Checker

On June 18, 1923, the first Checker rolled off the line in Kalamazoo, Michigan—the starting point of a true urban taxi legend.

From Smolensk to Chicago Checker Cab Manufacturing Company’s founder, Morris Markin, was born in Smolensk, started working at age 12, and emigrated to the U.S. at 19. In Chicago he opened a tailor’s shop, then, managing a taxi fleet and an auto body shop in Joliet, stepped deeper into the auto industry. In 1921, after lending $15,000 to the struggling Commonwealth Motor Company, Markin ultimately absorbed it into his enterprise and focused production entirely on taxis. Checker Cab Manufacturing was born—its name inherited from the Chicago cab company that had commissioned the cars.

A growth surge By late 1922, the Joliet plant was building over 100 cars a month, and roughly 600 Checkers were already on the streets of New York. To scale up, Markin moved production to Kalamazoo, taking over former Handley‑Knight and Dort Body Plant buildings. The first shipment from Kalamazoo is dated June 18, 1923; the company employed about 700 people.

Trials and relaunches During the Great Depression, Markin briefly sold the company, bought it back in 1936, and diversified by making components for other automakers. World War II brought a switch to war materiel. In the late 1950s, Checker entered the passenger‑car market with the Superba and Marathon. Peak output came in 1962—8,173 vehicles, the vast majority taxis.

Twilight and legacy In the 1970s, amid economic headwinds and rising fuel prices, fleets shifted to smaller, more efficient passenger cars—the heavy, gas‑hungry 4,000‑pound Checker became an anachronism. After Morris Markin’s death in 1970, his son David announced in April 1982 that production would end that summer; the last Checker left the Kalamazoo line on July 12, 1982. The company continued to own the Yellow and Checker fleets in Chicago and supplied parts to other automakers, including General Motors.

Today, the Checker name stands as a symbol of the American city—durability, utility, and a silhouette instantly recognized in photos and collections.