The Orion Online

Issue date: 5/9/07 Section: News

May 8, 2007

Three headlights, a set of white-rimmed wheels and an engine in the trunk make up the Tucker '48 that a Chico resident presented to the "Growing New Businesses" class today.

The car show was a culmination of the class, said professor Peter Straus. The class has been learning about the creator all semester and had finished a movie about the man.

Preston Tucker went against some of the three largest carmakers of the time, including General Motors, Chrysler and Ford.

Only about 50 of these cars were made because of a lack of money and time, said car owner Gene Clarke. One of the interesting things about this model car was that it was airplane-engine powered and that the engine was located in the trunk.

"I've personally had it since 1967, 40 years next month," Clarke said.

Clarke traded with a dealer in Red Bluff and has fixed the car up since.

Clarke said the Tucker '48 and what Tucker had to do to make it were a big story while he was growing up.

"It's good to see young people who know about the story," he said.

Senior Amanda Hobson said she thought the car and the maker were inspirational.

"They told him it was crap, but it's still running," she said.

Junior Justin McCormick said that he thought seeing the car was unrealistic.

"It's the Tucker," McCormick said.

The purpose of bringing the car out was to teach the students about being an entrepreneur.

"Not every business is going to make you millions or billions of dollars," Straus said.

Even though Tucker failed at car making, he put features into the car that made it safe for the road including a third headlight that turns when the car turns and front windows that pop out instead of shattering on impact, Strauss said.

The car awed some students.

"It's gorgeous," said senior Frank Padilla. "It will be worth a million dollars, should be already by me."

Elizabeth Varin can be reached at evarin@theorion.com

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