King of Cabs.(Escape Roads)

Byline: NICK KURCZEWSKI

The Checker cab-an exemplar of four-wheeled Americana-owes its existence to Russian emigrant Morris Markin. Born in Smolensk in 1893, Markin immigrated to the United States in his late teens. He settled in Chicago and amassed a small fortune, first as a tailor and then as owner of a clothing company. After acquiring the financially troubled Commonwealth Motors as repayment of a debt in 1921, Markin soon bought several other automobile-related companies. By 1922, with the Hadley-Knight chassis plant and the Dort bodyworks in hand, Checker Cab Manufacturing Co. was formed and began production in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

The name Checker arose from a consortium of Chicago cab drivers who, in the early 1920s, were using a variety of car models as taxis. Markin applied the name to his new company and began both building cabs and operating taxi fleets, which guaranteed him a steady market for his own product.

By the mid-1950s the tank-like profile of the Checker A8 taxicab-forerunner to the Marathon-was a common sight on the streets of American cities. It became particularly synonymous with New York, the largest taxi market in the country and vitally important to Checker's success. However, legal troubles, contract disputes and fierce competition in the taxicab market from the Big Three began to put the pinch on Checker in the 1960s. After Markin's death in 1970 the company spiraled downward, with dwindling sales, lack of development dollars, and a reputation for poor quality.

One of the last Checkers to roll out of Kalamazoo was this 1982 Marathon. The car initially did duty in the Windy City, and still bears its Chicago cab green and cream colors. It has a Chevrolet 350-cid V8 of unknown vintage underhood- originally it ran on propane. For many Checker owners now, originality takes a back seat to keeping the cars on the road.

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