29. What was the name of the too-far-ahead-of-its-time car that Preston Tucker tried to bring to market?
From Quiz Car Flake II
Answer:
Torpedo
The Tucker Torpedo was an odd bird in the post-war world of the late 1940s. It looked like a cyclopean Oldsmobile of that vintage, but had a flat, rear-mounted six cylinder engine, all around independent suspension and a headlight that followed the same arc as the steering wheels.
Not exactly cyclopean, but the Torpedo had three, (count 'em) three headlights, and the center one was the one that followed the wheel arc. The Torpedo was also a safety conscious marque that had one of the first passenger roll cages and had safety belts as an option before anybody. Fifty one were built, and amazingly enough, after more than 50 years, 47 still survive! The "big three" tried and succeeded in suppressing production of this car, as most of Preston Tucker's supplies were cut off and bad publicity was routinely circulated about him and his car.
Originally sold for less than $3000.00, the value of the remaining models varies between $250,000 to $500,000 today! In 1988, Francis Ford Coppola directed Jeff Bridges in a George Lucas production of "Tucker: A Man and His Dream", about the creator of this visionary, but weird-looking, automobile.