In a world of smart phones, robotics and faster-than-ever internet, there is still one thing missing from our future...the flying car.
But what if we started earlier?
What if it all started in the past?
More than sixty years earlier, a phone call disrupts the Tucker household. Howard Hughes, reclusive billionaire, proposes a new venture after the heartbreaking verdict in the Tucker Trial of 1950, which claimed that the entire business of making Tucker Cars was nothing more than a long con and that he never intended produce the cars. In fact, he built 50 and even had 8 of them driven to the court house, asking if anyone wanted to take a ride in them. In the end, the court ruled that Tucker was not guilty on all counts. But his name was tarnished and he was buried in debt.
Hesitant at first, Tucker, a hopeless dreamer, does not want to have his hopes dashed again. But Hughes is persistent, with a vision that came to him some years earlier after the almost life-ending crash in his experimental plane. Together they form an innovative, albeit eccentric, journey into the making of the first flying car.
But with every setback and every progression, the lies, deceit and backstabbing threaten their resolve. Will they accomplish the impossible or be shut-down by greedy corporations? Or will this project force them to confront their own demons and sever the partnership? Only time will tell.
I’ve always been fascinated by the life of Preston Tucker, a dreamer who came up with a revolutionary car. Some suspected he was a fraud who simply wanted to take people’s money. But I believe he was just a simple family man who was ahead of the curve. So much so that people wanted to shut him down quick, referring to his Tucker Torpedo as nothing more than a Tin Goose.
Whereas Tucker was hopeful, and maybe a little naive, Howard Hughes was a force to be reckoned with – a man who had shady practices but would not be stepped on. With enough money and bluster, Hughes could have whatever he wished.
With these two unique personalities in place, I thought it would be such an interesting idea for them to band together and invent the first flying car. This project is part science-fiction and part alternative history. With every choice that both these men make, it causes a ripple effect throughout history.
I grew up in a small suburb of Chicago, where my love of a good story was cultivated by shows like “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” and “The Twilight Zone.” I was a bibliophile from the moment I learned to read and began weaving together my own tales at an early age.
I married my high-school sweetheart in 2010 and we live with our daughter, Sophia, and our cat, Bandit.
Like you, I thought the idea of a flying car would be cool. But let’s face it: it is highly unlikely that one will be produced. But, by funding this book, at least we would all get a little taste of what that future would look like. This is a big project and I’m willing to devote my time to it to entertain anyone who has ever had the fleeting thought that they would one day like to feel what it would be like to be up int the clouds...in a flying car.
With the funds raised, I will produce and distribute the book.