Preston Tucker - Tucker Combat Car and The Tucker Gun Turret (1939-1941)

Tucker Combat Car and The Tucker Gun Turret (1939-1941)

In late 1937, while recovering in an Indianapolis hospital from an appendectomy, Tucker was reading the news about war looming on the horizon in Europe. He got the idea of developing a high-speed armored combat vehicle. In 1939, Tucker moved his family back to Michigan and bought a house and property in Ypsilanti. He remodeled an old barn on his property and began and operated a machine shop called the Ypsilanti Machine and Tool Company, planning to use the facility to develop various automotive products.

Opportunity arose for Tucker from the Dutch government, who wanted a combat vehicle suited to the muddy Dutch terrain. Continuing his working relationship with Harry Miller, Tucker and Miller began designing a narrow-wheelbase armored combat car, powered by a Miller-modified Packard V-12 engine. The car was nicknamed the "Tucker Tiger".

At least one prototype of the combat car was built. Production of the car was to be done at the Rahway, New Jersey factory owned by the American Armament Corporation. The Germans invaded Holland in the spring of 1940, before Tucker could complete the deal, and the Dutch government lost interest, so he completed the prototypes and opted to try to sell the vehicle to the U.S. government. The car could reach over 115 mph (185 km/h), far in excess of the design specifications. The U.S. military felt the vehicle was too fast and had already committed to other combat vehicles. The highly-mobile power-operated gun turret featured on the Tucker combat car, which became known as the "Tucker Turret", earned the interest of the U.S. Navy. Harry Miller would later take some of the designs from the Tucker Combat Car to American Bantam where he was involved in the development of the first Jeep.

The Tucker Turret was soon in production (initially at Tucker's Ypsilanti machine shop). It was used in PT boats, landing craft, and B-17 and B-29 bombers. Tucker's patents for the turret were licensed out to various manufacturers to mass produce the turret in the high volume to meet demand. Tucker's patent rights were stolen and Tucker was embroiled in lawsuits for years trying to recoup royalties for use of his patents on the turret.