SyntheticBlinkerFluid
SyntheticBlinkerFluid UberDork
3/23/13 11:09 p.m.

I stopped by the Vair Shop the other day during my lunch and a local car club guy showed up with his 1980 Checker Marathon. We were talking and i told him how I would love to find one some day. He said how they are around, but people want way too much for them. I did a short Internet search and he was right. Hopefully one day I can find one, in civilian guise.

Oh there was a baby seat in the back seat too.

stuart in mn
stuart in mn PowerDork
3/24/13 8:45 a.m.

Looks like it was backdated with the nicer chrome bumpers - by 1980 I think they were using those big truck style bumpers.

SyntheticBlinkerFluid
SyntheticBlinkerFluid UberDork
3/24/13 11:12 a.m.

Yes, correct, he told me he had the pre-74 chrome bumpers on there. He said he picked it up from San Bernadino. It was actually in pretty good shape.

Oh and the leaf springs had more leafs than my Durango.

David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
3/25/13 3:08 p.m.

An old Checker would be cool. And I know that NYC's "taxi of tomorrow" makes more practical sense, but to me cabs should look like cabs.

SyntheticBlinkerFluid
SyntheticBlinkerFluid UberDork
3/27/13 8:37 a.m.

In reply to David S. Wallens:

I agree with you. Cabs should look like cabs. Yeah Checker sold civilian models, but they were built to be cabs.

Dammit, now I'm going to go look for Checkers for sale.

David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
3/27/13 11:58 a.m.

On the other hand, a minivan probably does make a more practical taxi. I was in NYC last month. I rode from LGA to midtown in a Crown Vic--you know, a proper cab.

DeadSkunk
DeadSkunk Dork
4/9/13 12:01 p.m.

The best car ever made for rear seat sex.

aircooled
aircooled PowerDork
4/9/13 12:12 p.m.

I used to know someone that had one. He used it to tow a boat.

Car has a HUGE rear seat. You can sit in the back and stretch your legs out and not touch the back of the front seat (for most people).

Great car for towing / road trips. You can put a cooler in the back seat floor and still have plenty of leg room. Large trunk also. Of course it won't get great mileage, but that's expected.

wbjones
wbjones UberDork
4/9/13 4:28 p.m.

for those old enough to remember ... it also made a GREAT car to use for going to the drive-in

914Driver
914Driver MegaDork
4/10/13 4:55 a.m.

Daddy, what's a Drive-In?

Luke
Luke UberDork
4/10/13 5:04 a.m.

Ha, neat. I'd always thought the NYC yellow cabs were just Chevys of some description.

SyntheticBlinkerFluid
SyntheticBlinkerFluid UberDork
4/13/13 7:28 p.m.

It's funny, because where I took that picture was at my old bosses shop, I forgot that he's got a 1967 Checker Marathon Station Wagon. Some old man in Chicago had it in his garage. It hadn't been driven in 30 years. Minimal rust on it.

It's got a 250hp 4-Barrel 327 GM engine with a Turbo 350 and an LSD out back.

He found out it had a burnt piston, so instead of rebuilding the motor, he's going to install a TBI 350 with a 4L60 out of a Suburban. He hasn't started the project yet, but I told him I would help him when the time came.

This is what it looks like except its white and doesn't have a roof rack.

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