When I ran across this ad for the 9-passenger Aerobus, what jumped out at me was its overall length: 235.25″. Hmm; that number sounds very familiar, as in (almost) the length of a ’73 Imperial coupe, which measures 235.3″. Seriously? A full-size six-door 9-passenger station wagon is actually shorter than an Imperial Coupe?
It’s a bit sad, but true.
Thanks to the most excessively long hood and trunk, yes, the Imperial coupe trumps the Aerobus by 0.05 inches. What a triumph!
Related reading:
Marvelous cars, commanding, mean, but a complete non sense in terms of efficiency and space usage.
“Got me a Chrysler its as big as a whale” sang the B52s.
Except that Chrysler doesn’t seat about twenty, not even close. The Checker probably could, if they really squeezed in.
That is astonishing. Just looking at that trunk on the Imperial, and the RV-like rear overhang, thinking an interesting QOTD would be “which car has the longest decklid ever?” or “which passenger car has the longest rear overhang?”
I love the name “Aerobus” for a vehicle that is the antithesis of “aero” as we have come to think of it. Sort of like a 90s minivan in “sport” trim. Or for that matter like the 5,000 pound vehicle parked in my garage that is called a minivan.
I think it must be an example of the obscure field of vicarious aerodynamics, which permits the aerodynamics of an aircraft to transfer to the Checker because it was intended to be found at airports to transport airline passengers.
JP, I’m pretty sure that “aero” as used here doesn’t relate to “dynamics”, but to “port” – as in “here is your bus to ride to the “aeroport”.
What a triumph indeed…
Please no comments about the body capacity of the trunk. It could hold many golf bags…
I remember getting flat tires on our cross-country road trips. To reach the spare, my dad had to empty out the trunk enough for him to step into it. He was 6′ tall but couldn’t reach the spare over the rear end. That is how long the trunk on these vehicles were.
Ok Imperial, I’ll see your 235.3 and raise you 34.45.
Nice, but this pales when compared to a Toronado Jetway 707 – more doors, more wheels, higher roof, lower (but still flat!) floor. I just hope they switched to disc brakes by this point.
Did these use the GMC Motorhome platform as a starter base?
It was actually the other way around. The GMC motorhomes came out afterwards in 1973 and used the Toronado as it’s platform.
“What a triumph!”
Indeed.
The Checker owner’s club had their annual meet at the Gilmore a few years ago.
This owner, perhaps, got a bit carried away?
The Imperial looks like a parody now, with that tiny greenhouse perched on the aircraft carrier body.
Our neighbor Bill Trost died and his widow Florence salted away his stretched Checker six-door in her garage. Bill used to make the runs down to the city to bring vacationers to the Catskills. I wanted that car so badly when I was fourteen.
What packaging! What a pity the Checker styling was never updated.
If anybody were to ask me which car I’d want, it’d still be the Imperial over the Checker. However, if anybody with the Checker has an inferiority complex over its being shorter, I’d imagine one of the water bumpers that were installed on some of the taxicabs would make it the winner.
Remember two (not t/cabs) “Checkers” running the streets of the small , wstrn PA town I grew up in.
For some reason I was always drawn to them. Guess because there were only two.lol
I love that Chrysler ! .
Glad I don’t have to drive either one .
-Nate