Checker Marathon History

The Checker Marathon arrived for 1961 as the civilian, better-trimmed companion to Checker's A11 taxicab, both sharing the same body and chassis. It replaced and built on the short-lived Superba, and it is the car most people picture when they think 'Checker': a tall, slab-sided, upright sedan with a huge interior, jump seats, and a reputation for taking enormous abuse in fleet service.

Its defining trait was how little it changed. The basic body, styled in the late 1950s, ran essentially unaltered for more than twenty years while the rest of the American industry restyled almost annually. Mechanically it leaned on Chevrolet: Checker dropped its old Continental six in favor of Chevrolet inline-sixes and small-block V8s (including the 283, 327, and 350), so a Marathon could be serviced with off-the-shelf GM parts anywhere. Station-wagon and long-wheelbase limousine variants were offered, with the wagons dropped during the 1970s.

By the early 1980s the antiquated, low-volume design could no longer meet tightening emissions and fuel-economy standards economically. The final Checker — a green-and-ivory Chicago-bound taxi — rolled off the Kalamazoo line on July 12, 1982, ending the Marathon and Checker's car production. The Kalamazoo plant continued as an automotive parts subcontractor until the company went out of business in 2009.