The question about Torpedo Tucker and its main competitors.

[Guest Gumen Roman]

Hi everyone!

Please, help me to compare Torpedo Tucker with its competitors in a proper way. The fact is, I want to make a short Power point presentation about Torpedo Tucker. But I dont know what cars are suitable for comparison and I need a table with correct figures.

I have already found information about Packard Custom Super Clipper Eight, Rolls-Royce Silver Wraight and Buick 41D, but I failed to find any specifications.

Thanks in advance for your answers!

Roman

[alsancle]

Wasn't the Silver Wraith a 10k car? I don't think the Tucker would be in that market.

[Amphicar BUYER]

Just a small correction, It's a "Tucker Torpedo" Tucker is the MFG and Torpedo is the model.

[poci1957]

Tough question, I do not think there would be a direct comparison since the Tucker was not really a production model yet.

I think the Packard is a good start, maybe also a Cadillac Series 61 and a Buick Roadmaster. All should have basic specs available on Wikipedia.

[Rusty_OToole]

The Tucker was comparable in size and power to luxury cars of the time like Packard, Cadillac, Buick, Chrysler and Lincoln.

Two things would have made it more expensive to build than any of them. The sophisticated design, and the fact that the builder was starting from scratch.

If it had been put on the market, it would have cost as much as the most expensive luxury cars if not more. In 1948 in the US this would mean a retail price of $3500 to $5000.

Here is a good web site for specs on American cars.

Car Specs

It will give you statistics like weight, wheelbase, engine size, horsepower but not prices.

[Guest Tuckerfan]

First, to correct a mistake, the car was originally going to be called "Torpedo," but it was decided that this projected the wrong image for the car, and so the name was changed to '48.

The Tucker Corporation never officially settled on a price range for the cars. They were aiming for "Mid-Price luxury" in their advertising, which would have meant that they were aiming for Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Mercury, low-end Packard pricing. There was debate within the company as to what price they could sell the cars for. Tucker had said that he thought they could do it for around $1,500, but the engineering studies disagreed and said that the price would have to be much higher.

Oldsmobile would, I'd say, be a good choice to contrast it with, as in the early 1950s Bill Hamblin pitted his Tucker (with over 20K miles on it) against a '50 Oldsmobile 88 at a drag strip and beat the Olds handily.

The Tucker Automobile Club of America does have a website and a Facebook page where you can look up more information. They used to have a message board where you could ask questions (and get answers from Tucker owners), but that's recently been turned into "read only" as they decided it wasn't worth the hassle.

[john2dameron]

I would say the Tucker '48 would have compared to Buick Roadmasters, 98 Oldsmobiles, high-end Hudsons and low-end Cadillacs. Don't think they could have sold it any lower than that.