Editing Tucker 48 (section)

==Troubled premiere==
The world premiere of the much-hyped Tucker 48 car was set for June 19, 1947. Over 3,000 people showed up at the factory in Chicago for lunch, a train tour of the plant, and the unveiling of the first prototype. The unveiling appeared doomed, however, as last-minute problems cropped up. The night before the premiere, two of the prototype's independent suspension arms snapped under the car's weight. (The prototype was extremely heavy, much heavier than the other 48s.) Minor engine problems were fixed, and the car was presentable by the time of the premiere. However, the experimental 589 engine was extremely loud. Tucker told the band to play as loud as possible to drown out the noise. Additionally the high-voltage starter required the use of outside power to get the engine started, so Tucker had the engineering team keep the engine running during the entire event, fearing that the public would see how much effort was required to get the engine started.<ref name=Wipff/> As the car was driven on to the platform, the liquid coolant boiled over and some steam escaped from the car, but no one seemed to notice.<ref name="Egan 1989"/>

[[Drew Pearson (journalist)|Drew Pearson]], one of the top [[Columnist|newspaper columnists]] of his time, reported publicly that the car was a fraud because it could not go backward and it went "goose-geese" going down the road.<ref name=duchene>{{cite news |last= Duchene |first= Paul |title= Preston Tucker: The Man behind the Car |url= https://www.chicagotribune.com/2011/02/01/preston-tucker-the-man-behind-the-car/ |access-date= February 10, 2012 |newspaper= Chicago Tribune |date=February 1, 2011}}</ref> Although this problem was limited to the first prototype only, a symptom of the speed with which the first car was put together, the damage to the car's reputation was done, and a storm of negative media followed.<ref name=duchene/>

Tucker suffered another setback when his bids to obtain two steel mills to provide raw materials for his cars were rejected by the [[War Assets Administration]] under a shroud of questionable politics.<ref>{{cite news |last= Mitten |first= Ray |title= Tucker Fights Republic for Steel Plant |url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19480125&id=8lsbAAAAIBAJ&pg=1711,2960560 |access-date= February 10, 2012 |newspaper= The Pittsburgh Press |date= January 24, 1948|page=18}}</ref>