An American icon slowly faded away
I just meant the front end grille/headlight arrangement .......from far maybe. :tongue3:
the side view does not look anything like each other ....the checker was flat sided, plain and mostly boring.
The 58 chevy is a true work of art.
I should have clarified
The front doesn't look the same, either, Rani. But, the headlights might have the same bezels.
The idea of the Checker was to build a spacious interior, with a flat floor, tons of leg room, with room for jump seats. It's purpose was to be a people mover.. It made for the perfect taxi.
The car sat on top of a full frame. High enough, in that there was no need for a drive shaft tunnel in the floor. Asa result, the floor was almost completely flat.
The seat was place in a position to the rear so that it did not encroach into the rear door opening. This allowed for an extraordinary amount of rear leg room, and the option for jump seats.
Further, many times, if you were carrying luggage it wasn't even necessary to put it in the trunk, as you can easily place it behind the front seat, and still have enough room in the back seat to stretch out comfortably.
It also had a VERY roomy trunk space.
The body styling was very utilitarian. It was designed to maximize interior space, legroom, shoulder room, headroom, etc. and it did just that. There weren't many changes to the body style, though this facilitated easy body maintenance over the years, and no need for retooling at the plant. There were some bumper restyles, though.
There were also a number of different engines used. The one I had had a Chevy 283 V8 in it.
There was also an 80 hp 226 cu.in. straight 6, wit a 122 option on the same engine. later in 1963 the std. engine remained at 80 hp, but the opt was upped to 141 hp.
In 1965 the std 6 cyl. engine went to 140 HP, and 2 V8's were added. Both were Chevy engines. the 283 with 195 hp. and the 237 with 250 hp.
In 67 the 283 was dropped,
1968 saw the 230 6 cyl at 140 hp, the addition of a Chevy 307 @ 200 hp, and the 327 @ 275 hp.
1969 saw the 6 cyl. upped in power to 155 hp, the return of the 327 @ 235 hp, and the addition of a Chevy 350, in lieu of the 327. The 350 was rated at 300 hp.
There were many other engine changes between 1970 and 1982finally ending up with a 229 V6 @ 110 hp. and V8's at 267 cubes with 115hp, and a 350 @ 105 hp.
Most cars were manual, but an automatic was available at extra cost $248.00 for the 3 speed auto, and an extra $108.00 if you wanted over drive.
Production #'s were pretty low, too... for example...
Including taxis
1960 - 6980 units.
1961- 5683
1962 - 8173
1963 - 7050
1964 - 6310
1965 - 6136
1966 - 5761
1967 - 5822
1968 - 5477
1969 - 5417
1970 - 397
1971 - 600
1972 - 850
1973 - 900
1974 - 950
1975 - 450
1976 - 400
1977 - 300
1978 - 300
1979 - 200
1980 - 250
1981 - 2950
1982 - 2000
Obviously the 11 model years from 197 to 1980 being the most collectible due to very low production numbers with the 1979 model being the lowest production year.
They were, probably, the best suited vehicle ever built to be a taxi. That was their purpose.
