What would an eccentric but status-conscious weirdo drive in 1964? The ad seen here proffers one option, albeit a dubious one. And while the Checker advertisement features (from left to right) the silhouettes of a Rolls-Royce, a Bentley, and a Mercedes-Benz running along the top of the page, the producers of the Checker Marathon proposed an alternative to those vehicles: The Checker Marathon.
1964 Checker Marathon
At this point, you may be confused. There’s a good chance that you’ve never heard of the Checker Marathon, and if you have, there’s a good chance you didn’t know that real people—as opposed to taxi companies—purchased the Marathon.
But real people did purchase Marathons, though not very many of them. The once legendary purveyor of tough, reliable, and incredibly roomy cabs, Checker periodically attempted to make their fleet vehicles palatable to the masses. The response was generally poor.
History
For those not in the know, the Marathon, a large, ugly, and seriously robust sedan purpose built for taxi-cab service, was manufactured between 1961 and 1982. The cabs featured huge trunks, reliable off-the-shelf engines and transmissions, and seating for eight people. Really, eight people.
Generous bench seats in the first and second rows accommodated three people each, while a pair of odd, diner-counter looking seats made up what was ostensibly a middle seating row. The middle seats would disappear from the Marathon when seatbelt laws kicked in.
From 1956 to 1963, the Marathon was offered in a special consumer friendly trim level called Superba. The Superba featured a nicer interior than the work-a-day Marathon, as well as unique exterior trim. A wagon version of the Superba was briefly offered. Unpopular with the general population, the wagon found use as a stretch limousine, generally employed by hotels for airport runs.
Specs
By 1964, the Marathon featured either a Chevrolet 6-cylinder or V8 engine, fitted to either a 3-speed column-shift manual, or 3-speed automatic transmission. The automatic was also a General Motors unit. As the Marathon had a reputation for regularly running 500,000 miles before decommissioning, the use of simple and affordable drivetrain parts was a plus for operators.
Looking back for consumer-oriented ads for the Marathon, one gets the feeling that the company only attempted to sell a few cars to regular consumers when the board felt they needed to goose profits a bit.
Pros and Cons
One problem with the Marathon was that over its lifespan, the car’s exterior was only tweaked gently, and then only rarely. Launched in 1956, the car looked old from day one, and aged poorly after that. While the distinct ugly dullness of the cab worked in the favor of taxi fleets—the car, especially in yellow, was easily recognized at great distances—it’s overall looks were Kryptonite to regular consumers. Recall, too, that some of the best-looking American cars ever built were rolled out in the Sixties.
Couple the Marathon’s dull exterior with an interior designed to endure Steamer trunks, agitated drunks, and vomit, and you have a car that was virtually unsellable. Note, too, that Marathons did not come cheap; prices started around $3100 in 1963, comfortably more than a base Chevrolet ($2700).
Final Thoughts
While we’re quite sure that this ad failed to lure even a single Rolls-Royce, Bentley, or Mercedes-Benz Buyer away from their rides, it may have convinced a few cheap and pragmatic consumers to look at used examples of the Marathon—they certainly would have been affordable to operate.
Marathons are now quite collectible, with recent examples selling for as little as $6000, and pristine wagons approaching six figures.
Still, this ad makes us laugh. We all know that weirdos in the Sixties smoked pipes, read magazines about FM radio, and drove Saabs. Or, for the advanced weirdo, a Peugeot.
1964 Checker Marathon Pictures
(Click below for enlarged images)
