The spotless aqua paint and full wheel covers of this Checker Marathon make me think this wasn’t once a taxi cab, as so many of its brethren were. Which makes me wonder: just who was buying Checkers besides taxi companies?
Not that buying a Checker as a private buyer was foolhardy. In fact, it was pretty sensible. There were proven mechanicals, including a range of Chevrolet engines from 1965 onwards. Parts were never an issue as the sheetmetal was unchanged for its 21-year production run. And just look at that rear seat – talk about legroom! Nevertheless, typically 90% of Marathon production was destined for taxi use.
The lack of visual changes makes it hard to pin down the exact year of this Marathon. The slim bumpers peg it as being pre-1974, while the presence of front seat headrests would indicate it was built in 1969 or later.
That means under the hood is either a 250 cubic-inch Chevy six with a two-barrel carburetor or a 350 cubic-inch Chevy V8 with either a two or four barrel carb. If it’s a ’69 model, that would mean it’d have the 327 cubic-inch V8.
If you haven’t read the late Kevin Martin’s brilliant feature on his years driving Checker cabs, do so. In it, he praises the Checker for its durability and passenger room but criticizes it for their manoeuvrability. These were big cars albeit not full-size – measuring approximately 199 inches long, pre-5MPH bumpers, they were about as long as a GM A-Body sedan. However, they weighed a good 300-400 pounds more than an A-Body thanks to the Checker’s rugged X-frame construction.
Unlike an A-Body sedan, there was no pretence of style. The Checker was blocky and upright like a K.T. Keller-era Plymouth, designed to provide as spacious a cabin for passengers as possible. A Marathon was almost 10 inches taller than an A-Body sedan.
The first year Checker sales broke out taxi and non-taxi sales was 1967. That year, Checker built 5,622 Marathons but only 935 weren’t taxis. This held throughout the 1970s, with a few thousand Checkers being built each year but only a few hundred going to buyers who weren’t taxi companies. Those figures include the other members of the Checker line-up: the wagon and the Town Custom (later Marathon Deluxe), which boasted a 9-inch longer wheelbase (for a total of 129 inches). There was also an eight-door Aerobus wagon which Paul covered here.
One thing that would have discouraged private buyers, however, was the Marathon’s price. In 1969, a Marathon sedan retailed for $3,290. That was almost $800 more than the cheapest Chevelle sedan with the same 250 cubic-inch six under the hood. Any private sales, therefore, were minuscule while even taxi volumes began to decline as taxi companies embraced regular sedans from Chevrolet, Ford and Plymouth.
The one bonus a Marathon sedan had over, say, a Chevelle sedan – besides the more upright cabin – was the availability of a couple of jump seats to bring total passenger capacity to eight. But wouldn’t most families have bought an intermediate station wagon with a third row of seats?
Considering the Marathon’s heft, price premium and cumbersome handling, just who were the few hundred people each year buying these for non-taxi use? Whoever bought this one, however, deserves kudos for keeping it in such lovely condition all these years.
Photographed in Mount Pleasant, Vancouver, BC in June 2019.
Related Reading:
My full-length historical piece on the Checker Marathon.
Automotive History: An Illustrated History Of Checker Motors
Who would buy one? A good question, although I know my wife’s maternal grandfather was strongly considering one at some point. I’ve got the Checker sales brochure stored away in the basement. The interesting tidbit is there is no mention of model year, allowing for the same brochure to be used for a long time.
As for my wife’s grandfather, he was divorced and had only the one child. So odds are he would have been alone in the car. The only other brochure he ever saved was for a Ford Granada. The only car I know of him having was a ’71 Ford Maverick.
This example also appears to have a three-on-the-tree given the location of the gear shift. That could narrow down the model year further.
I was told that J. Edgar Hoover was chauffeured around D. C. in a Checker.
Plenty of extra room in back for his little friends.
I did know a couple who once owned a Marathon. As one might suspect, they were sort of individualists. When I knew them, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, they drove a Peugeot 504, which they evidently had bought as a replacement for the Checker at some point. I have no idea what prompted them to buy a Checker… they bought it used, so I presume it was cheap, reliable and unusual, all of which probably appealed to them. My sister is still friendly with this couple, and I think they currently drive a Mercedes SUV, so they’re much more mainstream now.
And below is my favorite Checker ad:
“Dealers- Certain open points available.”
Translated that means, “If you’re interested, we’ll sign you up!”
If International Harvester had built passenger cars, they would have looked something like this. I think there is more than a little similarity between the Checker and the pre-1970 Travelall.
There was one family at the other end of my neighborhood who had a white Checker Marathon station wagon – the civilian version and not an ex-taxi or airport vehicle. I always admired the pure functionality of the design – very purposeful with very little concession to style.
I like these earlier ones with the older bumpers and the old-style steering wheels with the full horn ring. If a guy wanted something with Chevrolet power that was not a Chevrolet in the mid 60s, there were a lot of choices – The Checker Marathon, the final Canadian Studebakers and even the Avanti II starting in 1967. Of course people who wanted Chevrolet power in something besides a Chevrolet was a miniscule market.
Yes, the older bumpers are more attractive, but I do sort of like the later 5-mph bumper Checkers in part because I once saw one involved in an accident and it emerged largely unscathed.
The accident (in the early 1990s) was what we’d now term a road rage incident – a tow truck got angry at the driver of a VW Rabbit and forced him off of a crowded expressway… the Rabbit left the road, hit an embankment, then veered back onto the highway before being hit by a Chevy Caprice. The Caprice was in turn rear-ended by a Checker Marathon. I remember the Caprice (certainly no lightweight car) was significantly damaged, but the Checker was not. Those Checker bumpers (maybe very thick aluminum or something?) certainly weren’t attractive, but they worked.
I like the International Harvester comparison, but I always kind of thought of the Checker as an American Volvo 240. One other thought, buying a Checker was a way to get a Chevrolet small-block and avoid the Powerglide since they came with the Borg and Warner 3-speed Auto.
Eric, the Collision you observed where there was little damage to the Checker not only highlights the strength of the Checker but its lack of crumple zones. The Caprice would have been designed so that frame bends to help absorb the impact of the crash, as seen in many demo derbys. The Checker’s old-fashioned and very rigid ladder frame would have no crumple zones designed into it minimizing vehicle damage but it would also likely transmit more of the collision energy to the occupants.
“One other thought, buying a Checker was a way to get a Chevrolet small-block and avoid the Powerglide since they came with the Borg and Warner 3-speed Auto.”
Buying a 1965-66 Studebaker did the same thing. You got the Chevy 283 V8 or the 230 (?) six and a 3 speed Borg Warner transmission.
Yes, I realize that too. I apologize, I didn’t mean to make it sound that was the only way to avoid the Powerglide, just that it was one way to do so.
Might sound off the wall, but Checker missed the opportunity to instantly create a smaller supplementary taxi line with the ’66 Studebaker tooling and rights when the corporation decided to end production.
Consider that a taxi spec ’66 Studebaker was still in production and the powertrain was the same as Checkers were. If they had simply leased the Hamilton plant, continued the taxi four door sedan and wagon with new grille and taillights, sold as Checker Commander’. Emphasized the economical advantages, it might have flown, especially in the 1970’s as mpg became an greater issue. The poor fuel mileage of the A-12 was a factor in their eventual demise.
@ Vince C: “I always kind of thought of the Checker as an American Volvo 240.” And when I had my 1980 Volvo 240 (though it was a 2-door), I thought of it as a Swedish Checker!
Fran Lebowitz owns a civilian Checker Marathon sedan, a 1979.
The only person I know that drove a Checker is Phoebe on Friends. An inspired and perfect auto-casting choice for a character on a show that has zero to do with cars.
This is quite the find (I think) to be just sitting there and in that quite vivid color and excellent condition. Above ground too!
Before customized vehicles for disabled folks existed, the Marathon had some popularity with those buyers. The huge rear doors allowed you to put in a full-size, non-collapsible wheelchair in the back seat.
My admittedly fuzzy memory remembers seeing at least a couple of civilian Checkers fitted with hand controls for throttle and brake.
One could also obtain a Checker with a raised roof for such purposes. It was marketed as the Medi-Car.
Here’s a link showing pictures of one:
https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2013/09/11/covering-just-about-every-service-car-niche-possible-the-trio-of-checkers-at-mecum-dallas/
I remember when I was a kid the neighbor across the street traded his 1956 Buick two-door hardtop for a Checker. His wife was disabled by arthritis, and I’m guessing that the Checker was really helpful in transporting her and a wheelchair. Thinking about it, I’m wondering now why my dad didn’t get a Checker to make transporting my mother easier. The first car I remember is Dad’s ’47 Cadillac Fleetwood; Mom could be lifted into the front seat, and the wheelchair could be folded and put in the back seat area. Same with the ’52 Cadillac that came next. Then Dad decided he just had to have a Mercedes diesel. It was a bit lower than the old Cadillacs; Dad could still lift Mom into the car, but the wheelchair had to go into the trunk. A nice, tall Checker with its capacious rear cabin would have been a big help.
Yes, my ’79 Checker had hand controls; my daily driver for 26 yrs.
Biggest sedan I could find. Big bench seat, loads of leg & headroom ( I’m 6’8″), excelent visability all around.
My manual wheelchairs fit in easily, folded, in front of the passenger side, or over the seatback onto the back floor.
Still had room for others, incl. College wheelchair-basketball teammates & their chairs.
Wouldn’t this be a pre-1973 as the 5 mph bumper standard was introduced in 1973?
Assuming the front seat is original, the headrests peg it as a least a ’69.
Also keep in mind, headrests were optional before ’69,
albeit with a fairly low take rate.
However, the steering column lacks the the ignition lock, which was adopted a year early by GM vis a vis Federal Standards.
Did Checker try to save a few bucks by going with the older column, or would they have just taken what they were given by GM?
It also has side markers.
Assuming no parts swapping has taken place, this has to be a ’68 or ’69,
no later.
Checker would have saved a couple of bucks and used the same Saginaw Steering column that IH used, which didn’t have the lock plate, pin and spring and the ignition lock that used the IH/AMC key who’s warding groove was moved slightly so a regular GM key wouldn’t work.
Based on what I know, Roger is correct (as usual). Checker didn’t adopt the GM column with the ignition switch until 1970. That’s also when it started to use a Chevrolet style steering wheel. So, I’d agree with his assessment.
My parents bought a new Checker Marathon in 1968. Light blue, Chevy I6, 3 on the tree, overdrive, limited slip differential, jump seats, non-power steering and brakes. We were a family of 6 and our 1959 Ford Zephyr was showing its age and feeling cramped as the kids grew. My parents were not fans of Detroit’s styling priorities or build quality at the time – hence the English Ford in 1959. They were educated practical folks and didn’t mind or even relished being out of the mainstream. Probably typical Checker buyers.
That car served our family well for many years. I’m still amazed that my mom drove it as the manual steering and brakes required substantial muscle power and she is barely 5 feet tall. In the ’80s it became my daily driver. It was fun to toss around on a country road. The weight and I6 made for sluggish acceleration, but the flip side of that was 20 mpg city and 30 mpg on the highway. Plus it went great in the snow. I used to load a large trap case and bass speaker cabinet onto the flat floor in the back when I was gigging with a rock band.
In 1986 it was rusting and the mechanicals were wearing out, so it was sold on to someone who intended to fix it up. I regret that I had no place to keep it, or I’d still be driving it on a Sunday afternoon.
An acquaintance of mine in Boulder, Colorado, ca. 1972, owned a Checker, which she affectionately called “Checkermobile.” Maroon with black vinyl top. I doubt she got it new. She was a single woman, so I’m not sure what the appeal of the car was for her.
My dad considered buying a Checker in the late-60s. He instead ended up with a van with a camper conversion. That worked much better for trips to the mountains.
This brings me to wonder whether Checker might have survived longer if it had expanded its market, such as by adding four-wheel drive to the Marathon wagon. Ditch the jump seats and cut the wheelbase by half a foot and the wagon would have fit neatly between the Jeep Wagoneer and International Travelall in size.
If Checker ever came up with the money for a redesign I wonder if a cross between a car and a van body would have been their best move. What I mean is an upright design that was low enough to fit into a typical garage and had a more car-like driving position than the Big Three’s vans of the 1970s. Of course, a Checker van wouldn’t have been terribly “mini” if it carried over the existing chassis and drivetrain.
In the early-80s Checker came up with a somewhat similar idea but wanted to use the front-wheel drivetrain from GM’s X-cars. Perhaps it’s just as well that the plan died on the vine. The prototype had an oppressively boxy body, partly because it used flat side glass. At least the above-shown Checker has a few curves.
When I was a kid, the Sisters of the Holy Cross rode around in Checker Marathons. If you saw one coming, it was them, and they seemed always to ride four at a time, in full habit, looking grim as they went.
That page from the Checker brochure, showing the limousine and the Aerobus, is certainly interesting. It says ©1969, but it shows pre-1968 cars (no side marker lights or reflectors).
Speaking of lights—do I ever stop?—I note the turquoise Vancouver Checker has one stop/tail/turn and one reversing lamp at the back of each tailfin. I don’t know when it happened, but at some point after this one was made the arrangement was changed to two red lights in that location and the reversing lights were placed just above the bumper as shown in the pic I’ve attached here. There’s gotta be a Checker spotter’s guide somewhere on the web, but I haven’t found it.
I understand Chrysler tried valiantly to sell Slant-6s to Checker, going so far as to engineer the necessary mounts and ancillaries, but whoever was in charge of choosing engines at Checker had some kind of a hate-on for whoever was in charge of selling engines at Chrysler, so that deal never happened. Pity; that would’ve been a good match.
valiantly?
Valiantly!
I believe a few were built with 318’s for one year. There was some sort of falling out between Checker and Chrysler in the 60’s, not sure what the issue was. It must have been settled because by the 70’s Checker was assembling truck cabs for Chrysler.
It’s kind of driving me bonkers that I can’t remember where I read the rather detailed account of Chrysler’s fruitless efforts to sell Slant-6s to Checker. So far, my Google searching has come up dry.
Didn’t know about Checker building truck cabs for Chrysler; got a link?
Checker was an OEM supplier of metal stampings to all of the big 3 at various times, mostly GM. After Checker stopped building Checker cars in 1982 they remained a major stamping supplier, mostly for GM, until both GM and Checker went bankrupt in 2009.
Checker stamped all of the 2nd gen F body (Camaro/Firebird) front subframes, many of the GM truck beds and tailgates, most of the Buick Leucerne body panels, etc.
TIL!
That one in the picture is propane powered — the propane cars had locking fuel doors as shown.
The change from two red lamps to four in the rear came in 1970, at the same time that they switched to lighted side markers from the rinky-dink round reflectors that were used in 1968-69. It was also at this time that the turn signal function was separated from tail/brake light, with the former being at the top and the latter on the bottom… I’ve also seen Checkers with four illuminated tail lamps (turn and brake remained separate), and front and rear side markers were wired to flash with turn signals at some point. It’s a bit hard to pin down dates with Checker, as they seemed to recycle literature with even more fervor than they did car designs.
Our featured Marathon features the 1968-69 reflectors on the rear and 1970-82 side marker lights on the front, as well as the earlier reverse lamps, so my best guess is that it’s a 1968-69 with replacement front fenders… or Checker slipped at least one down the production line with a mishmash of parts somewhere before January 1st, 1970.
You’re very good! Chelsea’s front fenders are fibreglass Bob Welch repops from the 90s, thus the front reflectors.
Ah hah! I missed your earlier reply to Daniel Stern back in 2019. Nice car, and I’m digging the color!
It’s interesting that they went to the bother to indent the fenders to recess the reflector used in 1968-69, rather than just screwing it to the surface… then modified it again for 1970. And a final bit of useless trivia: The lighted side marker came from the Buick parts bin, made by GM’s in house Guide lighting division. It was used on the rear of the 1970 Electra and Riviera, but with logos for both models screen printed in the center; Checker had no markings. This round lamp wasn’t used on the front on any GM cars, but was repeated in amber for Checker. The amber plastic Guide used fades with UV exposure, so most Checkers that were parked outside now have clear (or very nearly clear) side markers in the front.
A now retired co-worker of mine has his mother’s 1981 Checker marathon. His kids all learned to drive in it. It needs a couple of things but is still tagged and roadworthy
I believe he stated that his mother bought it because it was roomy, safe, easy to drive and she liked its looks.
“That means under the hood is either a 250 cubic-inch Chevy six with a two-barrel carburetor… ”
Actually it would be a single barrel carburetor for that engine, rated at 155 gross horsepower.
That reminds me of a Marathon I saw in Cape Cod MA a few weeks ago. It was gray, and looked to be in good condition, with no obviously apparent dents or rust. Because it and I were both in motion I did not have an opportunity to snap a photo. It gave me the chance to share what little I know about these cool cars with my son.
Though I have never ridden in one, and wouldn’t likely want to drive one around, something about the durability and simple styling of these cars has always appealed to me.
What a great find! Finding any Checker in the wild is rare these days, but one that is in this nice of shape is certainly very rare. I’ve only seen to Checkers in the last 20 years one was extremely rusted curbside find. The other was a pristinely restored example being used for a display at a UPS conference.
I always like Checkers and I would have likely considered one had I been car-shopping during the time they were sold. They were definitely a ultitarian, practical and tough and I even liked the stodgy styling. There only big down fall was there poor rust resistance. I remember reading Phil Edmundston’s used car guides and he always spoke highly of the Checkers.
Road & Track did a road test in 1969. They got the car from a dealer who sold Checker and M-B. The dealership said they both appealed to the same audience. Utilitarian cars that favored function before form. Most Checker buyers paid in cash.
The road test can be read here, thanks to the Internet Checker Taxicab Archive, which has a massive collection of Checker brochures, ads and articles.
Car Life also tested a Checker in 1969, but it had the 327 rather than the 307. The 327 Checker performed considerably better. I do recall the Car life test noted the Checker had weak brakes.
Stylistically, and perhaps conceptually, America’s answer to the Hindustan Ambassador.
“Which makes me wonder: just who was buying Checkers besides taxi companies?”
One answer – my dad.
Dad ordered a brand-new Checker in 1965. He and his business partner drove to Kalamazoo to pick it up.
It was Chroma Black with a silver vinyl interior (and yes, it had the infamous jump seats-good for 100 miles or so on before needing to stand up or switch to the rear seat).
He ordered it with the 230 ci Chevy 6, 3-speed manual transmission with overdrive.
By 1972-’73 or so, it was my daily driver to high school. I HATED it. I dreamed of tri-five Chevies with small blocks and four-speeds and mag wheels.
The Checker stayed in the family until about 1990. By that time, it had been badly wrecked once (and fixed), and had had at least 2 paint jobs. it had also started needing constant repairs of one sort or another.
My stepmom traded it toward something in one of those deals that offered a minimum of $1000 on anything you could push-pull-drag in. I have no idea what happened to it after that.
Not a whole lot of styling difference between a Checker and those ’55-’57 Chevrolets you were dreaming of, though the Chevs wouldn’t have been so inexorably linked with taxi service.
For years Checkers used Continental 6 cylinder engines. I believe they were flatheads similar to those used in Kaisers. Eventually someone at Continental realized they were losing money on each engine so they informed Checker the price would increase. Checker promptly switched to Chevy engines. I imagine with Chevy’s rate of production they could easily undercut Continental.
My dad also owned a ’62 Checker that somehow ‘found’ its way to him. It had a Continental flathead 6 attached to an automatic, and would almost get out of its own way…
Here’s one I caught in wild on Long Island, New York a few months ago, obviously an ex-taxi.
…or a movie car.
Lucille Ball was a famous Checker owner.
Have this one…
Not sure if it was during his entire tenure, but when Mario Cuomo was governor of New York, his official state ride was a black Checker for at least part of the time. On more than one occasion, I saw him being chauffeured on the NY State Thruway in the car. You could be sure it was the governor’s car because the official car of New York’s governor caries state license plate, “1.”
Andrew Cuomo (the current NY governor) has a slightly classier ride:
https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2017/03/31/fdrs-packard-removed-from-museum-for-preservation-parade-duty/
And Vermont’s governor Phil Scott has a slightly faster ride:
I owned/restored a 1972 Checker, handling was excellent for city use. Easiest car to work on I have ever encountered. Having also owned a 1974 IH 1 ton 4×4, I concur the comparison is accurate. Both brands seem to have been designed for repair by blacksmiths.
I remember watching an episode of the original Mission Impossible and a Checker was being used as a stand-in for a Soviet agent’s car, a Zil or a Zaz or a Zippety-Doo-Da or whatever they were. It was black (of course) and did look the part.
The car in your picture is a very late production 1969. It is a 69 because of the steering wheel, after 69 safety regulations required a more crash friendly design, the standard Chevy steering wheel was used from 70 on. The working side markers, identified by their chrome trim, also required by 1970, appeared on late 69 models. Early 69 models just had reflectors. My father purchased a 69 wagon brand new, it was a great car. After that our family owned a number of Checkers, another wagon and two sedans, all going well over 250,000 miles. Personally I felt the Checker drove very well, and to this day I prefer “upright” seating, I now drive a FORD FLEX, interestingly, similar in size to the Marathon.
Here’s my 78 Checker. It was never a taxi, sold as a private car and was originally dark blue. I resto-modded it during a frame-off restoration with a LS1 and 4L65e, upgraded suspension, interior, and a NYC taxi look. Drives great, lots of room and has a few Hot Rod Power Tours under its belt.
Jeff,
That is an awesome car!
Hold up a sec, Jim; something just caught my eye in this article:
That’s not quite true, as it seems. If you go here and navigate 1968 → Engineering Memos → EM233 Checker 1968 Fed Requirment Safty Standard 108 Side Light, you’ll find it states “The new and old fenders will not be interchangeable for service, but the tool changes will be made so that the old style fenders will be available for service”. There are part numbers given for the various front and rear fenders.
They might not be identical but they are plenty interchangeable. My car (the one featured here) has later fenders on it – there is no wiring present for the marker lights, but they are lights not reflectors. The front fenders on my car are actually fibreglass repros from the 90s.
Alright, fair ’nuff—you’d surely know better than I!
As to the widgets themselves: the legal requirement was for side marker lights and/or reflectors until 1/1/70, when the “or” was dropped and all new vehicles had to have both lights and reflectors. Looks like your car has rear side reflectors—the simple round ones with the central mount screw and no provision for a light. As near as I can tell from these pics (and my insufficiently-detailed recollection of seeing your car in Vancouver traffic), your front side markers appear to be the combination reflector + light items used up through the end of the line, the ones on this page, no?
Since we’re on the subject: EM394 says for ’78 they decided (correctly) it’s a good idea if the turn signal is visible from the side, as allowed but not required by the regs, so they made this wiring change.
The Header Checker has a very interesting owner and story. http://www.icta.club/big-blue-tour-2017-4000-miles-checker/
This is my car. I bought it in New York in 2017 and drove it to Vancouver and refreshed it. You can view photos of it at bigbluetour.wordpress.com. It’s the 250 with three on the tree. It’s on Instagram at check_er_out. This car is daily driven.
I was born in Chicago in 1958 and the only car my dad ever bought was a Marathon Checker…we had a red one, light blue one, silver one, forest green one and even a darker blue aerobus (6-door with back area). My dad loved them because all 12 of us fit inside with the bucket seats and the car was so dependable. Lots of memories of driving them on all our vacations. Still think about finding one to buy these days….guess I’m sentimental.