Tucker: The Man and His Dream

"When I was a little kid, maybe five years old, in the old country, my mother used to say to me; shed warn me, shed say, Dont get too close to people. Youll catch their dreams...Years later, I realized I misunderstood her. Germs, she said, not dreams, Youll catch their germs... [they both laugh] I want you to know something, Tucker. I went into business with you for one reason - to make money. Thats all... How was I to know... [chokes up, head down] if I got too close, Id catch your dreams."

"Nina Siemaszko - Marilyn Lee Tucker"

"Christian Slater - Preston Tucker, Jr."

"When I was a boy, I used to, uh, used to read all about Edison and the Wright Brothers, Mr. Ford. They were my heroes. Rags to Riches - thats not just the name of a book. Thats what this country was all about. We invented the free enterprise system, where anybody, no matter who he was, where he came from, what class he belonged to - if he came up with a better idea about anything, theres no limit to how far he could go. I grew up a generation too late, I guess, because now the way the system works, the loner, the dreamer, the crackpot who comes up with some crazy idea that everybody laughs at, that later turns out to revolutionize the world - hes squashed from above before he even gets his head out of the water because the bureaucrats, theyd rather kill a new idea than let it rock the boat! If Benjamin Franklin were alive today, hed be thrown in jail for sailing a kite without a license! [jury laughs] Its true! Were all puffed up with ourselves now cause we invented the bomb - dropped the - beat the daylights out of the Japanese, the Nazis. But if big business closes the door on the little guy with a new idea, were not only closing the door on progress, but were sabotaging everything that we fought for! Everything that the country stands for!! And one day were gonna find ourselves at the bottom of the heap instead of king of the hill, having no idea how we got there, buying our radios and our cars from our former enemies. [A juror laughs] I dont believe thats gonna happen. I cant believe it because - if I ever stop believing in the plain ol common horse sense of the American people, be no way I could get out of bed in the morning. Thank you."

"Lloyd Bridges - Senator Homer Ferguson"

"Although only fifty Tuckers were ever produced, forty six of them are still road worthy and in use today. Tuckers innovations of aerodynamic styling, padded dash, pop out windows, seat belts, fuel injection and disc brakes were slowly adopted by Detroit and are found in the cars you are driving now. Preston Tucker died of an illness six years after the trial, but his ideas will live forever."

"Dean Stockwell - Howard Hughes"