It was an experimental car from the '70s. Richard Carlson (Tucker’s father) broke the story: https://www.nytimes.com/1975/10/12/archives/the-strange-case-of-the-dale.html
He died, which brought the story to my attention: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/30/business/media/richard-carlson-dead.html
He wrote a touching story about his adoption for the ‘Washington Post’ in 1993: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1993/08/08/my-40-year-goodbye/9e458838-16ec-4f48-9744-248857ddd627
The Dale was not promoted as an experimental car. It was pitched as a real solution to the oil crises.
It turned out to be a scam.
History is full of stillborn cars. The Elio, the Aptera, the Vector…although some got built, and one of the most famous, the Tucker. Some were scams, some were poor management, some victims of circumstance.
I thought this conversation was going to be about THE Dale, the 3, the Intimidator!
His 1998 Daytona 500 made me a steady fan of the sport, until about 10 years ago, when the Nascar Cup started turning into the Hendrick Cup..! Broke my heart when, around fifteen years ago, Dale Jr. joined Satan - ahooom-cough-cough-hacccck - Hendrick Motorsports.
You can add the Muntz Jet and the Playboy from Buffalo suburb of the Town of Tonawanda/ both just after WWII
The Dale wasn’t a scam. Dale Clifft produced a prototype. Twentieth Century Motor Cars, the company that marketed the Dale, was a fraud and the owner of it ended up spending 18 months in prison for her activities.
There was a good HBO documentary on it in 2021, watch it if you have access.