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Fall 2008

ISSN 0890-913X

Volume 24, Number 1

Categories: Economics | Fall 2008

What Caused the Tucker Automobile Corporation to Fail?

George Langelett, South Dakota State University

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TheJournalofPrivateEnterprise24(1),2008,175-180WhatCausedtheTuckerAutomobileCorporationtoFail?GeorgeLangelettSouthDakotaStateUniversityAbstractThemysterysurroundingtheriseandfalloftheTuckerautomobilecompanyremainsafascinatingpieceofU.S.automotivehistoryforbothhistoriansandeconomists.FrancisFordCoppola’s1988movieTucker:TheManandHisDreambroughttolifethedifficultiesPrestonTuckerfacedashetriedtostartproducingacaryearsaheadofitstime.ThemovieiscaptivatingbecauseitattributesthecollapseoftheTuckerCorporationtopublicchoicetheory.Despitethemovie’sportrayalofanalliancebetweentheautomobileindustryandtheS.E.C.tobringdowntheTuckerCompany,historianshavefoundnoevidenceofaconspiracy.Rather,thecollapseoftheTuckerCorporationcanbeattributedtotwoproblems.First,lackoffinancialplanningandrefusaltoutilizeconventionalloansscaredawayventurecapital.Second,theS.E.C.’sdeterminationthatpresellingcarfeatureswasillegallefttheTuckerCorporationfinanciallybankrupt.JELCodes:M13,Z11Keywords:Economichistory,Entrepreneurship,BusinesseconomicsI.IntroductionTheriseandfalloftheTuckerCorporationremainsanenigmaofU.S.automotivehistory.The1948Tuckerautomobilewasheraldedasthecaroftomorrow,andbyperformancestandards,thecarwasyearsaheadofitstime.InspiredbyIndianapolis500racecars,theTucker’48“Torpedo”haddiscbreaks,fuelinjection,arearengine,andatopspeedof120milesperhour.Forsafety,thecarfeaturedseatbelts,pop-outwindshields,andamiddlelightthatturnedwiththesteeringwheel.Only51Tucker’48carswereproducedbeforethecompanyfailed.But,asatestamenttotheTuckerCorporation,todayforty-sevenTuckerTorpedoesarestillroad-worthy;asmuseumpieces,eachiscurrentlyvaluedatmorethan$250,000(TuckerClub).Thiscreatesanintriguingquestionforprivateenterpriseeconomists:Ifinnovationisthesourceofeconomicgrowthinfreeenterprise,175

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Metadata [hide]

Title	What Caused the Tucker Automobile Corporation to Fail?
Authors/Creators:	George Langelett, South Dakota State University
Year:	2008
Volume:	24
Number:	1
Pages:	175 - 180
Publisher:	The Association of Private Enterprise Education
ISSN:	0890-913X
Document Type:	Educational Notes
Keywords:	Economic History, Entrepreneurship, Business Economics

Citation:
Langelett, George / 2008. "What Caused the Tucker Automobile Corporation to Fail?." The Journal of Private Enterprise, 24(1): 175-180.