Overview: Founded, quite by chance by a union of a small car company and a body manufacturer, Checker had been building cars since the early 1920's. Checker introduced the Marathon in 1960 and a few years later released a larger more upscale version called the Superba. Eventually many of the creature comforts of the Supurba were made available in the Marathon in a special version called the Marathon Custom. There are many reasons why the Checker Marathon was so popular as a livery vehicle with taxi companies. The first of which being its size and high roof. The Checker Marathon was large enough to comfortably seat 5 adults in the back and 3 up front. This made it perfect for Taxi duties where carrying more people and their luggage means more money and profits. Second, Despite Checker Motors and GM being separate companies, the Marathon shared many components with similar Chevy models. This meant it was easy and cheap to repair and maintain. The third and most interesting reason why the Marathon was so loved by Taxi companies is that throughout its 21 year production run, the Marathon did not change very much. The formula of Large Car, Large Trunk, Large Engine worked for 21 years until the last Checker Marathon was built in 1982. Having so many cars on the road that are interchangeable with one another is a huge bonus.

 

It could be argued the Checker Marathon is the spiritual grandfather to later large sedans which took over the Taxicab market such as the Chevrolet Caprice and the Ford Crown Victoria.

 

 

 

Driving Experience: Because of the similarities with GM under the hood, many didn't find them difficult to drive. The Marathon was slightly wider because of the extra space but veteran Taxi drivers were easily able to compensate.

 

 

 

The Checker Marathon appeared in many movies and TV shows for decades, it was a major focus point in the 1983 movie D.C. Cab where a young man helps save a cab company owned by his fathers army buddy. (Good movie, Rated R for brief nude scene)