When we think of the Checker car company, lots of times we default to thoughts of the square, tank-like machines that populated New York City streets and the streets of many other cities for decades starting in the late 1950s right up through the 80s but the fact is that the company was around long before that. This is a pretty amazing machine, not for the fact that it was a car converted to a wrecker, because that happened with some frequency back in the late 1930s and through the 1940s but rather because it is made from one of only TWO Checker model Y8s known to exist on planet Earth. Understand that the conversion was done 60-70 years ago at this point so it isn’t like someone did this yesterday. The car was restored to its finest days as a wrecker because it was discovered (as you will see in the photos below) in a junkyard rotting away and someone recognized how much of a rarity it was.
With the full body on it, the car certainly would have been pretty stately looking. The long nose, the sweeping fenders, and the running boards were all nice touches on a car designed to haul passengers in comfort from one place to the next. The engine is pretty cool because it is a straight eight cylinder Lycoming. Horsepower was likely not that impressive but it sure had enough stones to move people and later to move wounded taxis back to the repair shop so that they could be fixed.
The seller talks about the car being made into a wrecker because of the scarcity of trucks during the war years and that does make sense but we’d argue that this likely happened because a frugal cab company owner was looking around and figured it would have been cheaper to send this old car into his maintenance shop to be made into a wrecker than hunting down a proper truck to do the same task. We have known guys who worked for cab companies and it seems like the penny pinching mentality certainly came into play here.
The car was complete but a total mess when discovered in the junkyard so whoever did this restoration really went above and beyond. Because only two of these cars exist parts that were not present had to be made or pieces that would have normally been scrapped had to be saved. There’s no hotline for 1937 Checker parts, that is for sure! The hand cranked wrecker unit is awesome as is the fact that the passenger seat has been replaced by a lock box of sorts. Where does the guy who is getting towed ride, in his own car? Oh the indignity!
CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS BELOW AND THEN HIT THE EBAY LINK FOR A HUGE BLAST OF PHOTOS AND INFO –
Brian,
I just looked at the listing. This is being sold by the Gilmore Car Museum in Michigan. It is one of the hidden jewels of the antique automotive hobby. If you are ever in west MI, I highly recommend spending at least a day there. What a truely once in a lifetime car to own. I hope whomever buys it, gets it out so others can enjoy it as well.
Very interesting. I’ve sen Checker cabs all over. But this is the first Checker wrecker I’ve seen.
I live 15 minutes away from Gilmore and I instantly recognized this. If you have the chance, I would highly recommend going to Gilmore for the day. Then, travel over to the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit and get your fill there.
As an owner of one of those “square, tank-like machines” (a Station Wagon, not a sedan), I thank you for running any story on that American work horse, the Checker. They have to be the most cut up and modified car in all of automotive history.