Checker revival announced, but not as a taxi

1982 Checker, not exactly what the new Checkers will look like. Photo by the author.

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.

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."

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.

The second model, a two-door that Contarino calls the Sport Pick-up Crossover, would revive the sedan pickup bodystyle, made most famous by the Chevrolet El Camino and Ford Ranchero. Contarino said he envisioned something that could be used as a daily driver, but that also offered the utility of a pickup. "Globally, we see a need for both types of vehicle," he said.

Image courtesy Checker Motor Cars.

While the cars will largely resemble the Checker A12s of the 1980s, Contarino said they won't use any original parts or parts stamped from original Checker dies. "Most of that stuff was long gone even before the bankruptcy in 2009," he said.

Building complete vehicles, however, will take a back seat to a couple other plans Contarino has for the new venture. First, he intends to begin production of an entirely new frame, built by a company in Salt Lake City, Utah, that will underpin the new models and that will also fit under vintage Checkers. Those frames will not only support modern drivetrains—Contarino has his eye on GM's LS-series gasoline V-8s as well as the Chevrolet Colorado's 2.8-liter turbocharged Duramax diesel four-cylinder—but also four-wheel disc brakes, front and rear coil-spring suspension, rack-and-pinion steering, and possibly a four-wheel-drive option.

From there, Contarino intends to offer kits to convert vintage Checkers to rack-and-pinion steering and disc brakes. After that, sometime in the fall of 2018, his plans call for building complete vehicles. While he said he probably won't be able to avoid sourcing components for the vehicles from overseas, he does aim to assemble the cars in Haverhill.

The linchpin to all these plans, Contarino said, is H.R. 2675, the bill making its way through Congress that would loosen the current rules governing replica and low-volume car builders. Instead of offering engine-less vehicles to skirt existing legislation requiring emissions and crashworthiness testing, H.R. 2675 would allow those builders to sell complete vehicles. Contarino said he only intends to build a few hundred cars a year, so passage of the bill would mean a great deal to his plans. "We'll keep our eye on what happens with it," he said.

As for securing the Checker name, that proved easier said than done, Contarino explained. Following the bankruptcy of the old Checker Motors, which had ceased vehicle production in 1982, but remained in business for 27 years stamping sheetmetal for other automakers, Contarino discovered that the company no longer owned the Checker trademark. Instead, Speedway—the convenience store and gas station chain—had somehow obtained it. He then struck a deal with Speedway in which the chain could continue to use the name for gasoline and he could use the name for automobiles.

Contarino plans to build prototypes starting early next year and get into full production in 2018. He also intends to keep the Checker restoration business in operation even after production of the two new models begins.