Good morning,
Today’s Whitewater forecast calls for a cloudy day, with a high of thirty-three degrees.
There’s no school today, leaving the community to face free-range juveniles throughout the city. We’ll muddle through, I’m sure.
On this day in 1950, according to Wired, a true innovator is acquitted: “Jan. 22, 1950: Jury Acquits Tucker of Fraud.”
Along with seven business associates, Preston Tucker — founder and namesake of the Tucker Car Corporation and the creator of the ultramodern Tucker ’48 sedan — is found not guilty of 25 counts of mail fraud, five counts of violating SEC rules and a single count of conspiracy to defraud.
The company, however, would not survive the bad press and production delays that the trial imposed. The name “Tucker” would become synonymous with a failed business dream….
Tucker, an automotive enthusiast and charismatic entrepreneur, had promised the public something pretty radical: a new car that was to be a total departure from prewar designs. The sedan would have a rear engine, a laminate windshield, side-impact protection and a trademark center headlight that turned with the front wheels — a feature that became a trademark of the Tucker’s appearance….
The SEC raided the Tucker plant on May 28, 1948, forcing Tucker to cease production and lay off 1,600 employees. The trial began October 4, with the prosecution trying to prove that Tucker never meant to build a car and that the sole intent of Tucker Car Corporation was to defraud investors.
Tucker’s defense attorneys argued that the Tucker was ready for mass production and that the company would have never built a plant and hired employees if it had only been a fraud. A former Tucker dealer, while testifying for the prosecution, inadvertently won favor for Tucker when he said his own ’48 sedan was the “finest car I have ever driven.” Attorneys even parked eight Tucker ‘48s in front of the courthouse and offered jurors the opportunity to take a ride.
After 28 hours of deliberation, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty on all charges. The unflappable Tucker famously told the press that “even Henry Ford failed the first time out.” Sadly, though Tucker would attempt to build another sports car with investors from Brazil, he died of lung cancer in 1956. Today, fewer than 50 complete Tuckers still exist, most of them in private collections.
Conspiracy theories surrounding the investigation abound, many of which added to the drama of the mostly historically accurate Tucker biopic, Tucker: The Man and His Dream. While a David-versus-Goliath story always makes a good movie, many people today think the Tucker Car Corporation always intended to build a car, and that the Big Three automakers — fearing competition from an upstart competitor — were behind the SEC’s investigation of Tucker.
Here’s the trailer from Tucker: The Man and His Dream: