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A fleet of Checker cab hire cars brings a touch of New York to Melbourne streetsActor Robert de Niro first came into prominence in one, and they have been a familiar part of the New York streetscape since the 1920s, but in Australia the Checker cab has tended to rate second to the London cab as an easily recognised icon.
However with a fleet of four classic 1960s "Checkers" recently arriving to join the for-hire business in Melbourne, the bright yellow, purpose-built cabs are about to become a lot more familiar.
It all started with a search for just one car. Fleet operator John Bell thought "it would be nice to find and import one," but in doing so he lit a fuse that continues to burn.
The initial Checker came from a private collector and John Bell said "It was in reasonable condition for its age, some 35 years old."
It went into restoration in 2010 and has since been followed by four more. All cars are "painstakingly" restored and include all the features that identified the Checker: A limo-size rear seat, checker stripes, air conditioning, roof light and flag fall meter are all part of the package.
American Checker fans have become aware of the Melbourne interest: "We are now starting to build a reputation and have Checker owners approaching us," Bell said. "We were contacted by a collector in Nashville who is the owner of Sun Records, where Elvis first recorded, stating he had a Checker Marathon for sale – a unique model called A12E, which is a nine-seater. He purchased it new in 1981 and said he would love to see it go to a caring home, so we bought it."
Of the five Checker cabs, four are now in service with one still under restoration. Bell has plans for more. He is looking to secure an even rarer model, a 12-seat "Aerobus," in the near future.
Checker cabs were produced by the Checker Motors Corporation in Kalamazoo, Michigan, between 1924 and 1982. The most familiar model was the A11 Marathon built between 1956 and 1982 that featured in the 1976 film Taxi Driver starring a fresh-faced Robert de Niro.
The Melbourne Checker cab fleet is the only active one in the country and is available for hire in all sorts of guises, from "transporting guests to showcasing at events."
The Checker cabs will vie for attention with the London Taxi Company Australia that has a fleet of current-generation London taxis in Perth, and instituted an evaluation programme in Melbourne in August this year.
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Written byCarsales Staff
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