Preston Tucker
Tucker is the protagonist of the story. He is an inventor or more accurately a dreamer who believes in innovating the newest technology for the people of America to use. He is intelligent and witty, and uses advertising to his advantage as he is able to raise funds before he ever has a real car. He is taken to trial by the Security and Exchange Commission, but really sought out by the politicians whose pockets are being lined by the Detroit car companies. He wins at trial but is no longer permitted to build his Tucker cars.
Abe Karatz
Abe is a former crook turned businessman who helps Tucker to get money for his cars and even sells them to people before they are ever made. He is deeply ashamed of his fraudulent past, but stands true with Tucker through the trial.
Vera Tucker
Vera is Tucker's wife. She is not the typical woman in the 1940s, and instead steps in and handles business in boardrooms and makes decisions with Tucker about the car. She is a fighter and stands firmly with her husband through the trial of making the Tucker automobile.
Jimmy Sakuyama
Jimmy is an engineer and friend of Tucker's who helps him to design and build the first Tucker automobile. He's a man who is willing to try anything and also loyal to Tucker to the very end.
Alex Tremulis
Alex is a designer who sells himself to Tucker on Preston's front porch. After he saw Tucker's design for a new car, he couldn't let go of it and had to get a job working for the man himself. He does and gives everything to ensure the production of Preston's dream.
Senator Homer Ferguson
The Senator is in league with the Detroit automakers and stands firmly against Tucker making his new car. He does everything he can to ensure that the SEC investigates and brings Tucker to trial so that the automakers won't lose any money. He is defeated when the people of the jury find Tucker not guilty of the fraudulent charges brought against him.
RJ Bennington
Bennington is a former Packard exec who is brought on to the Tucker company to attract stock investors. This kicks off a power struggle between him and Preston Tucker over who will drive the design of the car and the future of the company.
Howard Hughes
Hughes drops in as something of a deux ex machina, giving Preston Tucker a call just when his troubles seem at their worst. He tells Preston about a little failing helicopter company in Buffalo with a surplus of steel and a good aluminum engine. He also offers Preston and Preston Jr. pistachios from his pocket.
Eddie
Eddie is one of Tucker's trusted engineers and a foil to his optimism. A running joke throughout the film is that when everyone else thinks that the team can achieve some ambitious goal, Eddie is the naysayer. This dynamic flips when the team realizes they can build 3 cars in 4 weeks to meet the contractual deadline to save the factory, and Preston says it can't be done. Eddie is also the one who test drives the Tucker car and survives it flipping over.
The Jury
The jury at Tucker's trial barely has a voice—we only hear from one juror, when he demands that the judge let Tucker finish his closing statement—but as the audience for Tucker's inspirational speech about the power of the American dream, it's clear that they are supposed to be a stand-in for the everyday American or, more importantly, us the film viewer.
