Checker — Morris Markin's Kalamazoo Taxi Factory

Checker at a glance

Morris Markin's route into cars

Morris Markin, born on 15 July 1893, arrived at Ellis Island in November 1912 speaking no English. He learned tailoring in Chicago, bought his employer's business on credit and, with a brother, opened a trouser factory that made uniforms for the US Army in the First World War. He brought seven brothers and two sisters to the United States.

The car business began with a bad debt. Around 1920 Markin lent US$15,000 to Abraham Lomberg, whose Lomberg Auto Body was building taxi bodies for the Commonwealth Mogul. Lomberg defaulted, and Markin took over the firm as Markin Automobile Body. Commonwealth Motors, a company whose roots went back to 1908 in Buffalo, New York, went bankrupt in 1921. Markin acquired its assets in October 1921 and merged the two firms in 1922 as the Checker Cab Manufacturing Company. The Model C left the Joliet line on 18 June 1922.

Kalamazoo and the taxi fleets

In 1923 Markin moved production to Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he bought the former Handley-Knight chassis plant and the Dort body plant. The factory opened in June 1923. Checker sold 8,019 taxis from 1922 to 1928.

Markin did not only build cabs; he ran them. In Chicago, Yellow Cab and Checker Taxi were the two leading taxi firms by 1920. Markin began buying Checker Taxi operating licences in 1924. In 1929 he bought the remaining Yellow Cab shares from John D. Hertz and a one-third stake in Parmelee Transportation, which gave him control of both. By 1940 Parmelee, with Yellow and Checker cabs, was the largest taxi company in the United States.

The Model K of 4 October 1928 was Checker's first car designed from scratch and took more than 4,800 orders in its first month. Sales collapsed in 1932, and Checker moved from Buda to Lycoming engines.

The E. L. Cord years

Lycoming belonged to E. L. Cord, and Checker became part of his group with Auburn, Cord and Duesenberg. In 1933 a group linked to Raskob and du Pont removed Markin from the board. He sold his options to Cord for less than US$1 million in 1933 and was reinstated. Checker shares rose from US$7 in November 1935 to US$69 in April 1936, and a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into the trading in 1937 led Cord to sell. Markin regained full control. From 1929 to 1942 Checker built 29,260 cabs.

The A-series and the 120-inch rule

The Model A of 1939–1941 introduced the A-series and a Continental six. After the war the A2 arrived on 15 December 1946, and the A3 of August 1947 was the first Checker with a proper boot. The A4 and A5 followed in 1950 and the A6 and A7 in 1953. The A8 of December 1956 was shaped by New York City rules that limited taxi wheelbases to 120 inches, about 3,050 mm. Its body, with later updates, stayed in production until 1982.

Superba, Marathon and private buyers

In 1959 Checker began selling cars to private buyers in New York and New England. The Superba went on sale nationally in February 1960 and was renamed the Marathon for 1961. In 1962 almost 3,000 cars, about 20% of production, went to private owners; in the 1970s the share fell to about 10%. Output was about 1,000 cars a year from 1960 to 1968 and 760 in 1969.

The engines changed more than the body. Early Marathons used Continental sixes of 60 to 105 kW (80 to 141 hp). Chevrolet sixes and V8s arrived for 1965, and the 1969 350 cu in V8 reached 224 kW (300 hp), the most powerful Checker engine. In 1969 a Perkins diesel was offered for one year, and from 1980 an Oldsmobile 350 diesel V8 of 93 kW (125 hp). Compared with the Continental six of 1964, the 1969 V8 had 119 kW more. From 1974 federal rules on 5 mph bumpers brought heavy "girder" bumpers. The long Aerobus airport limousine, with up to nine doors and seats for up to 15, was built from 1962 to 1977; 3,568 were made. The Marathon is covered in Checker Marathon history and specifications.

The end of car production

In the 1970s and early 1980s Checker studied replacements: the Galva project, a Volkswagen Rabbit conversion and a design based on the Chevrolet Citation. None reached production, and the company decided to leave car manufacturing. The last car, a 1982 A11 taxi, left Kalamazoo on 12 July 1982 and is now at the Gilmore Car Museum. The last Checker cab in New York was retired in 1999 after almost one million miles and three engine replacements. Morris Markin had died on 8 July 1970, and his son David had become president.

Parts supplier and bankruptcy

After 1982 Checker became a subcontractor for Detroit car makers, mainly General Motors, making body stampings and chassis parts. In 1989 it became part of a reverse acquisition with International Controls Corporation. Sales fell from US$61 million in 2008 to a forecast of US$34.5 million for 2009, and the company had about 340 workers in summer 2008. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on 16 January 2009. In June 2009 the court approved the sale of the business to Narmco Group and Van-Rob for US$1.6 million in total, and General Motors paid US$1.5 million for tooling in July 2009. The head office was sold on 14 January 2010, which is treated as the official closure.

Collecting a Checker today

A Marathon suits buyers who want a roomy American car with simple mechanicals and a wheelbase of about 3,050 mm. From 1965 it used Chevrolet sixes and V8s, so engine parts are shared with the cars in the Chevrolet catalogue. The long-wheelbase Aerobus is far rarer, with 3,568 built in sixteen years. The power converter translates the gross and net hp ratings of different years into kW, and the surviving model is listed in the Checker catalogue.

Checker timeline

Landmark Checker models