Checker Taxi was a dominant taxicab company and national franchisor based in Chicago, and Checker Motors was the Kalamazoo manufacturer that built the cars it and other fleets used. The Checker Taxicab, particularly the A-series sedans of 1959–1982, remains one of the most famous and recognisable taxis in the United States.
Checker Taxi at a glance
| Taxi company | Checker Taxi, Chicago, Illinois |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Checker Motors, Kalamazoo, Michigan |
| Common ownership | both owned by Morris Markin by the 1930s |
| First Checker taxi | built in Joliet on 18 June 1922 |
| Production moved | to Kalamazoo in 1923 |
| Early models | Mogul Taxi, Model H, H2, E, F, G |
| Iconic generation | A-series sedans, 1959–1982 |
| Signature | checkered beltline decoration introduced by Markin |
| Comparable to | the London Taxi, for its long-unchanged styling |
History of the Checker Taxi
Motorised taxicabs appeared in major cities from the early 1900s, and Chicago, with its many railway terminals, had a particular need for point-to-point chauffeur-driven transport. By 1920 two companies dominated the city, Yellow Cab and Checker Taxi. Checker Taxi did not build its own cabs at first, relying mainly on the Mogul Taxi, a purpose-built model made by Commonwealth Motors on a sturdy chassis with a body by the Lomberg Auto Body Manufacturing Co. Commonwealth’s advertising stressed the strength of its frame, built from 5-inch chrome-nickel alloy steel channel.
Morris Markin, a Chicago clothier who had made his fortune supplying uniforms to the United States Army in the First World War, lent Abe Lomberg $15,000 and took over the body company when the loan was defaulted, renaming it Markin Automobile Body in 1920. Commonwealth Motors was close to bankruptcy but held an order from Checker Taxi, then owned by George Hilsky and unconnected with Markin. Markin acquired Commonwealth through a stock swap in October 1921 and merged it with his body business as the Checker Cab Manufacturing Co. The first taxi under the Checker name left the Joliet line on 18 June 1922, and Markin introduced the checkered beltline decoration that became the firm’s signature.
Production moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan, in 1923, into two recently vacated factories, and the first Checker taxi was built there on the former Handley-Knight line. Markin also hired engineers from the Barley Motor Car Co., maker of the rival Pennant. The Model H was an improved Mogul, continued as the H2 late in 1923 and then succeeded by the Model E of 1924, the Model F of 1926 and the Model G of 1927, all derived from the Mogul of 1918. The F was recognisable by its angled windscreen and could be ordered as a landaulet, while the G was the first to offer a six-cylinder Buda engine. Markin began buying up Checker Taxi operators’ licences in 1924 and gained full control of the company in 1937.
The business also had a violent side. Competition for fares in 1920s Chicago escalated into what became known as the taxi wars, sparked by the murder of Frank Sexton, who had been trying to organise drivers; his father then killed the man accused of the murder. Markin’s home was firebombed in June 1923, one more reason for moving the factory to Michigan. In 1925 John Hertz sold Yellow Coach to General Motors, though he kept stakes in the Yellow taxi operators in Chicago and New York.
The car that fixed the Checker cab in the public imagination was the A-series sedan of 1959–1982. Its styling was deliberately left almost unchanged over more than two decades to keep production costs down, giving the cab the same instantly recognisable profile year after year, much as the London Taxi did in Britain.
Design and features
- Unchanged styling: the 1959–1982 A-series kept one shape for over twenty years to save money.
- Purpose-built bodies: cabs designed for fleet work rather than converted from passenger cars.
- Checkered beltline: Morris Markin’s decoration became the company’s visual signature.
- Fleet focus: Checker sold most production to taxi, police and other fleet buyers.
Checker Taxi versions
- Mogul Taxi: the Commonwealth-built cab used by Checker Taxi before Markin took over.
- Model H and H2 (1923): improved Mogul Taxis built after the move to Kalamazoo.
- Models E, F and G (1924–1927): successive derivatives of the Mogul, the G with a six-cylinder Buda engine.
- A-series sedans (1959–1982): the iconic Checker cab shape, sold commercially as the Marathon.
The A-series cab is described in the Checker Marathon article, its early ancestor in the Checker A11 article, and its stretched airport version in the Checker Aerobus article. More cars are in the Checker collection.
Sources
- Checker Taxi, English Wikipedia: company history, Markin, models, taxi wars
- Checker Marathon, English Wikipedia: A-series sedans and fleet sales
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