How the industriousness of a destitute Russian immigrant drove America’s most famous taxi.

 FOR every Louis Chevrolet, Horace Dodge, David Buick, or Henry Ford there are a dozen automotive innovators and pioneers whose obscurity is astounding, especially considering their many contributions.

Looming large in the pantheon of forgotten innovators is Morris Markin, a Russian immigrant who created an American icon. His story as well as that of the cars his company built are one of the most enigmatic in the history of the American automobile industry.

The legend of Checker begins in the post WWI economic recession that decimated the auto industry. The owner of Lomberg Auto Body Manufacturing in Joliet, Illinois, had overextended himself with diversification into the manufacturing of taxi bodies for Commonwealth Motors, a company that sold the completed taxis under the Mogul name. In need of capital, he turned to a successful Chicago businessman and friend, Morris Markin, who provided $US15,000 in exchange for an interest in the company.

That is the first mystery. Markin had arrived in America as a destitute Russian immigrant less than a decade before. He had found employment with an uncle who was a tailor in Chicago. Together they had built a profitable company. Still, how is possible that Markin had this amount of money to invest in a struggling auto body manufacturing company?

The influx of capital provided by Markin offered but a brief respite. The difficult economic times and a marked decline in sales as well as the rising costs for raw materials crippled Lomberg Auto Body. To recoup his investment Markin assumed controlling interest in the company and reorganized it as Markin Auto Body Corporation. Still, the company’s primary customer Commonwealth Motors was on the cusp of imminent financial collapse. They were unable to pay for a shipment of taxi bodies already delivered which in turn pushed Markin to the brink of bankruptcy.  

An order for a fleet of Mogul taxis by the Checker Taxi Company of Chicago, a consortium of independent operators offered a ray of hope. However, before production could be initiated demand for payment by suppliers and other creditors forced Commonwealth Motors to enter bankruptcy.

In a deft and complex move, Markin utilized the assets of Markin Auto Body and the pending order by Checker to secure adequate financing for the purchase of Commonwealth Motors from the bankruptcy trustees in October 1921. Then in May of the following year he reorganized the companies as the Checker Cab Manufacturing Company.  

Fast forward six decades. On July 12, 1982, the last Checker rolled from the factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan and vehicles produced by the most independent of the independent manufacturers became another orphan. This is the beginning and the end of the story. In between are sixty years of fascinating vehicles, innovation, and a dizzying number of unanswered questions.

Did Checker ever build something other than taxis during the company’s infancy? That is the unanswered question behind a 1925 advertisement in the Automobile Blue Book, a leading route guide of the period. The text of the promotional piece reads, “A car must be sturdy, long-lived, economical on upkeep and performance, also easy riding to do Blue Book road drafting all over the country and the Checkers are giving satisfaction.”

The illustration is of a Checker roadster with, “Automobile Blue Books Official Car” lettered on the side. This a car that that the company never officially produced. Were they built as a special-order project? This vehicle may have been the first manifestation of the company’s development of niche market vehicles that became a hallmark of Checker.

Another enigmatic chapter would be the production of trucks. The company did produce a limited number of stake bed trucks utilizing the standard chassis of the Model M that had been introduced in 1930 as well as sheet metal from the front doors forward. The question, however, is how many of the trucks were manufactured and in what years. There are vague hints that some trucks were also built on the platform of the Model M replacement, models T, K and L.

Another intriguing vehicle is the MU6 Suburban Utility introduced in June 1931. This may have been the ultimate utility vehicles of the era. In long wheelbase configuration, advertisement proclaimed the vehicle was a nine passenger, one-ton station wagon that quickly converted to a package car or hearse! Do any of these survive?

The Model A taxi introduced in 1940 was revolutionary and fascinating. Its retractable rear roof section was patented as were more than 18 other components. The cars styling that was crafted by Raymond Dietrich ensured that the vehicle would never be mistaken for anything else on the road.

The company is best known for its taxis. But Checker was involved in array of intriguing projects. As an example, working with American Bantam to create a light duty, all terrain scout car prototype for United States Army testing the company developed a four-wheel drive, four-wheel steering vehicle in 1940. An existent model is on display at the Gilmore Museum in Hickory Corners, Michigan.

In preparation for the post war market, Checker developed several prototype taxis with front wheel drive and a transverse mounted engine in 1946. In the mid-1950s the company developed and tested taxis with diesel engines. In the late 1960s the company offered as an option, Perkins diesel engines.

Taxis, and intriguing niche market vehicles, are all a part of the fascinating Checker story. But so is the question riddled story of Markin’s attempts to buy out John Hertz’s Yellow Cab Manufacturing Company, and what led Hertz to sell to General Motors. Another intriguing story is the intertwined relationship with E.L. Cord that led to an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The rarity of pre 1958 Checker vehicles has contributed to the company’s obscurity, and to the mystique. Underlying the scarcity of early model Checker built vehicles is Markin’s unique business model.

Beginning in the mid-1930s, Markin began accepting used taxis as trade ins. These were refurbished and then sold to overseas customers in Turkey, Tahiti, Scandinavian countries, and in Africa. Recently two exceedingly rare 1950 Model A4 Checkers were discovered in a Norwegian farm field.

Checker is truly an American icon. It was the ultimate independent auto manufacturer. And the cars that have survived are treasured by their owners.

Written by Jim Hinckley of jimhinckleys