The Checker Taxi Stand

Konrad · Guest

I am curious if anyone has any additional information (besides what's in the well-known books and magazine articles, most of which I have) regarding the A2 introduced after the war. Some sources state it was introduced in Feb. 1947, while others refer to the first postwar cabs as 1948 introductions. There exists an article stating the cab entered production very late in 1947, and there is yet another article that states "full" production (whatever that means) didn't get underway until mid-1948.

From all of this, I conclude the following:

The new model was introduced in Feb. 1947, but due to delays, production didn't begin until late in December of that year. Production at first was slow and not up to capacity, but by mid-1948, this had finally occurred. Production then finished in 1950. Interestingly, yet another article states 4,500 cabs were made in 1948 alone, which would suggest the bulk of the 6,002 A2's were made that year. As for 1947, aside from a few pilot models built at introduction time, and the few built at the very end of that year, there was really no "production" to speak of.

Similarly, the model A's introduction and production life is fraught with discrepancies. Some say it was in production already in 1939, while others state this didn't happen until 1940. Stanley Yost states only the prototype was built in 1939, while the production models came out in 1940. When did it finish? Some say in 1941. Others, like Yost, suggest assembly continued from parts on hand well into the war, until parts were exhausted. What about after the war? There is an article that states Checker was allowed to build a certain number of cabs beginning in 1945. But, if all the dies of the Model A were donated to the war effort, in a fevorish fervor of patriotism, how could the model be resurrected? Perhaps the dies were not lost. This would have been the only model Checker could have put into production in the immediate postwar period.

Any information anyone would like to share would be greatly appreciated.