Checker Coming Back To Life—As A Pickup, Not A Taxi

Nearly 35 years after the Checker automotive assembly lines in Kalamazoo fell silent—and almost 20 years after the last of the famous New York City Checker cabs retired—the Checker automobile is poised for a comeback, with plans set for two new niche models and a complete mechanical update.

Related: Galva and Galva II – the Checker cabs that could have been

Missing from those plans, however, are designs on re-entering the taxi market. Or even producing a four-door vehicle at all.

“A lot of auto manufacturers already offer four-door taxis, so no, we’re not trying to bring back the taxi,” said Steve Contarino, owner of Checker Motor Cars, a company based in Haverhill, Massachusetts, focused on restoring vintage Checkers. “Instead, we want to bring back nostalgia in a usable form.”

Related: Janie, New York City’s last Checker cab

That means targeting two other niches with the two new Checkers. The first model, a six-door sedan that Contarino calls the A888, mimics the old Checker Aerobus designs and conceivably slots into the sightseeing bus and hotel limousine role. “We’ve already spoken with a lot of hotels in New York City and elsewhere that are interested in one of our restored cars, but they want something with modern braking and steering that they can just put a driver in,” Contarino said.

Image courtesy Checker Motor Cars

Checker offered the Aerobus in six- and eight-door configurations as well as in sedan and station wagon bodystyles from 1962 through 1977. Contarino’s six-door A888 would offer four rows of seating for 12 passengers.

Related: Uphill both ways – cross country in the “Huff and Puff.”