedo Devotees Just Don’t Tucker Out,” Argus-Press (Owosso, MI), June 28, 1984.
17. “The Story of the Tucker ’48” (brochure).
12. GETTING READY
1. Tucker Corp., Prospectus, 17; SEC, Tucker Corporation, 58.
2. Tucker Corp., Prospectus, 18–19.
3. Tucker, “My Car Was Too Good,” 5.
4. “SEC Stop Order Issued on Tucker,” Toledo Blade, June 11, 1947.
5. Biographical information of SEC chairmen from “SEC Historical Summary of Chairmen and Commissioners,” US Securities and Exchange Commission official website, accessed August 27, 2013, www.sec.gov/about/sechistoricalsummary.htm.
6. “Harry M’Donald Ex-U.S. Aide, Dies,” New York Times, July 4, 1964.
7. “Ten Names Put in Nomination for President; Hoover Remains Non-Committal,” Gettysburg Times, June 27, 1940.
8. Harry A. McDonald, “1949 and the Securities Business,” talk given at the Chicago Stock Exchange, March 3, 1949, transcript available at the US Securities and Exchange Commission official website, www.sec.gov/news/speech/1949/030349mcdonald.pdf, p. 1.
9. Harry A. McDonald, “The Structure and Works of the S.E.C.,” remarks given in Detroit, MI, September 26, 1947, transcript available at the US Securities and Exchange Commission official website, www.sec.gov/news/speech/1947/092647mcdonald.pdf.
10. Tucker, deposition, 869–870.
11. “Drivers End Race Boycott,” San Jose News, May 22, 1947.
12. “Qualifiers for 500,” Milwaukee Journal, May 29, 1947.
13. Bob Gilka, “Veteran Mauri Rose Wheels to Second Triumph in ‘500’,” Milwaukee Journal, May 31, 1947.
14. Bob Gilka, “Unique Rear Engine Car Will Run in Race Here,” Milwaukee Jo
urnal, June 3, 1947.
15. Bob Gilka, “27 Cars to Qualify for 14 Places Here,” Milwaukee Journal, June 6, 1947.
16. Tucker Topics 1, no. 1, courtesy of Mark Lieberman.
17. Ibid.
13. THE TIN GOOSE UNVEILED
1. Pearson, Indomitable Tin Goose, 109.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid., 109–111.
4. Egan, Design and Destiny, illustrations 13 and 22.
5. Egan, Design and Destiny, 77.
6. Pearson, Indomitable Tin Goose, 109–111.
7. Egan, Design and Destiny, 78.
8. Pearson, Indomitable Tin Goose, 109–111.
9. Egan, Design and Destiny, 78.
10. Pearson, Indomitable Tin Goose, 109–111.
11. Ibid., 112.
12. Ibid.
13. Ibid., 113.
14. Egan, Design and Destiny, 78.
14. THE STOCK OFFERING
1. “Tucker Corp. to Sell Stock,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 27, 1947.
2. Tucker Corp., Prospectus, 1.
3. Ibid.
4. Pearson, Indomitable Tin Goose, 107.
5. SEC, Tucker Corporation, 2.
6. Ibid.
7. Tucker, deposition, 858.
8. SEC, Tucker Corporation, 56.
9. Tucker Corp., Prospectus, 3.
10. Pearson, Indomitable Tin Goose, 107.
11. Tucker Corp., Prospectus, 3.
12. Ibid., 6.
13. Ibid., 4.
14. Ibid., 5.
15. Ibid., 5.
16. Ibid.
17. Ibid., 11.
18. Ibid., 12.
19. Ibid., 5.
20. Ibid., 6.
21. Ibid.
22. Ibid., 17.
23. Ibid., 18.
24. Ibid., 18–20.
25. Ibid., 27.
26. Pearson, Indomitable Tin Goose, 120.
27. “California Bans Tucker Stock Sale,” Pittsburgh Press, August 1, 1947.
28. SEC, Tucker Corporation, 66.
29. Pearson, Indomitable Tin Goose, 115–116.
30. Ibid., 116.
31. Ibid., 118.
32. Cowan, “Tucker: The Man, the Myth,” 230.
33. Pearson, Indomitable Tin Goose, 118.
34. Ibid., 122–123.
35. W. L. Bussell, “Pittsburghers Lose $500,000 in Tucker Bust,” Pittsburgh Press, June 12, 1949.
36. Knoble, Call to Market, 197.
37. Tucker Corp., Annual Report, 3.
38. “Tucker Was Here,” Newsweek, March 14, 1949.
39. Ibid.
40. Tucker Corp., Annual Report, 2.
15. POST–TIN GOOSE
1. Tucker Topics 1, no. 2, courtesy of Mark Lieberman.
2. Ibid.
3. Pearson, Indomitable Tin Goose, 124.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid., 125.
6. Ibid., 126.
7. Knoble, Call to Market, 190.
8. Ibid., 191.
9. Ibid.
10. Ibid., 196; date of hire is from the lawsuit Knoble later filed. See also “Tucker Is Sued on Salary Deal,” Spokane Daily Chronicle, August 31, 1948.
11. Tucker Corp., Annual Report, 1.
12. Ibid., 4.
13. Ibid., 2.
14. Tucker Corp., Prospectus, 6.
15. Tucker Corp., Annual Report, 2–3.
16. Ibid., 9.
17. Ibid., 20.
18. Ibid., 21.
16. GEARING UP FOR PRODUCTION
1. Egan, Design and Destiny, 83.
2. Tremulis, “Epitaph,” 60.
3. Robin Miller, “Indy’s Unluckiest Legends: Part 1,” Racer, May 20, 2013, www .racer.com/indycar/item/55512-indys-unluckiest-legends-part-1.
4. Tremulis, “Epitaph,” 60.
5. Egan, Design and Destiny, 83.
6. Edward Miller, “Tucker Torpedo Is Gone, but It’s Not Forgotten,” Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, VA), October 18, 1984.
7. Tremulis, “Epitaph,” 59.
8. Mark Lieberman, interview by the author, 2015.
9. Some sources say it was fourteen states. See Gordinier, “A Lot of Drive.”
10. Egan, Design and Destiny, 88; Tremulis mentioned the Tucker logo in Gordinier, “A Lot of Drive.”
11. Tremulis, “Epitaph,” 58.
12. Gordinier, “A Lot of Drive.”
13. Margalit Fox, “Philip Egan, a Designer of a Fabled Sedan, Dies at 88,” New York Times, January 12, 2009.
14. Tucker Topics 1, no. 3.
15. Ibid.
16. Ibid.
17. SEC, Tucker Corporation, 511.
18. Ibid., 512.
19. Ibid., 514.
20. Ibid.
21. Ibid., 514–515.
22. Tucker Topics 1, no. 4: 1.
23. Ibid., 11.
24. Egan, Design and Destiny, 93.
25. Pearson, Indomitable Tin Goose, 132.
26. Egan, Design and Destiny, 95.
27. Pearson, Indomitable Tin Goose, 132.
28. Lieberman, interview by the author.
29. William S. Bergstrom, “Memories Revived in Tucker Hometown,” Evening News (Newburgh, NY) August 22, 1988.
30. Pearson, Indomitable Tin Goose, 132–133.
31. Ibid., 138.
32. Ibid.
33. Ibid.
17. THE FIRST CAR OFF THE ASSEMBLY LINE—#1001
1. Egan, Design and Destiny, 98–99.
2. Tucker Topics 1, no. 5: 14.
3. Ibid.
4. Pearson, Indomitable Tin Goose, 139.
5. Tucker Topics 1, no. 5: 15.
6. Egan, Design and Destiny, 102.
7. “Tucker ‘Dream’ Car Still Just That,” Dealer News, March 10, 1948.
8. Tucker Corp., Prospectus, 6.
9. Egan, Design and Destiny, 111.
10. Veenkant v. Yorke, 256 F.2d 808 (1958).
11. “Tucker Lines Up Enough Steel for 240 Cars a Day,” Dealer News, March 17, 1948.
12. “Tucker Torpedo Out in June,” New York Times, February 12, 1948.
13. Tucker Topics 1, no. 5: 2.
14. Ibid., 3.
15. Ibid., 3–4.
16. Egan, Design and Destiny, 104.
17. “Tucker Buys Plant for Making Motors,” Dealer News, March 31, 1948.
18. Ibid.
19. Tucker Topics 1, no. 5: 12.
20. Ibid. Some sources said the show was a half hour long, but the company’s own publication would seem to be a more accurate source.
21. Ibid.
22. Pearson, Indomitable Tin Goose, 148–149.
23. Egan, Design and Destiny, 110.
18. THE ACCESSORIES PROGRAM
1. Knoble, Call to Market, 201.
2. Tucker Topics 1, no. 7: 3.
3. Tucker Topics 1, no. 6: 3.
4. Pearson, Indomitable Tin Goose, 146.
5. Knoble, Call to Market, 203.
6. Ibid., 201.
7. Pearson, Indomitable Tin Goose, 151.
8. Tremulis, “Epitaph,” 5, 64.
9. Tucker Topics 1, no. 6: 6.
10. Ibid., 11. Campini’s first name is sometimes spelled “Secundo.”