AUTOS: End of Tucker?

In Chicago's Federal Court last week, Preston Tucker's company and his rear-engined "car of tomorrow" looked like the one-hoss shay. If not bankrupt, the company seemed only a bumper's length away. The court appointed two trustees in reorganization to operate the business for the next 60 days, then submit a plan for reorganization along with a report on the "desirability of continuance."

Tucker was excluded from any further say in corporate affairs. The cash on hand was $32,000, about half of which was due on payrolls, and bills. Except for equipment, that was all that remained of the $25 million Tucker had raised.

Day after their appointment, the trustees had a look at the rented Tucker plant. It looked bare as Mother Hubbard's cupboard: no workable assembly line, no jigs for mass production, no body presses. There were a few modern die presses and foundry equipment, and a snappy paint shop. In what Tucker called the "machine shop and main assembly plant," only a portable crane was visible.