What I find funny and stupid on the part of all these people that want an "Iconic" New York City cab with huge passenger capacity, fuel economy that will match the greatest hybrids of the day, easy maintenance, blah blah blah for a price that's under $30,000 in a quantity of 15,000 to 30,000 units over the next five years.

I worked at the GM styling studio for half a year and no way will they change a door handle for that production rate. You might get the vehicles painted yellow as an option but forget about all that other bullshit.

Don't those fools downtown realize that if a major auto company could make such a bullet proof vehicle at that price range they already would have?

...And that is another reason GM went bankrupt.

Those fuckers were built like a russian tank. Pretty cool if you're the cab after a wreck, not so groovy if you're a passenger bouncing around inside like a Pachinko ball.

Here's a good laugh regarding this subject.

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/12/18/2009-12-18_tlc_big_hails_search_for_taxi_of_tomorrow.html

It was time to put them out to pasture anyway. Lousy gas mileage, noisy, hard to maintain and get parts for. Some things just aren't worth clinging to, no matter how rosy the memories.

Someone should buy the name and make new Checker cabs out of hybrid minivans. Imagine the room you could have in the back with a rear-facing bench behind the driver, sort of like the old jump seats. Six passengers face to face, plus room for luggage behind the third row. Even without a hybrid drivetrain, most if not all 2010 minivans get better mileage than the old Checkers.

I saw one on Hudson street about a week ago with Jersey plates. It was a real fare toting cab and it sounded just like I remember them.

By the way, does anyone here know who did the new NYC logo you see on cabs? That is one ugly piece of graphics.

They were the best cabs -- nothing like the thrill of hopping in one with a bunch of friends and fighting for the weird little flip-up seats! Good times.

My siblings and I used to fight for the "jump seats". Way cooler than facing forward!

RIP Checker!

yeah-- I remember the little pop up stools that were extra seats. We always wanted to sit there. not that we took cabs very often, But I do remember when Checkers were the norm for cabs. Dates me.

The norm for cabs were the Walter's Skyview DeSotos.

What a shame. But congratulations to Checker for adapting and surviving as long as they have. They created a true icon. How many companies can say that?

"A collector of the cabs says there are likely 500 to 700 still in existence."

A collector of cabs? That's quite a hobby. At least one can make some money with it. Need a few bucks? Just take one out for a spin. Don't get caught without a medallion, though.

"Would you like to see my cab collection?" What a pickup line!

A better avocation would be "collector of medallions".

He's actually a very well-known car collector, with cabs and Checkers specifically being his specialty:

http://www.hemmings.com/hcc/stories/2005/04/01/hmn_feature4.html

HSBC owns a Checker cab to drive customers for free. You can see it occasionally by the New York Public Library around 40th street and Fifth Avenue.