August 6, 200916 yr http://www.laubly.com/1948tucker.htm This is a great write up on a great car. Owner has taken great care of this car, and is still driving it today. There was a Tucker Rally in Las Vegas and they drove it from San Fransisco. I give them props for still driving this magnificent beast on the road.
August 6, 200916 yr A flat tire appears to be the least of the car's problems as it quite obviously overheated not long before the writer of the story happened upon it. Look at the top of the radiator, around the hoses, and how it blew through the rear grille and ran all over the rear bumper.
August 6, 200916 yr I wonder if overheating was a problem with these when you consider that the engine was in the back where it couldnt get decent airflow. Pretty revolutionary stuff though considering this is 1948.
August 6, 200916 yr Tucker weight has been misquoted since day one. 4200 / 4250 is the guesstimated weight of the original 'Tin Goose' prototype- which was heavily leaded & built from numerous donor cars. Buick Roadmaster is the same overall size as the Tucker with an iron block I8, iron DynaFLow trans and an enclosed driveshaft. After some persistance, I got a Tucker expert to admit the production Tucker weighs about 3750 lbs, which was my guesstimation. This is the sort of thing I live for- correcting misconceptions & straight-up incorrect facts in the auto hobby. Whether or not I can suceed in getting this corrected at large, remains to be seen. -- -- -- -- -- I never read that overheating was a problem. Aluminum engine did pretty well at dissipating heat, plus the car did duct in air from the leading edges of the rear fenders. Don;t forget- these are 60-some yr old cars with no replacement parts - component condition trumped original design decades ago.
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