In the 1970s and 1980s, it was hard to visit a major city and not see a Yellow Cab running around, supplied by Checker Motors Co. For decades, this venerable brand of taxi likely logged millions of miles traversing the streets of New York City alone. The seller’s 1979 Checker contributed to these figures and may be one of the few not to have already found their way to the automotive graveyard. It has some significant body damage, but may come with the pieces needed to set things right. Located in Burlington, Iowa, this interesting project is available here on Facebook Marketplace for $3,500. Barn Finder “Zappenduster” found this tip for us.
The A11 Checker was the last generation of cabs that Checker produced from 1961 to 1982. These were roomy rolling tanks that changed little from year to year except for adhering to Federal safety mandates. Chevrolet power was employed and, by 1979, a 350 cubic inch V8 was in play with a TH-350 automatic transmission. It was not unusual for one of these vehicles to see hundreds of thousands of miles accumulated.
We’re told this A11 Checker is a real-deal NYC taxi, not an A12 Marathon with taxi doodads added. This one apparently was in an accident that ruined the sheet metal from the back glass to the rear. The seller was planning to rebuild this Checker, but that’s not going to happen on his/her watch. We’re not sure what all will be needed to set things right, but not all of the parts are included in the sale. The buyer and the seller will need to strike up a separate deal for NOS body panels.
The mechanical health of this vehicle is unknown, so if it runs, you should consider that a bonus. If you bought this former taxi to restore, what would be your end game? To try to get Uber or Lyft to let you employ it in ridesharing or use it for Cars & Coffee appearances?
Get it running! Install a loud horn. Perfect for a busy daily commute.
I couldn’t help but wonder: Would one of these be an excellent candidate for demo derby?……….
@Steve Wyman
DONT. YOU. DARE! 😡
We should not, in commemoration of your mom’s good outcome while in one of these.
Can you imagine this being restored and being used by and Uber driver? That would be amazing. I don’t know about this one. I’d personally love to see it saved, and if you have a huge garage or a barn and the ability and resources to restore it It would be great to see it on the road again.
Beat me to it. I would totally rock this as an Uber!
I have a few friends that have done Uber on the side. They have very strict rules on the age of the vehicle you can use. I believe that the cutoff is 5 – 6 years.
Facebook ads usually show how long a particular item has been listed, unfortunately it wasn’t on this one. There have been cars featured on this site with ads listed for years, it wouldn’t surprise me if this would rival them.
Steve R
Travis Bickle, “You talkin’ to me?”
I know that I will be in the minority here. And most of you already know that I’m a little on the “unhinged” side of things. But since it has already been “customed. by crunch” I would turn it into a Ute. It would be easier with a Checker Wagon. But the frame and body is so stout. I doubt that any additional bracing/reinforcement would be required. OK, I will go away now.
@ Wayne
Unhinged? Is that the word we’re using now? LOL. Hi Wayne!
Unhinged is an unusual description, sounds like a word that would be used for me.
Hi Angel! One of my bosses stated ” You don’t think outside the box, You think out of the universe!” He was not complaining, I made him alot of money! But he was never sure what I would come up with next. Even though I have many projects on hold while I complete my new home. I will keep an eye out for a Checker wagon. Don’t worry, I won’t harm a nice one. But the Checker Ute has me really enthused.
Nice to hear from you! Happy Holidays!
Purpose-designed, and it worked to perfection!
This actually looks like a strait forward repair for a qualified body man. There are parts cars out there, when I lived in Clearwater there was a sizable taxi company with about 40 of these, all for sale(none cheap) but would it be worth it? No, there are better candidates out there. I question the logic of hauling this all the way to the Mississippi however.
We were an 8-kid family growing up in DC (through Freshman year in HS). In the ’60’s, my dad genuinely looked into buying a Checker car (sent away for the sales brochure and everything). Guess he was thinking they could handle all of us, and it was built like a tank. For whatever reason (cost, gas mileage?), he never went through with it, and ended up buying a used Mercury Monterey station wagon instead, and proceded to drive it into the ground over many years.
I just bought a 1980 real deal A-12 NYC taxi. It’s a great car, I mean tank !
Great start for the Checkillac! Hi
honey 🍯, long time no see on BF.
All we need now is a good running 472 Cadillac engine and
a T-400 tranny, some body work,
and a Crash And Smash Road Rage bumper kit by Ronco! All you do is install this kit to the front of your pickup truck or your Checker, and then watch the look
of sheer terror on the faces of other drivers as they see you drop in behind them or pass them in
another lane. The Crash And Smash Road Rage Bumper Kit by
Ronco. Get yours now! Makes a
great Christmas 🎁 gift. Just call the number on your screen to order yours now! Every Checker
should have one! That’s right Angel, I still wanna do a Checkillac and why the hell not, you only live once!
I know that I’m old. But what about a Chicker or Chickolat.(lol) You can load a lot of ladies into a Checker!
Sorry, Angel, I had to play along with Ken! It was a moment of weakness brought on by exhaustion!
Those “moments of weakness” seem to come more frequently as we get older. LOL
Well honey 🍯, we all get ’em. But Wayne, I never considered a
Checker sedan as a chick magnet 🧲 but in my long life on this planet I have seen stranger things
happen. And besides, any guy my age knows that the best way to impress the ladies is to let ’em
drive your Caddy. And the Checkillac? What a sinister car that would be! Just think Angel,
you could vent all that Italian road rage you have. Like the Italian race driver in the movie 🎥 Gumball Rally who said “the first
rule of Italian driving: what’s behind me is not before me.”
Sounds like something a Guido would say.