Checker Thursday Finale: Vintage Checker Ads

Paul Niedermeyer
by Paul Niedermeyer

Someone has posted a treasure trove of Checker photos at Flickr, and I’ve pulled a few of the ads to share (thanks, whoever you are!) because they’re irresistible. Checker obviously couldn’t afford the big agencies and ad campaigns, but their quaint and home-baked ads are as compelling in telling the Checker story as the cars themselves.

Checkers were valued not just in the US, but were exported successfully for their rugged service and longevity. Those were the days, when American-built products still had the reputation of being exceptionally well made.

As we mentioned in our CC, Checker made the decision to sell their cars for retail customers beginning in 1959, and I vividly remember some of the ads extolling their virtues.

In 1962, Checker was celebrating its fortieth anniversary.

I don’t know how many dealers signed up at the NADA convention, but the “high gross (margin)” line probably didn’t hurt.

The Checker wagon could swallow 4×8 sheet goods as readily as haul the cake to a picnic.

In a stark sign of the times, in 1971 Checker offered the first bullet-proof taxi partition (“costs less than a nickle a day…pretty cheap when you consider it’s your life we’re trying to save”)

Paul Niedermeyer
Paul Niedermeyer

More by Paul Niedermeyer

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 15 comments
  • DweezilSFV DweezilSFV on Apr 16, 2010

    Love these ads. When I was a kid I sent away for their brochures.They were just so strange and retro for the time. Like something still being built from the 50s. Eggsalad> I used to see cars retrofitted with the water bumpers in the late 60s. Someone in the town where I was living in Utah had a couple of his cars converted to them and was part of a franchise that was promoting them. The car I remember best was a 67 Ford LTD. This is some aftermarket addition the cab company made I suspect, not factory. The 73s have similar bumpers as the former models, but more stout and suspended away from the body. They look awful, BTW. Check Google images. They look like they're simply hung onto a frame

  • Steve W. Crowell Steve W. Crowell on May 29, 2012

    I have always had a sneaking suspicion that the reason Checker closed its' factory was because of litigation involving the partition. There are two problems with "bullet-resistant" partitions. First, they never keep the driver from being shot... easily through the side window. Second, in collisions - people are injured and killed hitting illegal partition features. I admire Checker for everything they did except their overestimation of what a partition can do in an assault and underestimation of the need for safety law compliance. Shortly after Checker closed I innovated the partition design so that it moves with the seat, its' angled to eliminate reflections, no window edge, no coin tray protrusion. It is the only partition ever certified to comply with applicable federal standards. Bring back the Checker, without a partition.

  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
Next