<VV> Corvair Firsts

[J R Read_HML]

JR later reversed himself.  Sorry about that.

It was a Franklin (aircraft - helicopter) engine.

Attachments are scanned with anti-virus software.

Later, JR

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Alan and Clare Wesson" <alan.wesson@atlas.co.uk>
To: <YENBAT@aol.com>; <virtualvairs@corvair.org>
Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 5:04 PM
Subject: Re: <VV> Corvair Firsts


> Tim (and J R) wrote:
>
>> But the Tucker wasn't air cooled.
>
>
> Yes it was! At least I can be right about *one* thing this evening! Here's 
> the
> proof:
>
> (Source: http://www.motorcities.com/contents/03A89404423757.html)
>
> Cheers
>
> Alan [Proof follows]
>
>
>
> A Correction on Tucker history by the Director of the Tucker Historical
> Collection and Library
>
> Hello,
>
> While searching the web I happened across your site and read an article on 
> the
> 1948 Tucker '48.
>
> I read the article with interest but found it contained so many flaws and
> inconsistencies in regards to the Tucker that it became worthless as a
> credible historical review.
>
> Did the author maliciously manufacturer "truth" through the discarding of
> evidence? Or was this a case of the careless use of opinion and hearsay, 
> which
> eagerly has been repeated as historical fact?
>
> While their are several areas that need correcting I will focus on only 
> two.
>
> The biggest errors appear in the following paragraph:
>
> "The heart of every great car is a great engine, but Tucker didn't want to
> waste the time and money to develop his own, especially when there were a
> bunch of Army surplus helicopter engines lying around that could be had 
> for a
> song. With a little warbling, Tucker lined up a supply of horizontally 
> opposed
> six cylinder engines from Air-Cooled Motors, a descendant of the old 
> Franklin
> marque."
>
> Regardless of the author's personal opinion, the statements in this 
> paragraph
> couldn't be further from the truth. Tucker spend a considerable amount of 
> time
> and money developing the unsuccessful Tucker 589 engine. This was one of 
> the
> major points of the government's legal case againist Tucker. Why spend so 
> much
> on a failed idea.
>
> The idea of "Army surplus helicopter engines lying around that could be 
> had
> for a song" is just plain ridiculous. In 1947 there were no Army surplus
> helicopters - let alone engines as the US Military only experimented with
> helicopters toward the end of WW2.
>
> The Aircooled engine was used in the Bell 47 (1947 - first certified civil
> helicopter; military use in the Korean) as was well as some Heller crafts.
> After working on their own engine Tucker contracted with Aircooled to 
> build
> 125 prototype engines. He purchased Aircooled Motors as a subsidiary of 
> Tucker
> Corporation in March of 1948 and it remained in business until 1960.
>
> The second items is that the Tucker Torpedo was never made. This was the 
> name
> used in early 1946 factory promo but was dropped when the car was 
> introduced
> as the Tucker '48 in June of 1947.
>
> Respectfully,
>
> Jay A. Follis - Director
> Tucker Historical Collection and Library
> 345 E. Minckler
> Allegan, MI 49010-9726
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