For nearly 25 years (1959 to 1982), Checker Motors dominated the taxicab business. That was in the form of the stoic Checker Taxicabs, which were seen all over major cities like Chicago and New York. Checker also built the Marathon for personal use, which was essentially the same car. The seller has a 1977 Marathon, which appears to have been restored as a taxi for use in a Batman movie (we don’t know which one). Located in Sharon, Wisconsin, the rolling tank that looks like a sedan is available here on Facebook Marketplace for $16,500.
During their long production runs, the Checker Taxi/Marathon changed very little. When they did, it was to satisfy the latest safety and emissions requirements. The “cowcatcher” bumpers on the seller’s car are a prime example, and Checker was focused more on function than on style. They were roomy vehicles with austere interiors and were constructed for years and years and many miles of service. The seller’s car is said to have 63,000 miles, which would be a drop in the bucket for a real Checker cab.
Checker relied on other manufacturers for mechanical hardware. Chevrolet was a primary source, and this vehicle has a period-correct (if not numbers-matching) 305 cubic inch V8 with a TH-350 automatic transmission. These were heavy vehicles at nearly 4,000 lbs., so acceleration would be long and slow, which is all you would expect out of one of these rolling monuments.
Since the seller refers to this car as a Marathon, we assume it was a personal use Checker made up to look like a taxi. The detailed work seems appropriate, and the body, paint, and interior all look up to snuff. No reference is made to which Batman movie it served in, but you will find many a carbon copy in the 1978-83 TV series, Taxi. Thanks for the tip, Hans H.!
This certainly looks like a great movie prop Taxi. Nice job on the bodywork too. You notice the lack of chrome with the silver painted light bezels and “Cow catcher” bumpers. I’ve always liked Checkers, especially the older ones. Nice write up Russ, thank you.
Speaking of “the older ones,” I’m old enough to vaguely remember seeing some of the open-fronted fender Model Ys in NYC when I was a li’l tyke. Then, later, lots of the Model As and “A2” and finally, the ubiquitous A8, A10 and A11s.
NYC also had lots of the stretched DeSotos. The NYC taxi requirements couldn’t be met with just any vehicle, there were specs to which Checker and DeSoto had to adhere in order to get the OK. Then came deregulation… sort of, and impossible to get into or out of Crown Vics, etc.
The really older Checkers just seem to have vanished.
You talkin’ to me? I’m sorry, the best taxi movie was Taxi Driver, ( 1976) with a very young Robert DeNiro and even younger Jodie Foster. I can’t find any Checker taxis in the original Batman, this car is too new, but maybe in the new Batman ones. Still, not a big deal, it’s a Checker, the most generic car known to man, and to be honest, probably the best US car made. Racked up billions of miles, they did. I don’t know about the “taxi” thing, you want people wanting a ride is up to you, I’d strip it of all that, paint it and have a car that will outlast the planet,( 5 years tops) they were just the best cars.
As a kid in the early to mid Sixties I had a friend whose folks only drove Checkers. They even had a wagon! We thought nothing of it. At the same time I had another friend whose parents had not one but two VW Type 3 VW Square backs. Of course they were somewhat short of stature. When in NYC I always liked catching a Checker cab. The flat grey interior and huge jump seats were a kids paradise. You could hose out the rear compartment of the cabs and skip the vacuum cleaner:)
You got a 44 magnum? That an expensive weapon. 1976 Taxi driver. Awesome movie.
In the aftermath of upgraded bumper regulations, these arguably could be considered the absolute ugliest (IMO) even surpassing the “chromed railroad ties” of the 70’s Fords, LOL!! :-)
I don’t think the M1 tank is as well protected!
You could probably make a living in NYC carrying tourists around as a nostalgia ride. No hack required. I remember hailing one years ago and was astonished how spacious the rear passenger compartment was! Especially compared to the London taxis at the time, which I also rode in. Our generation definitely lived in the golden age of the USA, which is now deeply tarnished.
You couldn’t build one for anywhere near the asking price and this car presents wonderfully. Cool Write up.
Appropriate bumpers for a NYC taxi…
I recall the cabs in Springfield Ohio having “Rich’s Safety Water Bumpers”. I think they were good for lower speed collisions. They may have been fitted to Checker and other manufacturers. As a kid it was a sight to see the water shoot up in the air when there was a collision. If nothing else, it alerted the other drivers of the accident. Of course they wouldn’t help much lately since it has been well below freezing for the last week!
those bumpers are probably 1000 lbs of 4000 gvw
I’d like to have this to use in our taxi fleet. It’d definitely be one of a kind and great advertising. The price is fair, but more than I can swing this month, unfortunately.
Lovely looking car. I’ve heard of the Checker Marathon. I’ve seen a couple in person.
Definitely built as a personal vehicle and done up for a reason. It’s missing the jump seats in the rear that I loved as a kid
LOL!
They’re not dead yet.
I race in a Vintage Hill Climb every fall. 30 years old or older cars.
Aside from the obvious; Austin Healey’s, MGs, Triumphs, Older BMWs…
… Every year a guy shows up in a totally restored Checker Marathon Taxi, with NYC plates, the top light works and he even has a soft “Cabbie cap with a license pin on it that he wears between runs He’s not fast, but everybody applauds him after a run.
(Later I’ll tell you about the guy that comes in a Reproduction of Sheriff “Buford T. Justice” Texas patrol car from “Smoky and the Bandit”.)
@Driveinstile
The cow catcher bumpers were always painted silver. After 1973 they were no longer chrome from the factory.
My parents ’67 had chrome bezels around the headlights but painted ones to match the car (black in their case) in 1970.
The backup lights are in the wrong place on this one. They should be further out in the corners, not so close to the license plate.
The jump seats were called opera sears and they disappeared when seat belts became mandatory. The opera seats would collapse into the base of the rear passenger compartment
When I started my brief career as a cab driver in the mid 70’s, I was disappointed that the company I drove for had put their last Checker out to pasture a year earlier. I only got to drive repainted ex cop and city works cars.
OMG those bumpers have to go. They’re hideous
That is one ugly car and it’s not just the paint. I know people love them and they have a following, I’m not one of those people. If for some reason I wound up being the owner I would do my best to make it look like the one in the movie scrooged.
@Andy: Oh hell no!! Those bumpers are the basis of the Smash And Crash Road Rage Bumper Kit that I mentioned at the Checker 396 post last month.
Oh Angel, I’ve started laying out a
Checkillac with a narrowed front
bumper from a Peterbilt 379 topped with a grille guard that also protects the headlights. I fabbed up the frame horns to extend the bumper further out to
make it look more menacing than
stock. It also has a filler piece between the bumper and the grille. It looks downright scary on
paper and REALLY sinister with the dark blue paint and dark tinted windows. It also has the
Cadillac emblems front and rear
with Checkillac lettering on the front fenders too. Check your email Angel, I sent you some stuff that has a video with 8 most popular Ronco Products from YouTube. I think you’ll like it. Hope you’re okay and keeping warm there in Baltimore. I wanna say something else,, but here is not the place for that. Just check
your email and see if you got what I sent you If not, I’ll need to get it fixed again. Great car! Check out the ’68 Sedan DeVille.
Think you’ll like it! See you later
Honey 🍯
Whenever I watch a movie set back in the 50’s-60’s I always check the cars for period correctness; it’s fun to pick out the boner newer cars. My wife doesn’t get it, but… Anyway, NYC settings are usually well populated with Checkers. Most pass muster with the old chrome bumpers, but sometimes I spot one or two guardrail bumper models and side markers mixed in.
As a child of the ’80s and ’90s I always found Hawkins, Indiana’s dearth of Chevettes, Tempos and K-cars, and abundance of non-rust-bucket ’60s iron a stranger thing indeed..
@Sarge
You and me both, Sarge. I spend more time watching the background than I do watching the movie.
Always looking for period correctness but sometimes they dont tell you the year so I have to figure it out by the newest car I see.
Me too! Got it from my Dad when
ever we’d watch TV together. He’d watch the screen and point ’em out to me. Now, almost 60 years on, I still do it. Used to drive my wife nuts when I did that
Sis is the same way. That’s why
she and my niece go to their rooms to watch TV. Same thing
happens when the girls and I go
out to eat. Once we get seated, I
start looking around and seeing things that need to be done. Once you start, you can’t turn it off. Seems like you do it most everywhere you go. Wish I could
come to B-more for a visit Angel.
Then, we could have fun picking
out all the old cars and trucks we
want without me getting yelled at
by the girls for doing it. Nice to know that other folks do it too.
You dont want to come now, Ken. We just had a snow storm and apparently B’more is no longer equipped to handle such routine winter happenings.
The roads aren’t being cleared. The parking lot where I live the complex hired a company that did a piss poor job. My car is still stuck. Can’t move it. They plowed it in.
Honey 😘, I m sorry to hear that.
They’re calling for snow here in
Florida Sunday morning. 24 degrees with single digit wind chills. Thank God for leather jackets and thick jeans. Still gotta serve my customers no matter what. They count on my
store 🏪 for that first cup of coffee ☕ before church and I just can’t let ’em down. As I see and hear about what’s going on in
B’more, I think of you a lot and hope you’re safe there. In our
complex, they’re gonna salt the walk ways and they had us try the
furnace to see if it works okay. Too bad I wasn’t there. We could
watch old movies, pick out all the old cars, snuggle up and hold hands. Nothin’ fancy, just that.
Might do some more work on the
Checkillac before the cold gets here. Sorry folks, but my little shop’s gonna be closed most of next week! Here’s some hugs and kisses 💋 to keep you warm.
It was 8° this morning, Ken. AND the heat is out in my building.
Ive made up my mind, I’m going back to Nevada
This is better than a soap!
How are you staying warm? I’ve been seeing that a lot over the last few days. I did see in one report where it was 62 in Vegas.
Can you get to s warming area?
Do you still have power? I’ll keep you in my prayers
Wow. Saw the interior picture and could practically smell it. Took me immediately back to growing up in a small town in upstate NY one street over from Ed’s Taxi, which was owned by my childhood best friend’s parents Ed and Martha. They had cabs numbered 1-6, but cabs 4 and 5 had been dissembled and the parts were stored in the loft of their barn. All of them Checkers. Green and white to reflect on their proper Irish last name of Orzechowski (kidding). My sisters and I used to argue about who got to sit in the flip up seats in the back. I think the cars ended up down behind a local-ish garage after Ed passed and Martha moved to Florida, then one day disappeared. Annnnyway, these cars are so darn iconic, and (except for the bumpers) this one would make a cool car to tool around town in on occasion. Could also be a great advertising promo for a retro restaurant, although most people who remember them are of retirement age now.