To fill demand, Checker also built a station wagon and then a 12-passenger extended Aerobus wagon for airport passenger service. With a boxy motif, large trunk and lots of rear seat room the “roomy” blueprint was Checker’s overall business philosophy. The nostalgic “New York Taxis” we all miss were constructed in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and centered solely on passenger transportation instead of glitzy design. At the time, Markin built bodies for several manufacturers and would continue to do so throughout the history of the company. Known throughout the auto world as the 'Taxi Cab Company,' Checker’s founder was Morris Markin, who oversaw the company's growth from its birth as Checker Motors Corporation in 1922. Surprisingly, Checker was still in the auto stamping business in 2009, but the major auto depression was too much for Checker to survive. Who knows, we may have crossed paths.Īs for your question about the taxi cabs, the Checker Motor Company was a very busy manufacturer at one time with a long history of building everything from complete taxis to frames and body stampings for the major auto companies. Whatever happened to the company that built the Checker cars?Ī: Judy, I, too, have enjoyed the Horn & Hardart Automat Cafeteria in NYC and my dad also took my brother and I to the restaurant in a Checker Taxi while visiting the New York World’s Fair in 1964. I also remember seeing those Checker Cabs on the hit TV show, “Taxi,” which featured Andy Kauffman as the mechanic who worked on them.

For the normal GM running gear, there are interchange lists available in the manuals section of the Checker World club web site for parts readily available through the major auto parts chains.Q: Greg, I remember fondly going to Horn & Hardart food luncheonettes with my parents many times in New York in the 1960s and we always took a Checker Cab to get there. has the remaining stock from the last factory authorized parts depot and may have some of the obscure little parts still available. Used metal (and a dwindling supply of NOS) is available from Joe Pollard and/or Steve Contarino. Tall and short windshields are also available new. If needed, steel rockers and fiberglas fenders are available. I keep thinking someone should do a 3-D print of it, but that hasn’t happened yet.

Any not currently available new part and hard to find used is the plastic speedometer gear for the Borg-Warner 3 speed automatic used from 1957 – 1973.

Steve Contarino does have a multi-piece kit to replace that gasket. One part that is not currently available new at any price is the one piece rubber gasket around the vent window.

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