I had a chance once to buy a '73 Checker Aerobus(this was the 6 door version designed as an airport shuttle vehicle) but I just couldn't get over how big it was and how I could ever fit it into my garage. As such, I passed on it.
Hey Bob, watching from, Alberta ,Canada. I've been a fan and a subscriber for years. I can see and hear it in your voice how passionate and how you will truly miss this car. Whomever the new owner will be is getting an iconic vehicle from VideoBob!! That in itself is an added bonus!!!
Early 60’s a couple in our neighborhood bought a brand new Checker passenger car. The owner took us to visit New York via the famous Merrit Parkway. Best ride of my youth.
From the Bronx bucket list to own one of those checker cap taxi, the classics there’s a company in New York City, where you can rent it if you’re getting married or special occasion comes with the driver I think they’re popular in the state of New Jersey too✌🏼
So many ppl have never seen this cab. I use too always ask my dad to flag the “bubble cab” bcz I loved those 2 round seats, perfect for a 3yr old. Of course that was back in the day where safety was an option. Thank you showing us!
I could only imagine someone across the street watching you make this video and being like " there goes that weird bald guy that wears the same clothes every day driving a taxi cab in circles" 😂
I can remember these in Pittsburgh as a kid in the 70s. The few with a/c had a sticker on the side window promoting it & the only ones with the windows up in the summer!! We always took the bus & I don't remember any A/C on them !!! Thanks for the Video and a 50yr old trip down memorie lane😊😅😅
yep I remember riding in one of the checker cabs back in the day. kinda cool ride if you ask me. glad I got to ride in one of those anyways. dude out of your 25 cars you have this checker is one of the ones I would definitely keep. Thanks for sharing
My uncle drove a taxi years ago and he bought every 11 and 12 he could, i still have 6 11's that run and drive and many that don't, and I have so many parts it's insane. And I have three limos. Or aurobuses. Whatever you wanna call em lol. I wish someone would buy it all i have been looking at it for 40 years
Cant believe how knowledgeable this guy is about cars, i love learning things from his videos. The guy up the street from me has two of them. i remember seeing that car in Ghostbusters where the skeleton ghost was driving it. seeing it in the movie scooged, definitely an iconic car for the 50s 60s 70s & 80s their used to be a show on HBO called taxi cab confessions the stores that people told was unbeievable. this would be a great idea for a uber car or maybe use it as a prank and see what people reactions would be, if they ordered an uber or lyft and they get picked up in a classic checker cab.
I remember riding in these as a child in nyc. So much back room i remember sitting in that jump seat as a child. Basically they were meant for the kids. Amazed how it folded out. Who knows if nowadays its even legal to have such a seat without belts.
I’m not gonna lie, when I did Uber overnight, I would play the theme of Taxi (Angela’s theme) at four in the morning near downtown Dallas, and pretend I was driving one of those cars.
I grew up in NYC and I remember riding in these. They used to put kids in the jump seats so the adults could sit on the rear bench. I miss them so much!!! It was a shame they stopped making these and watching how they faded from city streets .
Interesting note about that checker cab my father built that car back in 81. Father worked for Marathon motor company last five years it remained open in Kalamazoo Michigan. When Marathon close their doors for the last time my father went to Studebaker in South bend Indiana and they brought back the Studebaker Avanti line for a short time in the mid-80s. And when that was over him and his two older brothers went together and opened up a diecast machine repair plant which is still in business to this day in paw paw Michigan.😉
As a child growing up in NYC, I recall the small seats (I loved sitting on them) But I never remember them with backrests. AND YES, you can cross state lines with these cabs. (Must be pre arranged fare, no meter. My family took a cab from Queens to Great Adventure NJ in a Checker Taxi Cab
I like it! I actually worked at a Checker dealer in Brookline, Massachusetts, back in the late 60s/early 70s, first in the parts department, then in sales support. Too funny...yes, when you brought up the subject, I was indeed typing in the comments that the rear fenders are off a Checker Aerobus. What a Checker geek I am.
I remember being a little pre-schooler, my mom and I took a cab from her job to home and it was a Checker. This was in Los Angeles. Before I was in Kindergarten, I knew I was going to be a cuckoo car lover cause my parents drove nice cars.
I've always wanted to own a marathon car that was built in Kalamazoo Mi.❤❤❤ it would be cool to uber in that taxi and I think people would be excited to me pickup in one. THANK YOU for sharing Bob.
We have similar in the UK , sstarted out in the 60's as the Austin FX4 Right up to the 90's then became LTi ( LONDON tAXI iNTERNATIONAL ) and became the TX1 then a few modifactions to TX2 to 4 .THE early ones used a perkins diesel then the TX's used Ford and Nissan diesels before the final batch in the late naugtie...( up to 2015 ) used an Italian engine....now the company is known as Levtec and makes Electric Taxis to a similar design
May 26th. Four o'clock p.m. I took Betsy to Charles Coffee Shop on Columbus Circle. I had black coffee and apple pie with a slice of melted yellow cheese. I think that was a good selection. Betsy had coffee and a fruit salad dish. She could have had anything she wanted.
I got one in 1977 for $300, drove it for 6 months but sold it because many times when I went to a store and went come out to go home there's were people sitting on the back seat waiting for me thinking I was a real taxi ( and many times I took them where they wanted to go) the only thing I did like was the police would leave me alone even when not stopping completely at a stop
Nice review! I managed to find one of these Marathons from Maryland and imported it to Finland. Soon starting a project to get it back on the road (lot's of welding) 😘
I got to ride in them in Chicago. Rode in the jump seats as a child. You could get 6 in the back and all of their luggage in the trunk. The Chevys were too small.
The reason it has such a flat floor is because the car body is sitting on top of the frame From the late 50s on you sit between the frame rails Checker motor corp. Survived until I believe 2008 stamping hoods and fenders for general motors
Thank you, I am old enough to remember these. Today's $2 idea, although GM seems to be heading the way of Sears WHY can they start a FLEET division? pick a model: taxi cab, police car, delivery van, postal truck. Keep it the same for 10 years - interchangeable parts. Reimagine a 50s Chevy or Cadillac (taxi), 68 Chevy Van G10 (mail truck/postal truck) with today's underpinnings
reminds me of the one in scrooged ,with bill Murray ... in the70 80 that was NYC Spirit...when i went the first time many years after they were all replaced with modern ones crown lincoln whatever 🙁.
Great video Bob, very informative and interesting. 👍 Speaking on those that were probably conceived, or were born in a Checker Cab, I’m sure there was probably a lot of people that unfortunately also died in those cabs.
My first car back in high school was a 79 checker marathon I bought it for 700 bucks in 1983 it was one of the last checker that was in service in DesMoines Iowa I was young dumb and stupid so I beat the shit out of it if I had only known then what I know now I would have bubble wrapped it until I realized exactly what I had. I miss that car
I saw one in person once in Houston 20 years ago, thought maybe it was the same one but looked at the picture I took and was not. They are very cool cars for sure and sad so few are left. Interestingly, a friend of mine bought the blue Checker you had here in DFW for parts car. I saw it at his shop and recall seeing it in some of your video backgrounds. Anyway, the Checker cars are kind of like the MV1 of the 2010s that look kind of like a Honda Pilot, but made by AM General. Same idea, but they were more designed for handicap vehicles and not Taxi use, but some were made that way.
I’d love to get picked up in one of those. I was born in Chicago and we had yellow cabs everywhere but I maybe saw 3-4 of those tops and always thought that was like a luxury taxi that only the rich Gold Coast people could afford lol
It's sad that New York created livery laws that led to the demise of so many of these cars. They were as you said, literally a symbol of New York City... They could easily exist today, but for regulations.
I have two die cast cars in 1 : 43 and 1 : 87 . I saw a video from New York in the 70s posted here on TH-cam and I don’t saw any Checker cabs on the street I saw other cars as cab. Yeah I know this cars from movies. I think Checker makes advertising in the movies. To be honest I love this cars . In Germany where I live is not allowed to drive with the shield uncovered
i remember one cold winter my aunt and i got into a cab and went maybe and if maybeee a block and a half. all of a sudden she crack open a hamms beer in the back seat and the cab driver pulled over and ripped our asses out back in the freezing cold its still in my memory like it was yesterday. she had a tendencie of packing minimum a sixer in her purse and sometimes also 1 or 2 beers each extra in her coat. 32 years ago now and i sometimes think about it and laugh..
The intro should have been "Angela" by Bob James with you just driving down the road. that is if it wouldn't hit a copyright match and get you a strike
you kinda worried me a little with the circles or donuts towards the end of your video, i have bad luck... my luck would be right before the sellers came i broke something by mistake and yeah its happend before hahaha
I had a chance once to buy a '73 Checker Aerobus(this was the 6 door version designed as an airport shuttle vehicle) but I just couldn't get over how big it was and how I could ever fit it into my garage. As such, I passed on it.
Hey Bob, watching from, Alberta ,Canada. I've been a fan and a subscriber for years. I can see and hear it in your voice how passionate and how you will truly miss this car. Whomever the new owner will be is getting an iconic vehicle from VideoBob!! That in itself is an added bonus!!!
I learned from my dad how tip😉
Thank you so much!!!
Early 60’s a couple in our neighborhood bought a brand new Checker passenger car. The owner took
us to visit New York via the famous Merrit Parkway. Best ride of my youth.
From the Bronx bucket list to own one of those checker cap taxi, the classics there’s a company in New York City, where you can rent it if you’re getting married or special occasion comes with the driver I think they’re popular in the state of New Jersey too✌🏼
Love it! Reminds me of the movie "DC Cab" one of my favs 🤘
So many ppl have never seen this cab. I use too always ask my dad to flag the “bubble cab” bcz I loved those 2 round seats, perfect for a 3yr old. Of course that was back in the day where safety was an option.
Thank you showing us!
I could only imagine someone across the street watching you make this video and being like " there goes that weird bald guy that wears the same clothes every day driving a taxi cab in circles" 😂
Now that's funny !
The guy across the street is building the new gate.
@@RobertMoseley Good gates makes good neighbours... Or is that walls? Fantastic as always!!! Bob is the coolest guy in USA ...
Just make sure that your neighbor isn't bill gates.
I can remember these in Pittsburgh as a kid in the 70s.
The few with a/c had a sticker on the side window promoting it & the only ones with the windows up in the summer!!
We always took the bus & I don't remember any A/C on them !!!
Thanks for the Video and a 50yr old trip down memorie lane😊😅😅
yep I remember riding in one of the checker cabs back in the day. kinda cool ride if you ask me. glad I got to ride in one of those anyways. dude out of your 25 cars you have this checker is one of the ones I would definitely keep. Thanks for sharing
Beautiful cab.
I always drive American vehicles, i own a 2002 Ford Ranger supercab with 158,000 miles and it still going.
Joe Pollard was a close family friend. My father and I worked on all of his cars. I remember working on this one. Joe and Dan are dearly missed.
My uncle drove a taxi years ago and he bought every 11 and 12 he could, i still have 6 11's that run and drive and many that don't, and I have so many parts it's insane. And I have three limos. Or aurobuses. Whatever you wanna call em lol. I wish someone would buy it all i have been looking at it for 40 years
I just want a checker. Maybe the one with the Perkins in it.
Cant believe how knowledgeable this guy is about cars, i love learning things from his videos. The guy up the street from me has two of them. i remember seeing that car in Ghostbusters where the skeleton ghost was driving it. seeing it in the movie scooged, definitely an iconic car for the 50s 60s 70s & 80s their used to be a show on HBO called taxi cab confessions the stores that people told was unbeievable. this would be a great idea for a uber car or maybe use it as a prank and see what people reactions would be, if they ordered an uber or lyft and they get picked up in a classic checker cab.
I remember riding in these as a child in nyc. So much back room i remember sitting in that jump seat as a child. Basically they were meant for the kids. Amazed how it folded out. Who knows if nowadays its even legal to have such a seat without belts.
love the video, im a car guy but I humbly admit i didnt know that much about the Checker cabs, Thank you
I’m not gonna lie, when I did Uber overnight, I would play the theme of Taxi (Angela’s theme) at four in the morning near downtown Dallas, and pretend I was driving one of those cars.
I grew up in NYC and I remember riding in these. They used to put kids in the jump seats so the adults could sit on the rear bench. I miss them so much!!! It was a shame they stopped making these and watching how they faded from city streets .
Interesting note about that checker cab my father built that car back in 81. Father worked for Marathon motor company last five years it remained open in Kalamazoo Michigan. When Marathon close their doors for the last time my father went to Studebaker in South bend Indiana and they brought back the Studebaker Avanti line for a short time in the mid-80s. And when that was over him and his two older brothers went together and opened up a diecast machine repair plant which is still in business to this day in paw paw Michigan.😉
As a child growing up in NYC, I recall the small seats (I loved sitting on them) But I never remember them with backrests. AND YES, you can cross state lines with these cabs. (Must be pre arranged fare, no meter. My family took a cab from Queens to Great Adventure NJ in a Checker Taxi Cab
I like it! I actually worked at a Checker dealer in Brookline, Massachusetts, back in the late 60s/early 70s, first in the parts department, then in sales support.
Too funny...yes, when you brought up the subject, I was indeed typing in the comments that the rear fenders are off a Checker Aerobus. What a Checker geek I am.
*I was conceived in the backseat of a Checker A-11!*
Ya BaBy...
All you need now is Danny DeVito 😁👍🏻
I remember being a little pre-schooler, my mom and I took a cab from her job to home and it was a Checker. This was in Los Angeles. Before I was in Kindergarten, I knew I was going to be a cuckoo car lover cause my parents drove nice cars.
You're a good man Mr Moseley! Excellent video. 👍👍👍👍👍
Remember the TV show Taxi I rode in them when I was growing up in the Chicago in the 1970 s they were built in Kalamazoo Michigan
I've always wanted to own a marathon car that was built in Kalamazoo Mi.❤❤❤ it would be cool to uber in that taxi and I think people would be excited to me pickup in one. THANK YOU for sharing Bob.
Damn Bob thats a keeper
that’s one cool classic cab, reminds me of retro tv show Taxi 😎
yes I am sure glad I got to ride one as a kid !
In Ft . Lauderdale I drove for Broward Checker Cab Co . for 5 years ,Early 1970 s ! We had Ford LTDs and Plymouth Fury 3s ! Many Stories !
Judd Hirsch would feel right at home in that car.
My father in law has a 55' Chevrolet Bel Air that has been turned into a cop car, and it's a blast to go cruising in. 🚓💨💨
We have similar in the UK , sstarted out in the 60's as the Austin FX4 Right up to the 90's then became LTi ( LONDON tAXI iNTERNATIONAL ) and became the TX1 then a few modifactions to TX2 to 4 .THE early ones used a perkins diesel then the TX's used Ford and Nissan diesels before the final batch in the late naugtie...( up to 2015 ) used an Italian engine....now the company is known as Levtec and makes Electric Taxis to a similar design
The last NYC Checker was decommissioned in the fall of 1999, with just about a million miles on it.
It's crazy that the 1982 looks exactly the same. Could be a cool Uber vehicle. . Thanks Bob.
They kind of look like a 55 chev a checker gasser would be cool
As someone who is only 25 years old at this time. I would love to ride in this.
So 😎😎😎 thanks for filming before she goes to it's new owners. The stories that could be told !!! Amazing!!
May 26th. Four o'clock p.m. I took Betsy to Charles Coffee Shop on Columbus Circle. I had black coffee and apple pie with a slice of melted yellow cheese. I think that was a good selection. Betsy had coffee and a fruit salad dish. She could have had anything she wanted.
I'm thinking of tv show taxi. tough vehicles. st charles mo yellow cab used those cabs in 1980s like them I've rode in them a lot.
I got one in 1977 for $300, drove it for 6 months but sold it because many times when I went to a store and went come out to go home there's were people sitting on the back seat waiting for me thinking I was a real taxi ( and many times I took them where they wanted to go) the only thing I did like was the police would leave me alone even when not stopping completely at a stop
Nice review! I managed to find one of these Marathons from Maryland and imported it to Finland. Soon starting a project to get it back on the road (lot's of welding) 😘
Great video, Bob. Back in the NY groove
I’m a huge fan of older cars! I would have thought it was cool
I got to ride in them in Chicago. Rode in the jump seats as a child. You could get 6 in the back and all of their luggage in the trunk. The Chevys were too small.
I did once . That car isn’t a car , ITS A TANK !
But New Yorks roads aren’t friendly either .
Used to ride 1 to school in Cincinnati, Ohio. Their's were bright blue.
Covington, Kentucky had lime green 1s.
I loved these tanks.
BEAUTIFUL classic Americana...
Awesome video Man!!! I'm a Checker fan now for sure... should've never sold that car ..this was Awesome Video Bob..thanks
Absolutely beautiful
Best uber vehicle ever
That wagon is badass !! I’ve seen these as limousines also what a great ride ! Keep talking your self out of selling it! Don’t do it BOB!!!! 🤤✌️😎🇺🇸
Great video Bob. I saw this cab at Joe Pollards many years ago. Those rear fenders are off of an Aerobus, not the 4 door wagon.
Thanks for the ride. Put it on my account. Happy New Year!
Some of them had a partician in between the driver and the back seat for driving through the Bad areas like Harlem the Bronx and Brooklyn...
Iconic car
Wow so cool 😮
I’ve always wanted to ride in one of these
Definitely fun to ride in. Working AC? no complaints from me!
It was not unusual to see a Checker with a million miles.
The reason it has such a flat floor is because the car body is sitting on top of the frame
From the late 50s on you sit between the frame rails
Checker motor corp. Survived until I believe 2008 stamping hoods and fenders for general motors
Thank you, I am old enough to remember these. Today's $2 idea, although GM seems to be heading the way of Sears WHY can they start a FLEET division? pick a model: taxi cab, police car, delivery van, postal truck. Keep it the same for 10 years - interchangeable parts. Reimagine a 50s Chevy or Cadillac (taxi), 68 Chevy Van G10 (mail truck/postal truck) with today's underpinnings
A neighbor friends dad in Brooklyn drove one, sat in that jump seat often it was humongous! for a 10 year old lol
Id buy it if it’s as nice in person as it looks on video They just seem cool and have great history
reminds me of the one in scrooged ,with bill Murray ... in the70 80 that was NYC Spirit...when i went the first time many years after they were all replaced with modern ones crown lincoln whatever 🙁.
Great video Bob, very informative and interesting. 👍 Speaking on those that were probably conceived, or were born in a Checker Cab, I’m sure there was probably a lot of people that unfortunately also died in those cabs.
My first car back in high school was a 79 checker marathon I bought it for 700 bucks in 1983 it was one of the last checker that was in service in DesMoines Iowa I was young dumb and stupid so I beat the shit out of it if I had only known then what I know now I would have bubble wrapped it until I realized exactly what I had. I miss that car
WOW!!! John Constantine's Taxi. 😮
I saw one in person once in Houston 20 years ago, thought maybe it was the same one but looked at the picture I took and was not. They are very cool cars for sure and sad so few are left. Interestingly, a friend of mine bought the blue Checker you had here in DFW for parts car. I saw it at his shop and recall seeing it in some of your video backgrounds. Anyway, the Checker cars are kind of like the MV1 of the 2010s that look kind of like a Honda Pilot, but made by AM General. Same idea, but they were more designed for handicap vehicles and not Taxi use, but some were made that way.
Love your videos!
Thanks for mentioning Armenians VideoBob! If you are ever in Burbank, let me treat you out to some good Armenian Food!
Im from kalamazoo!!
I Have Learned More About America From Riding In Taxi Cabs Than In All The Limos In The Country.
I’d love to get picked up in one of those. I was born in Chicago and we had yellow cabs everywhere but I maybe saw 3-4 of those tops and always thought that was like a luxury taxi that only the rich Gold Coast people could afford lol
It's sad that New York created livery laws that led to the demise of so many of these cars. They were as you said, literally a symbol of New York City... They could easily exist today, but for regulations.
What a great car - Hope you got a ton of money for it - It’s worth it. I wouldn’t be selling it -
I have two die cast cars in 1 : 43 and 1 : 87 . I saw a video from New York in the 70s posted here on TH-cam and I don’t saw any Checker cabs on the street I saw other cars as cab. Yeah I know this cars from movies. I think Checker makes advertising in the movies. To be honest I love this cars . In Germany where I live is not allowed to drive with the shield uncovered
That would be cool if that showed up for your cab ride 😊
Too cool!
Thank you Bob please give an update on Eric's Porsche
Whoah!!! Amazing
Beautiful car
i remember one cold winter my aunt and i got into a cab and went maybe and if maybeee a block and a half. all of a sudden she crack open a hamms beer in the back seat and the cab driver pulled over and ripped our asses out back in the freezing cold its still in my memory like it was yesterday. she had a tendencie of packing minimum a sixer in her purse and sometimes also 1 or 2 beers each extra in her coat. 32 years ago now and i sometimes think about it and laugh..
Awesome
Hey was that in Bill Murray Christmas movie???
Cabbies and passengers luv it due to it spacious size
Whooooooooooooaaa super Sweet!!!!
I remember riding in thoes in the yearly 80"s
Pretty Cool Video!
What did Checker Cab and Chevrolet have in common? I have heard about the corvette emblem and checker emblem.
The intro should have been "Angela" by Bob James with you just driving down the road. that is if it wouldn't hit a copyright match and get you a strike
What happened to your 2002? El Dorado
Pick me up in that at the Vegas airport on Thursday night ??
I need a chauffeur…………
I'm surprised you didn't get pulled over by the cops for driving around with no plates lol, nice piece of Americana 👍
8:00 Some day a real rain will come and wash the scum off the streets. 😉
T. Bickel.
Hope you made a profit selling it.
I have one with 8500 original miles on it. Any idea what it’s worth show room condition
Alot came with chevy motors and trans.
What is with the fenders they are not right?
You either commented before watching the video, or you weren’t paying attention. 😁
you kinda worried me a little with the circles or donuts towards the end of your video, i have bad luck... my luck would be right before the sellers came i broke something by mistake and yeah its happend before hahaha
Looks like a new York upstate cabbue
Scrooged! lol
Cool car. Id ride in it!
My first wife's father drove a checker taxi, I rode in one once it just wasnt her fathers