Before there was Uber or Lyft, there was Yellow Cab which was usually a Checker Marathon in the bigger cities. Technically, the for-hire vehicle was called the Checker Taxi and the Marathon was the version sold to consumers. But most Checkers usually ended up being painted yellow and picking up passengers in the Big Apple, the Windy City, and the like. The seller has two Checkers for sale from 1977 and 1973. The newer one has a low-mileage engine while the older one is a parts car that was used to keep the other one going.
These Checkers were in production from 1961 and 1982 and were rock-solid vehicles. They changed very little over time except to meet safety regulations, like the addition of cow-catcher bumpers. Checker relied on General Motors for propulsion, usually an inline-6 (250 cubic inches) and a 2-speed Powerglide automatic transmission. Occasionally they may have come with a Chevy small block V8. These things were beasts and quite roomy.
We assume the seller has owned both cabs for a while. They may or may not have been in service in NYC, but both have Colorado titles that aren’t encumbered. The engine from the parts car found its way into the ’77 cab and has maybe 1,000 miles on it (a rebuild, no doubt). There is some rust on the taxi thanks to the rock salt used during the Winter in Colorado. And the tires are said to have plenty of rubber left.
No photos of the rusty parts Checker are provided. We’re told that the tires and exhaust are newer on this one and perhaps there is more there that can be harvested. The sale comes with a Checker service manual which itself is worth $200 (per the seller). If you dig these old people-movers, both are available here on craigslist for the package deal lump sum of $5,000. Maybe restore the good one and head to New York to get your medallion? Yet another great tip from “Zappenduster”.
I love the phone number, should be an easy one to remember.
777-7777 is well known to pre-Uber NYC borough residents as “Dial7” that got us a Town Car. Still going.
These were built like tanks. I knew someone who owned one that had never been a cab. Indestructible
@ Uncle Ed
You are correct, Unk, but if you tried hard enough, you could destroy them. As my mother did in December 1969. We had an army green 1967 Checker Marathon, 3 on the floor. Can’t remember if it was a 6 or 8, but one snowy night in the northern hills of New Jersey she slid on some ice on a winding two lane road, rode about 20-30 feet up the mountain and rolled down back to the road. It landed on its roof, she climbed out the rear window which was no longer there. My father had the car brought to the house. There was not one inch on that car that was not damaged. Even the bumpers were bent.
She was ok. Not sure if she was ok in the head. She replaced the car with a 1962 Buick Invicta convertible. Who buys a convertible after rolling a hardtop down a mountain?
In 1970 Dad bought a new 1970 Checker Marathon. This time Mom and I had some say in the ordering of the new car. We got a V-8 with auto trans, am-fm stereo, a/c, full disc hubcaps and white walls. Mom wanted a blue interior as that was her favorite color. I ordered the outside in black, so it looked like a limo. Hey, I was 17! Still got hailed as a taxi when I drove it in New York City.
I don’t think these ever came with a Power-Glide. When checker 1st started building this body style, in 1956 with the A8, they used a Continental flathead six. Transmissions were a 3sp. manual or a Borg-Warner 3 sp. automatic. When Checker switched over to Chevy power they even made an adapter to continue using the B-W transmission. They even sold adapters to Studebaker when they switched to Chevy power for the ’65-’66 model years. When Checker finally ditched the B-W I think they went to TH350.
I also gotta say this looks like a pretty good deal, these are getting harder and harder to find. The older Checkers from 30’s thru the early 50’s are near non-existent. Very few of them survived, they were used up and thrown away
I rode in one of these when I was a kid. More than enough room in the back as people mover!
Almost bought one from a regular customer of mine back in the ’90s.
Hers was a Marathon model and was
as austere as it’s taxicab twin. Hers
Had a 305 V-8/T350 tranny that if I’d
been able to buy it, yank the 305 and
drop in a either a 350 or 454 for a bit
more oomph. The price was right ($650) but it wasn’t to be. Mrs. Erby
left it to her housekeeper when she
passed away in ’99 and I’ve always
wanted one ever since. Would make a really cool Uber car today though.
@ Kenneth Carney
Hi Ken! Nice to see you here. Unfortunately Uber has restrictions on the year of your car if you’re going to use it as an Uber. Can’t be more than 8 years old, the last I heard.
Although most Ubers I’ve been in were very nicely kept cars, I have been in a couple that looked old and maybe they were, quite worn and dirty.
Maybe they’d make an exception for a newly restored old car.
While I’m generally displeased with some of the sites viewers, there are posts that make me forget about that. One was the Greyhound, and another is this post. Like Greyhound, just about everybody has an experience with a taxi. I rode in one ONCE, considering all the miles I put on, that’s amazing in itself. It was awful. The cab stunk, the driver, of unknown origin, ran a stoplight in front of a cop and we got pulled over, it was the 1st and last time I rode in a cab. That was 40 years ago. Checker has the designation of being the only US made “generic” car. Aside from power train, they made little changes in the 21 years, and became the standard in taxi cabs, until the Ford Crown Vic took over. Like Greyhound, which dealt more in bulk packages, many taxicab companies took the package from Greyhound to the customer. Checker offered a wide range of vehicles, the most unusual was the Checker Ambulance, that catered to wheelchair and gurney applications. I can’t find anything about a Powerglide either, but if there ever needs to be testament to the durability of a GM motor, the Checker racked up billions of miles. Not much can top that.
And no Checker post would be complete without mention of the 1976 movie “Taxi Driver”, with a young Robert DeNiro and a VERY young Jodi Foster, that may have inspired the Reagan shooting? The movie had an amazing ending,,,
Everyone will obviously have to put in more effort for you.
‘Taxi Driver’, where I discovered Cybil Shepard. Sigh…
“Blue Collar” is the real Checker movie. It was shot inside the Checker plant.
@JDC
Thanks for the referral. I picked up “Blue Collar” on DVD. Good movie. Damn those guys were young. Love all the old cars.
What no reference to the Rev. Ignatowski? I’m……..amazed.
I worked in a repair shop in the early 70s that “maintained” the checker cabs for a local company. Maintenance for the most part meant brake repairs. The cab owner was notoriously cheap and insisted we only replace the most worn shoes, never a full set. Even the replacements were re-lines, not new. Hated working on the fleet cars. They were filthy and needless to say, the owner never tipped.
Interesting Mike F the cab owner was probably filthy rich.
And likely had to work his @ss off for every penny, Frog.
Gotta love a Checker! I lived in the high country of Colorado for years and road salt was used only in intersections in towns. One learned to drive on snow and ice covered roads. Never lost a vehicle to rust living there unlike VT,NH & ME where I lost several before I wised up and moved south.
Hi Bill, it’s a common misconception that Colorado has rust free vehicles because of the lack of salt used. It’s a combination of things really, low humidity, hardly ever rains, and while the main roads are treated with that liquid solution, very few towns use salt, hence, if a vehicle isn’t driven on main roads, it’s entirely possible to be rust free. Sand is used at intersections, and the tree huggers here are concerned the salt will leech into the Arkansas River, so apparently dealing with crumpled fenders is better. Upper Midwset was just the opposite. They dumped so much salt on all roads, you could plow it with the snowplow.
Interesting Mike F the cab owner was probably filthy rich.
Interesting Mike F the cab owner was probably filthy rich. My guess is he used recycled motor oil.
@Frog
You are spot on both points.
I hated having to do half-a***d work. Frequently had to move the rear shoes to the front and the already worn out fronts to the rear. Just stupid since the labor was the same for replacing all four.
I had an uncle so cheap when I was a kid helping him with home construction he would have me straighten out bent nails and heaven help me if one ricochet. I would spend hours looking for it. I lost count of the number of times I hit my fingers. Little did I know he counted the nails too.
This is about 30 miles from me, and I remember these cabs on the streets of Denver. I heard that they chose the 7 phone number because it was Denver Bronco quarterback John Elway’s number. Today he looks a little better than this cab but not much.
A neighbor had Checker’s civilian station wagon version. I never asked for a ride. Must watch some “Taxi” re-runs…
Before I retired, I repeatedly threatened to buy one of these for my daily commute. Even thought of replacing the bumpers with railroad ties. Probably a good thing I never followed through with that idea.
@370zpp
That was a good idea! Because I had the exact same idea. Back in the 60s & 70s when my parents had two Checkers I hated those cars. They were so ugly, boxy and far from the sleek and chromed Cadillacs I love.
But as an adult I can appreate them. Especially how people drive now-a-days. I wanted a tank, but a Checker with huge wooden bumpers was as close as I could get. Re-enforce the front fenders, beams in the doors, you got yourself a homemade tank!
Yes Angel, Agreed! And parallel parking would be so much fun….
Hi Angel! Great story about your Mom’s Checker! It just proves how safe these cars really were. They were the American Volvo. On this one, just add 3 point lap belts, air bags, and call it a day. Being the
optimistic fella that I am, I’d have BOTH cars running, driving, and done up right. I’d use the cab as a ride share vehicle selling ad space on the
sign boards it has to offset the costs
of of repairs and upkeep. Then, I’d turn the other car into a really sinister
looking family sedan complete with a
rip snortin 454 rat motor mated to a beefed up T-400 tranny and 12 bolt
posi rear end. And to help manage all
the torque and ponies that big old rat
is putting out, I’d use Brute Strength U-joints at each end of the driveshaft
and mount a loop cross member on
the frame to keep the driveshaft in it’s place should you break a U joint by
romping too hard on the go pedal.
Now we’ve got the go covered, it’s
time to make it whoa with a set of 4
wheel Wildwood disc brakes with 6 piston calipers and vented rotors to
dissipate heat when stopping and keep pedal fade to a minimum. Add
a set of steelies and dog dishes holding HD radial tires. Then, I’d cover the body in dark blue metallic paint with a grey interior and dark blue carpets. A 10 speaker stereo system would keep you entertained while Vintage air and heat keeps you
comfortable all year ’round. Could you imagine delivering Door Dash in
that thing?! Oh my God that would be
awesome!! I could just see all those
little rice burners getting out of our
way as we snake through traffic on the way to pick up or deliver an order.
That would be priceless! Makes me
wanna go out and sketch one and then find a way to post it here so that
you guys could see what I see in these cars. Angel, I’ll have my niece
or SIL put that messenger Doo Dad
on my phone or tablet so that we can
talk. Bye all, time to go to work!
Kenneth, I don’t know what you do as a day job but driving a beast like this with the kind of modifications you’re talking about would have you upside down bankrupt in no time. Ever thought about a Ford ecoboost. More power less weight less fuel.
Not to worry Frog, just an old man’s
fantasy. Besides, I don’t think I could get my SIL on board when it comes to driving a neat old car like this. She and my niece like our K5 too much.
It’s a really nice car for what it is and
they love all the gizmos and gadgets
it has. As for me, I like cars like this
much better than the modern cars of
today. If it breaks down, getting it fixed is just a wrench and your time to
repair it away. You don’t have to have
computerized tools that have to be scanned in order to replace a worn out part. That to me is nonsense.
Congress should pass a law that would require all automakers to build
cars that can be repaired by the person who owns it. You can’t even
change a tire these days without going to an app, scanning both the tire iron and the lug nuts BEFORE you
can change that flat tire and be on your way. And oil changes? Try $300
and a half days wait at the service
center! As for the cab, you can make
upwards of maybe $1, 200 selling ad
space on the 3 panels you”ve got.
The way we deliver everything from
lawnmowers to condoms, you can bet
that a lot of folks out there would see
those signs and make your clients very happy. Yeah, I’d rebuild the second car as time and money permits and no, I wouldn’t go the rat
motor route with this one, Just a warmed over 350 with headers, a mild cam, and a Holley Sniper fuel injector system. That would be quite enough
for me. Dunno about the Ecoboost,
I’ll have to look into that one. But it
don’t hurt to dream though!
I’m with you Kenneth on all points. A few decades ago….(did I just say that?) Repair garages had a riff with auto parts scanning and diagnosing cars and tried to stop them via the court. Screw jobs should come with a 💋and a steak dinner so people don’t feel like a 🪝er.
I’m with you Kenneth on all points. A few decades ago….(did I just say that?) Repair garages had a riff with auto parts scanning and diagnosing cars and tried to stop them via the court. Screw jobs should come with a 💋and a steak dinner so people don’t feel like a 🪝er.