Was This The Inspiration for the Tucker's Combat Car?

[Tuckerfan1053]

Here is a brief article on a high speed tank developed in 1932. The tank is described as being able to drive at 60 MPH with the tracks installed (remove the tracks and it did 110 MPH). 1932 was a few years before Tucker began his combat car, and roughly about the time that Harry Miller was working with Bantam on their early Jeep prototypes. (Perhaps a little bit before.)

Given the speed mentioned, I have to wonder if Tucker didn't see the article (or perhaps see a newsreel) on the tank and have a lightbulb go off in his head.

[Tuckeroo]

Tucker didn't just see the article or a newsreel! Harry Miller was directly involved in the Christie project! Tucker would've been working aside Miller at the same time Miller was working aside Walter Christie, at the very least on engine development for the Christie Combat Car (which was a proposed air-cooled H-12). The Tucker Tiger Tank was similar at least in its intended function, a high speed tank/scout combat car (perhaps potentially a tank destroyer), also a 12-cylinder, in Tucker's case a Packard V-12. It is probable that the Christie was the inspiration and motivation for Tucker, as implied in the book, The Marvelous Mechanical Designs of Harry A. Miller by Gordon E. White. Thanks for sharing this link! It's interesting to see the development of tanks in the years between the two World Wars.

[Tuckerfan1053]

Interestingly enough, I stumbled across another article dealing with the tanks, and couldn't help but notice that they were intended to fly!

Here's the article:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_64-ylJYAmDY/R ... anks_0.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_64-ylJYAmDY/R ... anks_1.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_64-ylJYAmDY/R ... anks_2.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_64-ylJYAmDY/R ... anks_3.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_64-ylJYAmDY/R ... anks_4.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_64-ylJYAmDY/R ... anks_5.jpg

[Tuckerfan1053]

Aaaand, it turns out that the Russians experimented with the concept of a flying tank at the start of WWII.