So, about that small, side business that you were thinking of starting? I think I’ve found it! You can take eleven of your friends with you in this 1968 Checker A-12 Aerobus, an eight-door (nine, if you count the rear door), twelve-passenger airport limo that has been modernized and tweaked and massaged and generally cool’ed up! It’s listed on eBay and the auction ends in less than two days so you don’t have a lot of time to get your finances in order and get your small business plan inked out. The current bid price is just over $26,000 and the reserve isn’t met! This long number is in Reno, Nevada.
I think that this is one cool vehicle! It has undergone quite a bit of work to bring it up to where it is now. It would draw a crowd everywhere it went and I would want to keep it in dry climates for actual taxi use, I’d hate to see that perfect, new multistage paint start showing rust bubbles under it.
Checker made the Aerobus as either a six or eight-door sedan or a seven or nine-door station wagon, depending on which of two wheelbases were required, in either a 154.5-inch or 189-inch wheelbase. Almost 3,600 Aerobuses were made from 1962 all the way to 1977. This car spent many years on display at the California Auto Museum in Sacramento where Barn Finds writer, David F., spends a lot of time as a volunteer.
It’s like a centipede car! I can’t imagine the work in lining up those doors during the restoration. Or maybe, because Checkers are such solid cars in the first place, none of that alignment nightmare was needed on this one. Let’s have a look-see at what’s behind door #2, not to mention door #3, and #4, and #5, and…
Nice, tidy, crisp, clean, tough, friendly, utilitarian, comfortable, pragmatic, and solid. Hey, that also describes the vast majority of Barn Finds readers! That’s a great-looking interior so far, how does the back look?
The back seating area looks pretty much the same as the front did, and no crawling over someone’s lap, everyone gets their own door.
Speaking of doors, there are eight side doors on this car so this is the 189-inch wheelbase model. I wonder how many Subaru 360s would fit inside this car? This one is about 22.5-feet long so plan accordingly, garage-size-wise.
The power for this beast of burden comes from a Chevrolet 350 V8, but there is no mention if it’s a Checker engine or not. As in, Checker started offering a Chevy 350 V8 in 1969 and this car would have had a Chevy 327 originally, being a 1968 model, so is this a post-1969 Checker Chevy 350? Not that it matters, I guess, and I’m sure that it has more than the 185 hp that the original 327 would have had. Not to mention a nicely-upgraded AC system, a super sound system, and all sorts of modern updates. This probably isn’t a car that a lot of us would ever purchase, but I think it’s fantastic to see vehicles like this one even if I’ll never own one like it. Have any of you ridden in a Checker Aerobus? How would you use this cool Checker?
Interesting! Lose the ethnic wheels.
Classic!
Well, you just saved me a comment. Love the car, loose the wheels.
I’ve seen one of them up close in my 62 years, and it was in high school in Arizona in 69-70. I was a freshman then, and was in my 1st. year of my 4yrs. of auto mechanics. Our shop teacher was astute enough to buy one of these things in pretty darn good shape during our frosh year. He brought it to the school, and showed it to our class. He bought it cheap, and since we had several huge copper mines open around our area at that time, he figured he could sell it to a miner who in turn could charge other miners on his shift to take them to and from the mine….which was about 45 miles each way. He had my buddy overhaul the engine completely. I know for a fact that it was a 283…and NOT a 327. I never could figure out how that little 283 could EVER pull a gang of big strong miners up and down those hills en route to the mines. But he sold it to a miner like he figured, and from that point on, if it was underpowered….it wasn’t my shop teacher’s problem. Can you imagine a little 283 pulling 12 men and a driver in that thing?? lol.
3/4 ton pickups with GVW’s well over 10,000 lbs drove millions of miles with no more than a 327. People are not that heavy, 10 big guys……maby 2500 lbs? That wouldn’t come close to the GVW of a 3/4 ton truck…….probably wouldn’t want to drive it at 80 MPH but it would go down the road just fine.
No problem for the 283 to pull the aerobus- getting those miner up the hill is a torque thing, and it’s got it. With a 4 bbl, it also propelled my ’57 Chevy Belair down my residential street fast enough when I was a teen to make my parents very unpopular.
Cool! This was at the museum long, er, way before my time. I’ll have to ask about it when I get back.
Cristina (my wife) saw this and threatened to put my Italia up for sale…she absolutely loves it! Flight to Reno?
Sorry, this is not a 3000 mile vehicle. Mileage on a vehicle is total miles since it rolled off the assembly line.
I would ditch those rims and truck fender mount signal lights
I don’t think those rims have the kind of weight rating needed for this whale.
I think our eBay saved searches and watch list must be remarkably similar! :-)
I’d buy it and use it. Great for a limo or bus company.
I love it, just not feeling the rims though. to each their own
I absolutely love it. I think that’s why I’m buying it. I own a local taxi company in Upstate New York I’m going to use it to advertise my business and do all the local parades. I can’t wait to get it delivered and see it and drive it to the upcoming events.
Congratulations, Earl! Once you get it share some pictures with us–we love success stories!
You got it. I’m going to add this to my fleet. I think this checker is cool as hell. There’s definitely none around here I’m 50 years old and I don’t think I’ve ever seen one.