steampunkvehicles:

fromcruise-instoconcours:

The Checker Marathon was a staple of city streets for decades

The classic Checker Cab was designed in 1958 and manufactured
unchanged until 1982.  That meant that a cab company could keep parts on hand that would fit any of their cars that were made in the last 30 years.  That’s why they are so ubiquitous in movies.

It’s
actually longer than a four-door, with extra leg room and jump seats on
the back of the front seats.  The floor was totally flat- no
transmission tunnel- and five passengers could fit in the back seat
alone.  The side glass is flat and rolls all the way down.  The B and C
pillars are vertical, and there’s no dogleg cutout in the rear door for
the wheel well.  There was a civilian edition, the Marathon, and luxury
limo versions.  The interior was sourced from Studebaker, the engine was
a Continental, the suspension was from Ford, and the transmission was a
Bendix.

The last NYC cabbie with a Checker retired it (due to a worn-out frame) in 1999.