Anybody remember Checker Cabs?

[trof]

The Checker Taxi (Checker Cab) was the American taxicab produced by the Checker Motors Company of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Checker Taxis were used by its founder Morris Markin in the taxi service that he owned and operated under the name Parmalee System. While Markin's competitor John D. Hertz coined the term Yellow Cab, Markin's Checker, particularly the 1956-82 A8/Marathon, remains the most famous taxi cab vehicle in the United States. It is comparable to the London Taxi in its nationally renowned styling, which went unchanged throughout its use, and also for its iconic status.

They had a huge back seat and trunk.
Best cab I ever rode in.

[gmoney]

Yeah, I miss those

scrambling in and out of the back seat of a Buick just isn't the same.

[TheMightyFavog]

1. They should bring those back

Crown Vics and minivans don't have the same charm.

[jmowreader]

5. Crown Vics and minivans don't get 6mpg, either

Checker quit making cabs because no one could afford to run them. They get horrific mileage.

[TheMightyFavog]

10. You could have the same body style today with a much more efficient engines...

The look, the look!

[Mopar151]

12. Great minds think alike N/t

[Captain Hilts]

15. Yes. Bio diesel. nt

[jmowreader]

22. You mean, fiberglass body and the Mercedes 5-cylinder diesel?

That would work.

Or maybe make a diesel-electric hybrid. Peterbilt makes those, and they work well.

[Mopar151]

25. Carbon fiber, kevlar, S-glass, wood cores, UHMW

And in the case of things like doors, co-molded over a steel frame. Wood cores are a good deal stronger than foam, for little more weight. I used to work for a composites startup, with an engineering team that had built a composite electric car. They ended making flak helmets for SWAT teams and the military. Their process used thermoplastic binders with heat and pressure molding - no resins, no methyl-ethyl bad stuff.
Optimum driveline really depends on application - cold weather is problematic for diesels that do not run continuously, especially bio - and a straight-up direct-drive turbodiesel is better on the highway.

[Captain Hilts]

14. No. Labor-management dispute. NO city cab gets good mileage. nt

[Roon]

21. I love crown vics

when I was driving I got a crown vic police intercepter once! That was a lot of fun on the highway!

The cab companies buy their cabs at police auctions,so we drove retired police cars. I once had a crown vic that had over 300,000 miles on it!

[Mopar151]

26. I've had 2 Grand Marquis (the Mercury version )

Retired the first 1 with 277,000 - 2nd bum transmission. I have one now with about 160, 000, runs sweet - but the frame is soggy.

I'd LOVE an Interceptor - saw a nice one last weekend for $2000.

[Roon]

36. WOIW!

If I ever get money to buy a car..I am getting a crown vic.

[LeftyMom]

27. Those things last forever.

The plugs and wires are expensive on the Police Interceptors though- you have to use the split fire plugs and heavy duty plug wires or they run like shit.

[Roon]

37. I didn't know that

I am sure the garage knew though..those cars ran like a top.

[Captain Hilts]

29. Great cars. nt

[Roon]

38. Yeah they are! eom

[mimitabby]

2. you must be looking for old people

yes! I remember them. :)

[dysfunctional press]

4. you don't have to be that old to remember them...

they were being made until 1982.

[MiddleFingerMom]

6. I remember them and I'm not old.

.
No, wait. I forgot.
.
I am old.
.
I would say you're probably right.
.
If I could remember what you were right about.
.
I seem to remember something about my checkered past.
.
I also remember that it's probably better if I don't talk
about that. I don't remember why, but I feel me.
.
Now I've started thinking that maybe me feelin' me is one
of the things about my past that I shouldn't talk about.
.
I'll be the puzzled, cautious fella keepin' my mouth shut
over in the corner.
.

[GoCubsGo]

3. Yup. And, I'm old enough to remember these, too...

Electric trolley buses:

[KamaAina]

31. They still have 'em in SF and Boston, at least

not the same model, obviously.

[GOPisEvil]

35. Seattle has those in certain neighborhoods too.

[logosoco]

7. I remember these!!

They were so big...well, my sister and I , (around 4 and 6 years old), could stand up in the back seat.

[csziggy]

8. I never rode in one, but I almost bought one

A friend had bought one from a cab company but when he started working he bought a new car and wanted to sell the Checker. He didn't want all that much, but the problem was getting parts for it. Same deal for the Bentley I almost bought. A professor that had spent several years in London brought it back with him, then upgraded to a new American car. He only wanted a couple of hundred for it and I was tempted.

But we were having problems getting parts for hubby's Simka and I did not want another hard to maintain vehicle!

[mopinko]

9. yup. still have a checker cab company in chicago. don't drive

the old marathons, of course, but they sure are the same green and yellow.

[Mopar151]

11. They were cool

But made lousy cop cars.. My hometown tried one, but it was vastly underpowered (267 v-8 chevy) Ironically, the newer Chevy V-8's would get much better mileage, and power enough to be safe (the 267 was abysmal!).
Maybe technology will catch up - when a workable hybrid driveline is developed for a delivery van, it would bolt into a Checker. And, retro fans, all those rounded body shapes are ideal for composites. And the high-performance automotive aftermarket can do the frames, The running gear built for NASCAR would work ace, it's not that expensive, and it's all built in the US.




Any investors out there?

[jmowreader]

23. What do you mean, "when it is developed"?

Peterbilt has FOUR hybrid trucks available right now: Models 320, 330 and 337 for "vocational" service--delivery vans and work trucks like fire engines, utility boom trucks and wreckers--and the 386 for over-the-road service. Unfortunately, this hybrid system won't fit in a car. What WOULD fit is the hybrid pickup system Chevy sells now and Dodge will sell this year.

[Mopar151]

24. see #19 n/t

[jmowreader]

30. IIRC the Escalade Hybrid drivetrain and the hybrid pickup drivetrain are the same

Since Checkers are about the same size as SUVs, that system should be plenty good...and wasn't Checker a GM customer?

[Captain Hilts]

13. Jump seats. Built like tanks. A labor - management dispute killed them. nt

[mnhtnbb]

28. My brother used to love riding in the jump seat in NYC checker cabs.

[bif]

16. Sure. They were built in my home state!

[One_Life_To_Give]

17. Only thing that could stand-up to a Boston pothole

Ah the memories of the crazy cabbies blowing around traffic. With the front tires dropping into the cavern with the Boston-Edison steam coming from the bottom. LTD's would all but lose a spindle, while the Checkers kept on rolling.

[LeftinOH]

18. You gotta admire a company that stopped yearly body-style changes after 1956

and kept it the same until 1982. The folks at Checker felt that yearly styling changes were are vapid & wasteful expense -so they didn't do it.

[Mopar151]

19. I did a little looking - found a viable powertrain

A Cadilac Escalade Hybrid driveline would work. The Esky gets 21mpg city, 22 highway, and the stupid thing weighs 3 tons! (it is only rated to carry 800 pounds:wtf: ) Reasonable use of composites and HSLA steel should get it down to 4800 or so, and still be tank rugged - so it could carry a ton of people and luggage and still get about the same mileage!

So - where are those investors?

[Roon]

20. My cab company has one in their garage.

I "checkered" it out and it had a stick shift with a clutch and a safe welded to the floorboard between the driver and passenger seats.

There used to be an a Senior who had one and only took it to the grocery store. She's probably passed away by now, I haven't seen her in a couple of years.

If I was wealthy and had a garage like Jay's I would totally want one of these and take it out for Sunday drives.

[PJPhreak]

32. They may get piss-poor gas milage but...

They sure do make nice Hot Rods!!

[Mopar151]

34. The Enderle "Birdcatcher" injector

Is not noted for good city mileage - but it looks like this one has the BDS EFI conversion. It may well get the same mileage as a stock Checker.

[WCGreen]

33. There was a checker car show room around the corner from one of

the house I lived inwhen a child. I think it was the one when I was in third grade and allthe trouble started...