Electric Checker

Podcast Episode: 0086
could checker return as an electric cab?

    Similar to the black cabs of London, yellow checker cabs used to be the standard for both New York and Chicago.  Today you won't find any Checker cabs from CMC, but with a rise in retro inspired electric vehicles today, could they return.  This is what AutoLooks takes a look at, as we travel along with the original Checker Cab from its beginnings, to what could be its future.

    Checker Motors ended its life the same way it started it.  By making parts for the big auto companies.  But its end came at the hands of big auto and a change in the automotive world.  They lived a great life with their cars being the mainstay for cabs in New York and Chicago for over fifty (50) years.  So, why would anyone want to bring them back from the dead.  Nostalgia is the answer.

     As the last Checker Cab went our of service in 1999 and the Crown Vic is now gone as well, North America does not have a trademark cab.  This may seem like an odd place to find an icon, but both London and Mumbai have their own.  So, why not New York again?  This is a question you would have to ask someone in the industry.  Hell, why not just ask the big mobility players as well.

      We could sit here and argue about why and why not this mark should come back and who should bring it out, but why not just talk about it.  That is what AutoLooks has done on this podcast and we hope it helps inspire someone out there, as we would like to see this great model return.

Everett J.
​#autolooks