This time it was the cab just standing there and me cruising on by and, as if hailed, I quickly checked my stride and veered closer. It’s been a while since I’ve stood next to a Checker and as always I’m struck by how large they really are, sort of like a regular old car (that means a ’50’s car to most people of my generation) but at 115% of actual size. The Stay-Puft of cars, perhaps. However, the reality of this Checker has unfortunately come to an end.
This particular one hails from the twilight of the Marathon’s, uh, marathon-like length of production. Built and put into service into 1976 it carries the “A11″ designation, which at that time did mean it was for taxi duty. Specifically, taxi duty with 120″ wheelbase as opposed to the A11E (129” wheelbase) and A12 (Civilian version).
It’s likely been a long time since it carried any paying passengers, and has certainly been around the block a few times. And that block. And also that block. And every other block you might name too. But just like you can’t keep a good man down, so it appears to be with Checkers, they just keep coming back for more no matter what happens. Well, except for this time, I’m afraid there’s usually no coming back from this place. At least not in the same form.
Oh, what stories this front end could likely tell, I do wonder if these Checkers were used around here for taxi duty back in the day, last year I saw another in what seemed to be the same exterior color so perhaps one of the longer-term Denver natives might know (Skinner, Stern, what say you?) The color is Dupont 96581 and seems to be the same as a color that Jeep used in the 1963-64 time frame.
If it is from around here, I don’t know that I would have chosen the 250cu.in. I-6 when there was a V8 option. In this era the engines were Chevys and this one would have had an output of either 105 or 110hp, presumably the California cars would have had the lower output version. I suppose it’s the same engine the Junkyard Nova from last year had in it (I will take any opportunity to mention that Nova, but I have no idea why I am so smitten with it)
The build tag in the back right corner of the engine bay tells us all kinds of interesting stuff. First that it’s the A11 version. Then the 0426 is the order number. The 6 is for 1976 and the 2113 is the sequential build number. It has the Turbo Hydramatic 400 transmission, the 3.31:1 rear axle, Power front disc brakes and steering, along with Cab Gray interior paint and a Dark Gray Vinyl interior. And the exterior paint at the bottom which is represented here in the engine bay without fading.
The inside tells a slightly different story, although the gray vinyl is present on the doors and I assume the gray paint is for the dashboard and other ancillary bits of metalwork (not really sure). The seats have obviously been reupholstered (quite well too), and this one at first glance looks like a JohnnyCab from the past to the future taxi without a steering wheel. Just like all cars will be starting in…oh, never mind.
Someone tried to make off with the fuel gauge but only managed to mangle the backing plate. At least we have a clear view of things without a wheel or gear lever in the way.
Here’s the speedometer. And yes I did grab it for my collection (of things that my heirs will not want when I’m gone). I took the fuel gauge too as it was the same size, so the largest fuel gauge I’ve ever seen in a car, I suppose it’s a vital gauge in a cab! That 90mph speedometer is interesting too, I’d seen the 100mph and 120mph versions, but not a 90, I suppose the that changed for the newer models, the typeface used for the numbers changed as well and some had the km/h markings too. I love the checker motif though but am perplexed that a company that produces taxicabs as their main reason for existing only used a five-figure odometer. You’d think a six figure or even a seven-figure one would be useful, for marketing as well as for once actually in real life.
Zooming back out gives a better overview of the dash again (and out, we can see that the poor thing has to stare at a Neon for the next couple of months). In true cabbie fashion there’s a pack of smokes in the passenger footwell. But above that is something for our resident A/C Meister Tom Halter to look at.
A Frostemp 400 arrangement, to keep the paying fares cool on a hot day. We are a whole mile closer to the sun here than many other places and you’d better believe it makes a difference in the summer. Anything with the word Frost in the name is worth an instant 5 degree reduction in perceived temperature, even if it’s not turned on. And above that unit is a Checker-branded radio which if it had the knobs would have come home with me as well.
But it’s a Checker, nobody gives a crap about the front seat, here’s what you’re paying for! The back seat in all its splendor. With windows galore to look out of.
And more room to stretch those legs than in anything else. Well, anything else besides the long wheelbase version of this car.
Here’s the VIN declaring that this car came to be in May of 1976, mere months shy of its country’s 200th birthday. Built in Kalamazoo, Michigan and it and its brethren were dispatched far and wide across that country.
This capacities chart may be of interest to some as well.
This one has those curious high-mounted lamps on the fenders too. And if you somehow miss those as a following driver, then you won’t miss that massive rear bumper.
The trunk isn’t small, but visually a bit of a letdown, it doesn’t look quite as large as I envisioned it. The wheel and tire don’t help that but are necessary. The shiny paint is nice to see though.
Hmm, it gets the point across, but too bad it’s not all there.
But on the trunk, it’s all gone, yet all there. That’s much better! Thanks for riding this one out to the end, and we’ll have more of these junkyard finds the next time you need a lift.
Related Reading:
Checker Marathon by William Stopford
An Illustrated History of Checker by PN
Cohort Checker of William Rubano by PN
Bill Trost, the neighbor across the street, had a stretch Marathon for Borscht-Belt bus duty. He’s drive down to the city and scoop up holidaymakers for the hotels and bungalow colonies. Until the Quickway opened in 1959, that trip was three hours down old 17 and who knows how much longer penetrating across the bridges into Brooklyn or Queens, and then he’d be turned around for another five hours of hauling back up, full of bags and pots and pans and people.
He grew the most amazing white radishes, and his widow, Florence, kept the Marathon in the garage where I could see it ten years later and dream of having an ultimate high school ride.
It was not to be. Boarding school and punitively-delayed drivers license (I did do a wrong thing junior year) meant that Florence sold the Marathon in late ’92.
My last ride in a real Marathon cab, a yellow one, was from Grand Central to Sloan-Kettering in May of ’92, when my grandmother was dying of pancreatic cancer.
They were huge inside.
These old Checkers are the purest essence of “car.” Purposeful and nothing there that’s not needed for the job at hand.
My Dad installed an aftermarket Frigiking air conditioner in his ’69 F-100, which I removed after purchasing it to use when we moved to the IL farm.
That massive A/C compressor, coupled with I6 engine and thin Denver air must have made for one slow ride. Hopefully, the fares were not in a hurry.
As for the Frostemp A/C, I’ve not heard of that one. Google doesn’t seem to know much about them either. Looks like they were based in Fort Worth, which was the “hotbed” of aftermarket A/C back in the day, although Frostemp was not part of the DFW “Big 3” (ARA, Frigikar, and Mark IV).
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/automotive-histories/cold-comfort-history-of-automotive-air-conditioning-part-2-the-aftermarket/
A car that’s close to my heart. I drove a 1968 civilian model in this same blue colour during the 1970s and 1980s. Yes it’s really slow with the Chevy I6. Mine had non assisted drum brakes all around, which meant that stopping was leisurely as well.
Harry Chaplin singing “Taxi” while I read this article somehow seems quite appropriate.
I kept hearing that flute opening to the 1980s TV show with Tony Danza in it. I’m not old enough for a Harry Chapin song, but then, was it used for the TV show and that’s where it came from?
That flute intro is the opening to “Angela”, by Bob James, an abbreviated form of which was used as the theme song for “Taxi”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DL8SGEyhZE
The Chapin song wasn’t used in or on the show.
Had Harry been driving this instead of his Volkswagen rabbit he would still be with us today
If I recall correctly a tractor trailer crushed his rabbit and the poor man burned to death
The sick joke at the time was ” he should have taken a taxi “
That’s not how the NY Times reported it at the time:
https://www.nytimes.com/1981/07/17/obituaries/harry-chapin-singer-killed-in-crash.html
He was freed from the car after apparently succumbing to the force of the crash itself but there’s nothing to suggest the same couldn’t have happened in a different car. The car burning was incidental to the occasion and not the cause of death.
Having attended university in Colorado and then having lived in Golden/Denver for a decade gives me some insight into a question I have – who in Denver needed a taxi? Stapleton was right off of Colorado Blvd during these years and Denver has always been an easy city to get around by personal car. I don’t ever remember needing a taxi ride anywhere. The downtown isn’t large. This taxi predates DTC south on I-25. I’m a bit surprised by this find. It must have been a small market for taxis.
I’m originally from Chicago and spent a lot of time in Manhattan, so yeah – taxis were common back then, and now. But Denver?
How do we know this Checker worked in Denver?
who in Denver needed a taxi?
People who didn’t have a car?
Your comment is shockingly clueless. Yes, there really are people who don’t own cars! Imagine that! And not just in a big city like Denver but in little towns all over the country. Which is why just about every little town short of a hamlet had some kind of taxi service. And most still do.
My MIL lives in Fairfield, Iowa, pop 10,593. When she needs to go to the airport in Cedar Rapids or Des Moines, she takes…a taxi!! Imagine that!!
I don’t want to get too personal here, but your comment is an almost perfect reflection of your personality as expressed in your many comments here over the years. Meaning: I cannot understand or accept anything that exists other than in the very little bubble that I live in.
Interesting perspective.
Having never lived in a place with widespread taxi use, I have a similar POV.
Here’s my perspective from growing up in Tulsa:
I was aware there were taxi services in Tulsa. We never used one and I never knew anyone that used one. It was much more common to get a ride from a friend.
Therefore, I can’t remember any of the cab company names or the cars they used. I’d have remembered if any used anything as distinctive as a Checker. Which I tend to associate with a big robust taxi economy; one that buys their cars new.
So, without getting too personal, when I read your replies to people like this, you just kind of come of like someone with a large chip on your shoulder. Which is a shame, cause your site is great, and your perspective is fun to read, when you’re not being a curmudgeon.
You grew up in Tulsa, which has a population that is one quarter the size of Denver, and probably one-tenth the size of the greater Denver metro area, yet you were aware that there was taxi service.
VM worked as a professional in Denver. He undoubtedly flew in and out of the airport from time to time (he even mentioned it). And of course there were cabs lined up at the airport, as there are at just about any airport of any size (Denver was always one of the busiest in the country). Yet he said “who in Denver needed a taxi?”
And he gave zero though to the reality that there inherently are people who depend on taxis. Poor, retired, disabled, among others. I used to be a taxi driver in San Diego, and on the first few days of the month, we were swamped with calls from folks needing to go to the store after their Social security, pension and disability checks came.
And naturally, people flying in to a place like Denver for a convention or business meeting often used taxis to get to their hotels and such.
I’m sorry, but his comment reflected a willful unwillingness to consider the impact of his comment was “who in Denver needed a taxi”. It’s not innocent ignorance; it’s a reflection of an attitude which is disparaging of those that might actually depend on a taxi.
If he lived all his life in a little town, and never flew to or visited a bigger city, I would certainly not have said what I did. It would be an understandable innocent comment. But VM is a professiona and has traveled extensively, and yet he chose to leave a comment that says in effect: “I certainly would never ride in a dirty dingy taxi that who knows who sat in before me. I always rent cars. Because I can.”
My apologies for calling him out on his entitled attitude.
I understand where the comment came from. You also seem to be particularly sensitive in this area.
For what it’s worth, his is one of my favorite COAL series, and I generally find his comments to be insightful in a way many others are not. I also haven’t gotten the sense that he is haughty.
I could be wrong, but it’s very possible with your sensitivity to the issue and his style of writing…that you misinterpreted his intentions.
Again, I very much enjoy this community, but I do refrain from commenting more often because of your responses to some people, like VD.
It’s your space, but it sure seems uncharacteristically short sighted and rather boorish.
I understand. And I fully admit I’m can be boorish, overly critical, and overly sensitive about certain issues.
I’m also a fan of his COAL and many of his comments. But I’m a stickler for facts and he tends not to be. As well as the issue I’ve already pointed out. It comes across as a put down on those less advantaged that might well need to use a taxi or such.
But I’ve taken your comment to heart and apologize for my boorish tone. And I’m going to make a point to throttle back my commenting and attitude.
Thanks for calling me out on that.
Shirley, you can’t be serious. We had electricity, indoor plumbing, multiple television stations, supermarkets, and yes, we had taxicabs—lots of them—in Denver. At the airport, in the streets and roads, and even out in the suburbs. Among other companies, we had Yellow Cabs, Zone Cabs, and Freedom Cabs. Checkers like this one, then once those dried up it was mostly Impala/Caprice cars. The passenger pickup area outside the baggage reclaim at Stapleton was always thick with unburnt hydrocarbons from the numerous taxicabs in dubious tune and with dead or missing catalytic converters.
Who used taxicabs? Well, it’s a lot harder to get around Denver by personal car if you don’t happen to own one.
Stapleton, by the way, was not “right off Colorado Boulevard in those years” (What years?), it was right off Quebec Street, and lots of people took taxicabs to and from it. We had two cars, and yet we still took taxicabs to and from Stapleton for some strange reason probably having to do with it being less expensive than airport parking for the duration of a trip.
As to the Denver Tech Center roughly surrounding the I-25 corridor between I-225 and Arapahoe Road, it was founded in the early 1970s, which is before this 1976-model Checker was built.
Stapleton was right off of Syracuse at the terminal, almost three miles from CO Blvd. & MLK. I took plenty of taxis to Stapleton vs. paying for long-term parking, even though I lived less than a mile from CO Blvd.
1976 and the tires were G78-15B … bias ply right? Hard to believe in 1976, regardless of the Checker’s other vintage features.
Perfect for the Zombie apocalypse. I appreciate the function over form approach and rather like the way they look too, esp the rare wagons. I wonder if I would like the driving experience or the seats?
I owned a 1972 Checker for a bit. It was in excellent shape with the original 350. The driving experience was quite excellent. I thought at the time that it was as if International Harvester had made a copy of the W123 Mercedes.
At least the doofus who started the rattle can, flat black paint job (or chalk board car, as the GF defines it) gave up.
If Cheech and Chong taught us anything, it’s Turquoise Blue and primer gray!
What a neat find! I don’t think I’ve ever had a chance to peruse a Checker up close, and unfortunately too young to have patronized any. I can’t imagine a more spartan dashboard! That speedo is cool looking and my first reaction was also “WTH, only 5 digits?”
It is almost exactly the same length as a 1999 Lincoln Navigator! 204.8″ vs 205″ with this 120″ wheelbase.
Width is 4″ narrower (76″ vs 80)
Height is about a foot less though.
And it has 7.5″ of ground clearance.
I had a hard time believing that this had manual steering in 1976. Sure enough, I see the power steering pump there on the right side of the engine. Whew!
So was this the only time the Chevy six was teamed with the THM-400? Or am I missing someone else?
As to those who reflexively respond about how slow this was with the six, no worries, it got the job done. It’s not like taxi driving is a perpetual stop light race.
Great find, BTW.
You’re correct and I think I knew that, it has the “P” right there on the data plate and I decoded the whole thing so not sure how I ended up with that error. Corrected now.
Since the straight 6 and the V-8 share the same bellhousing pattern, mating a six to the THM 400 is a bolt up proposition. In fact, you could mate the Chevy II four cylinder to a THM400 if you were so inclined.
Of course, doing so would be counterproductive. You wouldn’t need such a stout transmission and the greater internal friction would sap power and reduce mileage. But from a mechanical perspective, no adapters required.
I know they can be swapped. I was wondering if the THM-400 was ever used behind the six in any other production setting.
Growing up in NYC, Checkers and De Soto taxis were de rigeur. I loved the Checkers and the De Sotos. In the old days, they were upholstered in leather. You entered the cab and smelled the horsehide. De Soto also featured the “Sky View” which we loved. We opened the rear sun roof in the good weather and looked skyward, of courser, at the tall buildings of Manhattan – when we finally arrived there from The Bronx.
Like this?
I’d deliberately take a taxi if it looked like this!
Yes, I remember Checker cabs plying the passenger pick up area at the old Stapleton airport. BTW, it was off Quebec Street, not Colorado Boulevard. Quebec was about 3 miles further east, but a good Taxi driver could still get you over to downtown in about 18 minutes. Compare that to 40-50 minutes from DIA.
For your viewing pleasure, I found a picture in Getty Images showing a gaggle of them @ Stapleton passenger pickup circa 1965.
Hey that’s great, thanks for that pic!
I have very dim memories of riding in the back of a Checker cab one time in my life. We were a one-car family when I was about age 4 or so and Dad must have had the car that day because Mom called a cab to pick us up to go somewhere. I remember the industrial-grade vinyl on that huge back seat.
I still kind of want a Checker Marathon. The International Harvester of car.
Yes, in large numbers.
I don’t remember a cab company with blue cars. I remember the yellow ones, of course; those were the most common, and the black-and-white Zone Cabs, and the purple-and-white Freedom Cabs. Perhaps Blue Cab (or whatever the company were called) went away before I was aware.
But this car seems a bit of a mystery. Those high-mount tail/stop/turn lollipops were common add-ons on taxicabs, but I’m not seeing taximeter holes in the dashboard, nor evidence of taxi livery on the sides (though a repaint would’ve covered that up). Were there taxi sign holes on the roof?
That giant 12-cubic-inch GM A6 air conditioning compressor is massively overspecified for that knee-knocker A/C unit, and I note with a chuckle the “Keep Your GM Car All GM” air cleaner decal.
Yeah I was wondering the same thing re taxis, I didn’t look on the roof for holes though. Lots of online pix seem to show taxi interiors without all the add-on stuff in modern taxis, some of that could have been mounted via below-dash brackets etc I suppose instead of drilling through the dash but I’m just theorizing. It’s also possible it was never used as a “real” taxi, however the interior paint and original upholstery spec as well as the designation leads it that way. A mystery for the ages…
I strongly suspect it wasn’t used as a taxi. More likely in some kind of private livery service, maybe for a hospital, or some other organization. Which probably explains why it’s still here this late. Taxis generally were worn out and not many survived the crusher. this looks to be in too good of shape to have been a real taxi.
It’s even possible it was used strictly privately. My next door neighbors in Towson drove a Marathon.
Joe’s Taxi in my little hometown of Flin Flon Manitoba ran a couple of Checker Aerobuses in the mid 60’s. One was a 6 Dr the other an 8Dr. Very cool cars to my young eyes at the time.
Gross Vehicle Weight of 6480 pounds? What a tank!
Gross Weight = With maximum load. Empty weight (curb weight) = 3869 lbs. Not really very heavy at all, compared to modern cars. About 200 lbs more than a RAV4.
This is the only four-door Checker I’ve ever seen that didn’t have some form of jump seats. I was surprised to see one getting scrapped, because I thought they had become more valuable than they actually have. It turns out you can still buy a really nice Marathon for less than ten grand.
For the longest time, Checker *was* taxicab, everywhere. They built them for purpose and were excellent at it – reliability in constant stop and go use sold these. A stovebolt with a THM400? Sure; you won’t kill that transmission no matter how many miles you run, and the engine is almost indestructible too.
Another great find ,
At first I thought ~ too bad then I saw the driver’s side .
There should be a Checker junkyard some where for parts…
That radio was made by Bendix and are almost unkillable .
VWoA and Volvo America used them too .
-Nate
When I saw the radio, I thought of a Valiant I once had. Did Bendix make them for Chrysler?
@Paulson ;
IIRC Motorola had the contract well into the 1980’s for the base model AM radios .
When I was buying, refurbishing and reselling 1979 & 1980 Dodge pickups in the 1990’s, the replacement AM radios all looked exactly the same but had “MOTOROLA” instead of Dodge or Plymouth on the face plate .
Mostly I could take them apart and carefully clean out the spilled coffee and hamburger grease and they’d work as new again .
Same as Bendix ~ not fancy but American designed and manufactured when American companies cared about quality .
The Bendix radios were avaialable in AM/FM and stereo too .
Adding good speakers gives you good sound and anti theft protection, no self respecting thief would *touch* a two knob radio .
I’ve seen some really nice sleeper sound systems made using a cheapo factory/dealer head unit and then adding a hidden amplifier and top quality speakers..
After reading the comments last night I googled “Checker cars for sale” and found a Checker junkyard here in So. California that’s closing up and selling everything on E-Bay and quite a few Checkers for sale via the club and other outlets…
A passable driver one is about $5 ~ $10 K, restorations go up sharply .
All you needs do is make sure it’s neither rusted out nor bent and you’re off to the (slow) races…
I don’t think I’ll ever get one, too many dead projects now =8-^ .
The last Checker I drove was in 1980 or so, an old rusty ex NYC cab some goof drove to Califnornia.
-Nate
Old Information – Major Checker Graveyard near Chardon, Ohio
The net claims these cars weighted 4134 lbs without a driver. Visually, this looks every bit of 5000 pounds.
I’m not clear on this, but I think I rode in one of these on a taxi ride in NYC. I recall feeling that I was going to get where I was going, even to the detriment of other motorists that day.
I’ve found the curb weight numbers provided by Paul Niedermeyer confirmed by multiple sources. The V8 ones were closer to two tons, but the I6 should only be about 3,600 pounds plus fluids and accessories. I don’t really get it either. A car that light with body on frame construction, a tall body, and a 120-inch wheelbase should be heavier. Also, the GVWR over three tons combined with a listed payload of only 1,200 pounds indicates that it should weigh as much as it looks and measures like it should weigh.
I can’t believe the amount of room these provide in the back.
To think of going from that to a smallish rear footwell of a Panther-LTD. No thanks.
I still want to ride in a Checker. Maybe someday.
Note that this is the short wheelbase (120″) version. The other one adds 9″ but was then undoubtedly equipped with the jump seats behind the front bench. Still…
I think the 120″ ones usually had jump seats too.