Ever since seeing a Tucker Torpedo in the Murdo (South Dakota) Pioneer Auto Museum in 2001, I’ve been fascinated with the vehicle. Many years later, somebody gave me a DVD with the video about the brilliant man named Preston Tucker. He thought about many features, like rollover protection and directional lights, decades before anybody else – and realized them. Most of them far too advanced for the time, though. Mind you, we’re talking about 1948!

The sleek design inspired me to create a modernized version of the Tucker Torpedo, while retaining the key elements of the design. Yes, HotWheels models did play an influential role here…