Preston Tucker's ONLY Air Cooled 1948 Tucker Car Engine & Tucker 48 Engine Number One!

[@davidbonney5035]

Definitely a man of vision

[@Thedenstr]

I believe we're cousins. Hope to see the museum someday . Good luck.....

[@ericfaley9019]

Get that front end piece and add it to the collection. It is so cool that ever car pretty much has been accounted for.

[@discerningmind]

Agreed. It doesn't deserve to be out rotting in a field.

[@stevenstair1068]

That's on my bucket list to visit 😊

[@stephenhoosick7434]

Another GREAT video,,As always Thanks again

[@prestontuckersspeedshop1948]

Thank you for watching!

[@rustyrobinson8027]

If only they would have left him alone what a shame

[@prestontuckersspeedshop1948]

What could have been! Thanks for watching

[@johnelliott7375]

He always said that you wanted something besides a Cadillac, Tucker is your car.

[@prestontuckersspeedshop1948]

Tucker would be our car anyway, thanks for watching!

[@vayabroder729]

This is killer, guys! Your great grandaddy is smiling in Heaven seeing what you’re doing now.

[@prestontuckersspeedshop1948]

Thank you so much, we hope so!

[@StressLessCamping]

So many of the heirs of such a great legacy take no interest but it is fantastic following you and learning from your knowledge and passion for this incredible family legacy.

[@patrickbodine1300]

*YOU GUYS ROCK*

[@prestontuckersspeedshop1948]

Thank you for watching!

[@billmegnin9288]

I grew up in syracuse NY so when the movie came out I became a huge fan of these cars. Always wanted to have one to I realized how out of reach they really are. My grandfather was an engineer for gm for many years and passed his love of cars down to me. Always talked about a Tucker being around this area. He said he knew where it was but never told anyone that I know of. He's long passed before the movie came out unfortunately or I would've pursued trying to find this car.

[@johnelliott7375]

Best thing that a great company does is numbers its work and different pieces to ensure you have a original pieces. Just like a Swiss watch or Swiss or German firearm, every single piece was numbered on and in them. Great day to and the family.

[@prestontuckersspeedshop1948]

Yes, agreed! It was helped immensely with the work on the cars. Thanks for watching!

[@claytonbouldin9381]

I am really mad right now because I have driven through Hershey, PA several times and just recently stumbled upon your YT page. I had no idea I was passing by a Tucker museum in my travels! Someday soon you're going to see my face walking through your doors to visit this incredible museum you created! I have always loved how Tuckers looked since watching the movie way back when...keep up the good work!

[@61rampy65]

As a major Corvair enthusiast, I was very interested in that air cooled engine. I would imagine that Ed Cole (father of the Corvair and the small-block Chevy V8) spent a fair amount of time studying that engine (most likely in its helicopter version). It looks a LOT like some of the early prototype Corvair engines. I do know that Chevy spent a huge amount of development time trying to keep the center two cylinders cool. Maybe that's one reason Tucker went with water cooling. Great video, guys!

[@breakstuffinc]

Another great video, thank you. The Cammack collection is worth the drive. The Tucker brand is well represented here.

[@Wooley689]

I am so excited about taking a trip up there to take this all in.

[@Oldbmwr100rs]

The air cooled idea looked good, but as pointed out the original design intakes were under the head making a single carb system a bit messy. They could have used two carbs, one for each side, it would have also improved performance. A heat exchanger system on the exhaust could have easily provided cabin heat and this would have done the job getting more cars out there as the water cooled version was finished up. But hey, talking about it is one thing, and time wasn't on Tucker's side as he tried to get this going. Amazing collection and great job on the videos telling more of the history of these cars.

[@prestontuckersspeedshop1948]

Thank you for watching!

[@That_AMC_Guy]

That design would've been fine if they were going to try port fuel injection and the intake were a dry system. But that was abandoned before the O-335 was ever considered.

[@jeffkenyon1145]

Great video, guys! I saw you two at the the Savoy Auto Museum in Cartersville, Georgia on 01/29/2022 for your "Talk with the Tuckers" presentation, and you two put on a fantastic show! Good luck and continued success with this channel!

[@prestontuckersspeedshop1948]

Thank you Jeff, we had a blast at the Savoy. What an amazing facility. We will definitely be back. Thanks for watching!

[@johnelliott7375]

So happy for you guys and I will keep watching, praying, and hoping that you can continue the conversation of the Tucker cars and name plate! God bless and keep up doing the things that you enjoy and believe in. Hopefully I will get to see you guys and the car collection before my time is up! Again thanks for your time, work, and dedication to your business. Me and my 87 year old Dad loves it!

[@prestontuckersspeedshop1948]

Hi John, we are so glad you like it. We will keep them coming. Thanks for watching!

[@gsmith207]

Wicked cool history guys! And imagine back then doing this? I look up and thank my grandparents everyday for what they did for us. Yours would be very proud of you. Cheers from Maine 🍻

[@prestontuckersspeedshop1948]

Thank you for watching!

[@jakeclark6305]

Very cool! Thank you for continuing the story!

[@prestontuckersspeedshop1948]

Thanks for watching!

[@martentrudeau6948]

God bless Preston Tucker's family, Preston is one of my heroes.

[@samuelgoodman2825]

I would love to see an exploded engineer view of the TuckerMatic.27 parts,less parts less failures.

[@prestontuckersspeedshop1948]

We will try to figure out how to do a video on the Tuckermatic in the future, thanks for watching!

[@That_AMC_Guy]

@@prestontuckersspeedshop1948 That would be awesome. Wasn't it going to be used in that "Ride in a Tucker" contest? If it runs now, maybe a video detailing how a person would actually use it would be great. It was designed by Warren Rice, same dude who would go on to develop Buick's Dynaflow. It's a 2-speed planetary with what is supposed to be "infinite" ratios between converters. Though, I suspect the first "converter" is actually just a fluid coupling as there really is no need for two converters. Early versions had functional problems because of the dual converters, resulting in the final R-3 version having a layshaft "brake" to allow directions to be changed with the engine running. Had they run a single converter, with say a set of helical gears where the second converter is would've simplified the whole system even more and wouldn't have required that brake. I believe it was due to "packaging" constraints. The location of the differential and the engine could not be moved, so the transmission had to be designed around those hardpoints. The gas tank was also relocated after car #26 (?) to make room for that outboard torque converter. A fluid coupling unit isn't as "deep" as a torque converter and would be no larger than the clutch of the 4-speed cars.

[@discerningmind]

@@That_AMC_Guy Interesting comment. I don't know what you mean when you said "A fluid coupling unit isn't as "deep" as a torque converter..." I own and regularly drive a 1948 Chrysler with Fluid Drive utilizing a fluid coupler, so I'm very interested in learning what you have to say.

[@That_AMC_Guy]

@@discerningmind Well, don't forget your Chrysler has a fluid coupling with a clutch attached to the back of it. The Tucker doesn't. There are also many styles of coupling. You also have to think about 1948 technology. A fluid coupling is relatively simple; where a torque converter is not. A fluid coupler does not multiply output torque where a torque converter has internal vanes that make torque multiplication possible. That's why I'd be curious to see if the first "converter" is really just that. Because two torque converters could supply a multitude of ratios, they'd constantly be working against one another causing an immense amount of heat. But if one is a fluid coupling, that does nothing other than drive the converter at the "front" of the transmission, than the coupling is nothing more than a disconnect (like a clutch) and the converter can be "vaned" to have a much lower stall (and therefore a greater amount of usefulness) and deeper vanes allowing greater ratios. BUT, it could've all been simplified. I suppose they'd have gotten there eventually. The Tuckermatic was probably designed over a matter of weeks.

[@michaelszczys8316]

Wasn't there early Hydramatics or some other automatic that had dual fluid couplings? I'm not exactly old enough to be working on transmissions from that Era but I did read a lot about them in books as a teen.

[@jerrywiniarski1176]

Great video guys....nice to see a visual history of one of the best American cars made ever...thx again...God Bless... 😎👍😺

[@Altema22]

Wonderful video, and I loved seeing the engine progression. On the air cooled version, the direction of flow for the intake tubes would have been ok, if the temperature was high enough. Gasoline vaporizes at 140° F, and if the intake tube is cooler than that, gas will puddle in the bottom of the tube. There is no intake preheating system, so it's likely that it would not have run well enough to please Preston. Thanks for the video, and I hope to visit one day!

[@anibalbabilonia1867]

Man it’s still an amazing array of engines that survived and the technology behind it was kind of ahead of their times! And you ever wonder if the car had survived the bureaucracy of the government, If Preston would have used both configurations! Amazing history indeed! Love this stuff! Keep it coming guy’s!👌😎👍 question is there a possibility in the near future doing a video post of the tin goose!?

[@prestontuckersspeedshop1948]

We will, and yes we hope to do one on the Tin Goose soon.

[@anibalbabilonia1867]

@@prestontuckersspeedshop1948 that’s awesome! Thank you guy’s love your channel!

[@theherrdark4834]

Been to the AACA a few times including opening day, their collections and displays are great. Well worth the trip and visit.

[@noshsreqd]

This is fascinating to see these details of the engine development, I remember seeing the movie years ago and being intrigued by these fabled cars of engineering ahead of its time. So cool to see the history being revealed by none other than Preston's own great grandsons! Thank you for the presentation.

[@Jimbo-in-Thailand]

Very interesting to see the engine development process in these prototypes. I guess it wasn't widely known at the time how amazingly efficient that remote oil-coolers are on air-cooled engines. Harley Davidson and Volkswagen have both proven how effective and reliable that type of cooling is even under extreme conditions. Regards from Thailand!

[@Openairgarage]

It was very nice to meet you guys at the Savoy, great presentation! Thanks to you and your dad for signing my Tucker die-cast! Keep up the great work.

[@discerningmind]

I enjoyed this video. It was great watching a presentation from both of you. Nice job guys. The reasoning behind the intention in having an exhaust pipe for each cylinder is very clever. The lengthy intake pipe for the induction on the air-cooled engine would make it use a lot of gas. I learned about this in past study of Volkswagen single carburetor air-cooled engines, and also Chrysler crossflow ram V-8 engines built in the late 1950's into the early 1960's.

[@prestontuckersspeedshop1948]

Thank you so much, and thanks for watching!

[@rolandocardoza5031]

Wow Interesting story, thank you very much. God bless you.

[@radiodave1]

Mike! I have that same hoodie now! Thanks for sending it! Love all of these vids! Keep up the great work!!!

[@prestontuckersspeedshop1948]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@howabouthetruth2157]

Quite an impressive collection and great job of explaining everything guys, I really enjoyed it..........thank you!

[@prestontuckersspeedshop1948]

You are welcome, thanks for watching!

[@alconk7129]

So interesting!! I hope to be there one day to see it in person!

[@throttlewatch4614]

Can you imagine how things would be if these cars would have made a longer run?

[@prestontuckersspeedshop1948]

We do every day, thanks for watching!

[@throttlewatch4614]

@@prestontuckersspeedshop1948 I need to watch the movie again but I tell people about the story all the time.

[@discerningmind]

I wish the Tucker car had a longer run. I've felt badly for these boys and the families since I learned about them. Most particularly that they have so little to work with. Something that makes it bother me all the more, is that these boys are good men and so deserving. It's another story and situation that confirms life just isn't fair.

[@deopersad2915]

Awesome 👍🏽👍🏻 wow amazing place would love to see it one day, at the moment got to sort stuff out , and hopefully in the future can see it 🙂👍🏽

[@THROTTLEPOWER]

Very cool, really enjoyed!!

[@That_AMC_Guy]

Aha! That solves a little bit of the mystery about the air cooled version. I really don't think the Tucker Corporation in general ever really considered using an air-cooled version. I could see it as something the Franklin engineers would try to cook up as it looks like it uses a lot more of *their* parts versus what it took to convert to the Tucker version. It was probably just a "Make-Work" program to see if they could potentially come up with an automobile-style engine, using as many Franklin parts as possible.

[@discerningmind]

I was thinking the same thing but for a different reason.

[@MY50CC]

Great video guys !!! I have always wondered if there had been an attempt at an air cooled version of this engine for use in the car . Now I know . To a Tucker fan the seemingly little details are fascinating and informing . I became a permanent and avid Preston Tucker fan after I saw the 1988 movie. I am planning a trip out to AACA Museum in Hershey soon when the weather warms up . Keep your excellent videos coming !!!

[@prestontuckersspeedshop1948]

Great news and thanks for watching!

[@JosephOlson-ld2td]

Franlklin Aircraft Engines, founded 1902, produced horizontal mounted engines with bottom mounted, updraft carburetor to reduce fire risk from fuel leaks. Kept same design for vertical helicopter applications, modified by Tucker

[@ShainAndrews]

I wonder what it would have been like had they left it air cooled. Suppose there is some NVH concerns.

[@prestontuckersspeedshop1948]

Potentially, and we’ve always heard airflow was the issue. Thanks for watching!

[@discerningmind]

@@prestontuckersspeedshop1948 The heater would have required a redesign too.

[@garthwillard8089]

There was a great video about the Tucker convertible I hope it can be linked to the grand kids

[@prestontuckersspeedshop1948]

We have no comment on the convertible…it only leads to arguments we have no interest participating in!

[@HurricaneWanderer]

I would just like to know what happened to Preston Tucker's Tiger armored cars. There's very little information out there about them. Especially where they ended up or what eventually happened to them.

[@prestontuckersspeedshop1948]

We’ve not been able to track down what happened to the original prototype. Hopefully it’s out there somewhere!

[@discerningmind]

Good observation.

[@discerningmind]

@@prestontuckersspeedshop1948 I'd love it if one of the gun turrets were on display in the Tucker section. I hope I'm not wrong about that. I understand that your great grandfather designed a gun turret for use during WWII.

[@weekendgarage3299]

Cool stuff!!

[@Jhihmoac]

I kind of figured it would take a few different versions to get a vertical air-cooled helicopter engine configured properly into a horizontal water-cooled engine for rear-mount in a sizeable car... Even the big three to this day go through many pieces of iron every time a new engine design gets introed to R&D - and _THEY_ have more of an "unlimited budget", whereas Tucker probably did not, so you got to give Tucker credence for that too!

[@4WDutah]

ever thought of restarting the tucker motor corporation and actually restart your grandaddys dream?

[@prestontuckersspeedshop1948]

Only a couple times every day! Thanks for watching.

[@roccofortura2468]

loved it

[@Adrian_Nel]

I thank the strange part of the KZbin algo that brought me here. Your great grandfather was in a way the Elon Musk of his day. Very clever, probably a little bit crazy (and wonderfully so) but overall a well-intentioned, honourable man, methinks. Are you aware that somewhere there in the US, two dudes built a Tucker replica? (Using a Cadillac Northstar engine) Their grandfather / uncle / some old guy in the family had bought a Tucker dealership or something, but never got sell a car, of course. Oh and, I think that the motor would've had to be converted to a wet sump, perhaps to get to sufficient oil cooling, because, as you probably know, an 'air-cooled' motor is actually an oil-cooled motor.

[@blknotch1]

Yes - those are are good friends the Ida's. Thanks for watching!

[@pappabob29]

With the incredibly small number of these engines that were ever built, they could ALL be called "prototypes"!!! It's absolutely amazing that this many have survived this long!! Interesting how that fan is "wrong" on two of the engines. Seems odd doesn't it?? These guys were too "smart" for such an error. They must have thought the motor was going to rotate in the opposite direction??? Looking forward to that video of the "build" on that last engine!!

[@jimhaines8370]

I have seen or read a lot over the years about your families car and the one question I have about the movie as I don't remember seeing anywhere else, did Howard Hughes really ever have anything to do with putting Air cooled motors and Tucker together as shown. As a side note I have done a valve job on a Franklin Air Cooled six cylinders, at the shop I worked at we bored and honed the cylinders and we replaced guides and refinished seats and valves.

[@prestontuckersspeedshop1948]

Hi Jim, no the Howard Hughes portion of the movie was pure Hollywood. I bet that valve job was awesome! Thanks for watching.

[@jimhaines8370]

@@prestontuckersspeedshop1948 Thanks for clearing that up. As I said I never read anything anywhere else about that part. The guy I worked for where we did the Franklin cylinders was in his twenties during the Tucker years. After watching the movie when it was new said he felt the movie was about 75 to 80 percent accurate. He was the only person that I ever knew that had any knowledge about Tucker. What is crazy where I worked was in Alexandria Va. and we never heard about Mr. Cammack and he had to be close to us as Alexandria is not that big.

[@discerningmind]

@@jimhaines8370 It's sad that most of us have to make consideration of the movie. I'd value an accurate three-hour or so documentary, even if it was only on Public Television.

[@jimhaines8370]

@@discerningmind I have seen and own the history channel one hour story and even it has things I found out later to be wrong, so it is only documented as well as you can find out info on a subject and sometimes memories can fade or change.

[@discerningmind]

@@jimhaines8370 Thank you.

[@mikepelly5677]

What is the address of this Tucker museum? That should appear on all the videos you produce. It is a fascinating story on an amazing legacy.

[@emjayay]

AACA Museum in Hershey PA. There's a lot more to it than the Tucker display.

[@jasoncarpp7742]

Another awesome video. I've heard of the air-cooled engine used to test for the Tucker car. Which do you think would have been a better engine? 🙂

[@Ty-ur4hw]

Is there any info on what happened to the Tucker combat car ?

[@raphikut9280]

Hi SEAN. What happened to the Franklin engine company. Did someone buy it ? Does it still exist ?

[@blknotch1]

I don't believe it still exists at least in the form we knew it. If I am not mistaken it was sold in 1961.

[@mikeslattery8715]

The Air cooled helicopter engine.☝️😁😉⚡😎☝️

[@krisdacripe9833]

Didn’t the first air cooled Tucker engines use surplus helicopter engines ?

[@michaelmartinez1345]

I'm trying to figure-out why Preston Tucker changed it to liquid cooling... The air cooled engines in other vehicles and military equipment had already been proven to be reliable by that time... Maybe because they did not know about proper shrouding to enhance forced airflow across the heads & cylinders? Maybe they did not know about the cooling capabilities of engine oil heat exchangers? I'm curious if this was proprietary information that only the engine manufacturers had at that time....

[@prestontuckersspeedshop1948]

Hi Michael, we’ve not found any definitive information in the company documentation to answer this, but we’ve always been told it was airflow. If we find something we will post it in the comments. Thanks for watching!

[@michaelmartinez1345]

@@prestontuckersspeedshop1948 , Gotcha.... My guess is the methods of forced air cooling for the automotive engines of that time, still had not reached the point of reliability that the VW's and later- Chevy Corvairs were able to obtain.... But I have heard that some Sherman tanks and lots of other kinds of military equipment had reliable air-cooled engines....

[@emjayay]

@@michaelmartinez1345 Tatras had air cooled rear mounted 3 litre V8s starting in 1933 and continuing for decades.

[@HSRA-hg9gc]

Are they twins?

[@stevenfrazier8939]

What was going on with the camera operator at the Y1 transmission, Needs more training on video 101. Sean was trying his best to get it back on track.

[@prestontuckersspeedshop1948]

Sorry, we are just a couple of guys trying to share what we can with everyone. We are not video professionals by any means!

[@arthursmith5409]

This hurts, from the air cooled engine to the water cooled is inside manufacturing genius fir rhat time. Its just disappointing, this man would if been great, the engine would of changed things for that time in astronomical heights if technology. Very disappointed, with people of that time up to now.

[@ebenwaterman5858]

7:26 "The thing on the back is a torque converter" Is it really? It suspiciously looks like a Centrifugal Clutch. There is a type that uses steel shot inside. Dodge? Anyway, flat sixes rule. :)

[@mpetersen6]

A Franklin helicopter engine.

[@Hogger280]

Tucker did not make this engine - it was purchased from Bell - it was a Bell 47 Helicopter engine.

[@prestontuckersspeedshop1948]

Incorrect. The Tucker Corporation purchased Air Cooled Motors in Syracuse, NY and converted their air cooled helicopter engines to water cooled for the car. This one was an attempt to potentially continue with air cooling but they could not make it work in time.

[@Hogger280]

@@prestontuckersspeedshop1948 Yes, they did convert them to water cooled but initially they started out as Bell Helicopter engines - just like the one used in Mash.

[@jeffgibson184]

🇺🇸👍

[@12yearssober]

I never heard this

[@prestontuckersspeedshop1948]

Thanks for watching!