Most car people are familiar with the Checker automobile, the ubiquitous, boxy sedan that dominated the taxicab market in places like NYC during the ’60s and ’70s. If you are of a certain age, you may recall actually getting a lift in one of these family rooms on wheels. Unbeknownst to me, there was a limo version too, known as an A-12E Marathon Limousine. So, for your review, T.J. has found one holding out in Loganville, Georgia and it’s available, here on Facebook Marketplace for $15,000.
The ’76 Checker sales brochure makes mention of the limo but doesn’t offer too many details other than to suggest, “Really simple, of classic dimensions, the A-12E provides the proportions of a limousine without the ostentation or expense“. So, what we have is a Marathon model, riding on a long 129” wheelbase, with a vinyl roof covering and a revised, opera window equipped C-pillar that eliminates the Marathon’s rear quarter windows and then adds a jumpseat. The rest looks similar to any non-taxicab yellow Checker though the rear doors appear to be wider and the rear portion of the roofline/C-pillar seems to have a slightly different slope to it – available documentation for this model is fleeting. This example is finished nicely in a deep shade of green and features prominent silver-painted aluminum bumpers while riding on spinner-equipped Chevrolet rally wheels – likely a later addition.
Claimed to have only experienced 39K miles, this limo should be powered by a first-year 140 net HP, Chevrolet 305 CI V8, turning a GM Turbo-Hydramatic 400 automatic transmission which makes the connection to a Dana 44 rear axle – there’s no detail around any of this in the listing, it’s all based on available research. How’s it run? Not disclosed.
The interior looks rather pedestrian for a limousine – maybe a little more ostentation would help. It’s a basic black vinyl arrangement with thin, no-frills seats and carpet, and generic-looking door panels. The steering wheel/column is right out of a mid-’70s Chevy and the instrument panel, which I must admit, I really like, is standard Checker, just the basics. It’s all in fine nick, mind you, and helps to lend credence to the mileage recording.
So, how many were produced? I couldn’t find a precise limo number other than a reference to only twelve being assembled in Checker’s final production year of 1982. This is a neat, unusual find and in very nice condition. As to what to do with it, it’s probably not a car one would want to pilot regularly but it would make a great wedding/prom/night on the town limo – one that provides the proportions of a limousine without the ostentation, right?
This one wins the award for most sexy bumper design hands down. Seeing this coming it should instill fear in any motorist short of a medium duty truck. No question this was the most rugged design for a commercial application of moving people until the Crown Vic came along. That being said it’s shockingly ugly.
I’d call it homely, rather than ugly, like a rear-engined Beetle. What WERE shockingly ugly were the early Crown Vics (then called LTDs), before they started slowly softening the lines, looking like widened Fairmonts. Then again, they were “quieter than the LTD that was quieter than a Rolls Royce”, as Ford bragged in their ads, and probably quieter than any Checker.
For the Millionaire who doesn’t want to look like one.
The civilian versions looked functional,& did the job well.
Something to be said for that.
I read, Checker made a variety of specialty vehicles too, like what was called a “Cabulance”, or “MediCab”, with bigger back doors and an open floor, but no front bench seat, to transport people on a stretcher. Not sure if this may have been one at one time, IDK, pulling up at the gala presentation of the latest Hollywood hack in a Checker, limo or not,,maybe best to be dropped off around the corner. Checker did what it was intended for, and well, I might add. I just never thought of them as limo material.
The Medicar had a raised roof.
http://icta.club/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/1969-Medicar-001.jpg
Just a warning; the above hyperlink has been hijacked and takes you to an adult site.
I remember seeing a really nicely done checker limo in the 80’s that had a very nice interior and the bumbers weren’t “over riders ” but real chrome bumpers…it obviously had been modified…it was ridding on Daytons with vogues….and a padded vinyl roof…it was “nicely done” but still had that utilitarian vibe….
Limo versions were designed an built for Bishop Sheen, NASA and the State Department http://www.icta.club/checker-diplomacy-and-landing-men-on-the-moon/
Just a warning; the above hyperlink has also been hijacked and takes you to an adult site
“Checker did what it was intended for, and well, I might add. I just never thought of them as limo material.”
I agree, but if it could lose those rear fenders and that top, I could probably get along with it
For the record, I am not even a big fan of this artist. And the song has nothing to do with this car. But when I read the title for this write up, I immediately was reminded of this one. And it is a great song, and a pretty darned good video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qxDBiiVjlQ&list=PLFvR_PncbtsiKHr0sIr_HPiim7VtEkcRR&index=22
Dig it!!
Looks like something an East German politician in the 50’s would’ve driven around in
Or villians on TV’s Mission Impossiblehttp://www.icta.club/?s=mission+impossible
If you want to see the Checker Cab Company actually building these cars on the assemby line you only need to watch the film classic _Blue Collar_ starring Richard Prior 1978. The actual Checker Cab Compnay was used in the film made back in 1977 a few years before the company went bankrupt.
Bob
Great movie tip, I haven’t seen that in decades!
Checker stopped manufacturing complete cars after the 1982 model year, but continued manufacturing components for decades. They filed for bankruptcy in 2009 and ceased to exist in early 2010.
https://nihilistnotes.blogspot.com/search?q=Taxi
The Checker Limousine was an interesting venture into a market segment which did exist, even if not generally acknowledged. There had always been those who easily could afford to buy a Cadillac yet instead drove Buicks or Oldsmobiles and their reasons varied. Some eschewed ostentation, some (with conspicuous visibility to customers or clients) preferred to appear just prosperous enough to inspire confidence and others couldn’t see the additional value for the extra cost.
The project failed but Checker did later use the long wheelbase platform for a taxi with additional seating for two or three this is one is one of the taxi versions (A-12E, the Limousine (1964-1967) was A-19E). Although not appointed extravagantly in the manner of the Cadillac, Lincoln or Imperials, the Checker Limousine was better trimmed than the utilitarian taxi model.
Failed? Checker produced a long wheelbase limo model from 1962 till 1982? They were used by many prominent New Yorkers and the State Department.
I’m a rebel here put some serious horsepower in it & terrify the drag strip at Bithilow on Friday nights! Big Block 505 is my choice or a 454 it’s heavy so I wouldn’t put a LS in it lol maybe a dog house with a 671 blower holding residence!
There’s always one of these comments.
The Checker Marathon Limousine. For those who prefer to arrive ugly.
While a lot of the internals were borrowed from other manufacturers, I wonder how hard it is to get Checker replacement parts these days. Are there still warehouses full of them from decades ago, or are things becoming scarce?
Back in the early sixties a company in Wimbledon, southwest London,used to run a Checker Aerocar service and I often used to see their advertisement on the inside lower deck of London double decker buses, just behind the driver’s cab.I cannot think who at the time would use these cars, but perhaps they had novelty value for wealthy partygoers!
Good morning Mr. Phelps. You are looking at the formal limousine of Anton Brogoff. the dictator of Androvofstein. Your mission Jim, is to find this car, attach high explosives to it and destroy it with the leader of that country occupying it. Good luck Jim, you’ll need it. This tape will self destruct in 10 seconds.
My friend always wanted a checker. 50 years later, I still wonder why?
I remember seeing a really nicely done checker limo in the 80’s that had a very nice interior and the bumbers weren’t “over riders ” but real chrome bumpers…it obviously had been modified…it was ridding on Daytons with vogues….and a padded vinyl roof…it was “nicely done” but still had that utilitarian vibe….
As an 18yo in Boston in 1980, I drove these (Checker, nor the limo) and LOVED them. They were definitely made for city driving and streets. You felt and smelled EVERYTHING you drove over. Plowed thru snow and any other obstacles. Passengers over the room. Great for groceries and as many B.U. or B.C. kids you fit in them. Hose clean when necessary. No radio. We had to hook up our own and speakers too. Great memories in those cars
I saw this one in person last year when I took my youngest to her Daddy Daughter Dance. The owner had his driver chauffeuring his granddaughter and friends to the dance. Did a double take when I saw it and had a nice, long conversation with the driver.
Our neighbor bought one new and used it for a more than rugged kid hauler. It rode like a truck, but did the job.
Have ridden in these quite a few times when I was much younger. The “basic” model like this one was used more for companies specializing in executive airport transportation or longer distance taxicabs (making multiple door-to-door stops) especially in the New York Metropolitan area.
Now I’ve seen it all.
If it’s a 305 it’s not original,they came with 327’s
Not in ’76, the 327 went out of production in 1969.
JO
A former Governor of Illinois (Thompson) used one of these when he was in office. I asked his wife what it was like…had they made it more cushy? She looked at me in the eye and asked if I had ever riden in a cab which I responded in the affirmative, she smiled and said it was just like that!
Didn’t Big Jim….end up downriver….in the State or Fed pen ? lol
I think every Ill. governor in the last 20 years has ! lol
I always liked these and this one is a nice color. It has the fugly bumpers they had towards the end. Interesting history if you google them, especially the diesel version they tried for a year or two. ( didn’t do well)
Hey an Opera Window…..and a large one at that.
What’s not to like ! lol
1987 we got a ride from Penn Station to a wedding uptown. An artist driving a Checker the back seat removed and his paintings warehoused there.
We were running late and mistook him for a
Cab. What
a gas and he took $5.
I owned a 1980 Checker Marathon.
Model A12, I owned it for 28 years.It was one of the finest cars I ever owned.
added 6 – 8 inches? Not sure but its seen in the rear door. I got the reg sz as livery to school a coupla yrs (school’s transportation specialist saw that as savings for the district for bout 6 of us ele. school kids out in boonies). So I see it in the ‘jumps’ too. Ours were tiny actual jump seats, not plush like those in a similar position here.
Love to have this (esp if in waggy form, said ‘Wagonman’, me).
/OR/
my perennial fav MB’s W123 the 300TDI. If Checker I could bang up w/full sz sheeta ply in the back. May B keep the MB for fancier days (runs to the air port? call it a “portwagon” not “RRstation-wagon”).
8^ )
I can remember driving with my dad along side a red one on the triboro bridge in 70s. I remember that little opera window and how it didn’t look like a regular Checker. Neat car.