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Checker
Cab Company Photo History

Vintage
Car Wrecks
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Monogram
1939 Chevy Taxi Model Kit

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This
is a Taxi I made from a Monogram
1939 Chevy Panel. I added the wheels and tires, some plain
janes with mini-moon hubcaps. I made the taxi sign on the
roof.
I
used rub on letters and various decals. The rear side panels
in the body I cut out and added clear windows. Inside I put
a bench seat.
The
paint is Testors Yellow
and Red, with a coat of dull coat. I wanted a used, faded
look to the paint. On this kit, the back door also opens.
The
kit has been re-released several times over the years, most
recently in a nice lowrider version with graphic decals and
gold wheels. But it makes a great early era car and reminds
you of the old NYC or Chicago gangster movies.
Remember,
this is a panel truck, here I opened up the sides, but it
would also make a great bread or milk delivery vehicle with
the panels left in.
My
inspiration for this kit was a similar model built in a model
magazine. (maybe an old Scale
Auto?)
Did
you know ? Checker Cabs roamed the streets of New York for
75 years. Finally, in 1999 the last Checker cab in New York
City retired. This "relic" was sold at auction for
$134,000. And why not? After all, it had less than 2 million
miles on the odometer. Checker taxis dominated the industry
from the early 1920's until the mid-50's.
Click
here for more reference on Chevys.
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The
American Taxi: A Century of Service

Classic
American Ambulances & Funeral Vehicles: 1900-1980 Photo Archives
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- The
Big Book of Car Culture: The Armchair Guide to Automotive Americana
- If you love cars and the American road, here’s a fun and
comprehensive armchair guide to everything automotive. The Big
Book of Car Culture is a photo- and memorabilia-rich look
at everything that is automobilia: drive-in restaurants, gas stations,
breathalyzers, tail fins, the Wienermobile, Route 66, and even
Earl Scheib, who built an empire of $99 car-painting franchises.
Written by Jon Robinson and Jim Hinckley, masters of books on
road-going Americana, this book features poignant essays and a
collection of nearly 400 images of incredible period photography
and memorabilia.
- Classic
Chevrolet Dealerships: Selling the Bow Tie - Since its founding
in 1912, Chevrolet has weathered the Great Depression, two World
Wars, confused markets, and fuel crises to become an American
motoring icon. Chevy's success would not have been possible without
the network of dealerships that sold and marketed the company's
cars and trucks, first to wary customers unconvinced of the new
contraptions' practicality, then to nine decades of consumers
ranging from cash-strapped, to cash-flush, to confused, to increasingly
fuel-conscious.
- Cuba
Classics: A Celebration of Vintage American Automobiles -
In this paean to the vintage car, Baker, who has also provided
the photos, juxtaposes American autos against the backdrop of
Cuba to great effect. "Today, Cuba possesses about 450,000
cars, of which one-sixth are pre-revolutionary American autos
dating back to the ’20s and ’30s," he writes.
Most of the cars pictured here, however, come from the 1950s:
a pristine-looking green 1950 Chevrolet Styline Bel-Air is parked
alongside a gray, weathered house; in the foreground an old man
in a straw hat walks by eating from two ice cream cones. Not all
of the photos are of the best quality (there are random, grainy
pictures of people on the streets and free-frame photos of cars
in motion), but overall, the photos effectively capture the
beauty of the vintage cars themselves as well as the country
that keeps them running.
- Checker
Cab Photo History - Checker Cab - an internationally recognized
icon that still inspires fierce brand loyalty. Even today, 20
years after production ended, the Checker Cab is still a familiar
part of the American urban landscape. Author James Hinckley has
unraveled the often conflicting stories about the Checker Cab
Manufacturing Co. to present the first complete history of this
fascinating company and its legendary cabs.
- The
American Taxi: A Century of Service - The American Taxi has
been providing a vital public service for 100 years! Enjoy the
Taxi experience through photographs and the history of
famous taxi marques, such as Yellow, General, Checker, DeSoto,
Packard, Plymouth, Ford, & Studebaker – many minor makes
are also represented with forgotten names like Rockwell, Murphy,
Oakland, Huppmobile and Stearns Knight. Oddball experiments, unusual
taxis, lights, meters, and taxi memorabilia are highlighted.
A walk through time illustrates the effect of regulations on taxis
and how that led to technical advances and body changes.
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Clients & Associates.
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