Checker Taxis Returning as Pickup Trucks …What?

Checker, a brand that was once synonymous with taxicabs, will reportedly be returning to production for the first time since 1982. Only the nameplate’s current owner (Checker Motor Cars in Haverhill, Massachusetts) is updating the iconic vehicle as, of all things, a sport-pickup crossover vehicle. Not exactly the second coming of the legendary Chevrolet El Camino, it will essentially be an iconic Checker sedan with a sport pick-up body grafted behind the seats. “We’re not trying to bring back the taxi,” says company owner Steve Contarino, quoted in Hemmings Motor News. “Instead, we want to bring back nostalgia is a useable form.” Also in the works is an extended Aerobus VI model (based on the original Checker Aerobus, which was a really long eight-door livery vehicle), which the company says will offer no less than four rows of seats accessed via four standard doors and another two rearward access doors like those used in extended-cab pickups. Production of both models could commence as early as fall, 2018.