Checker Superba

Motor vehicle

The Checker Superba was an automobile produced by Checker Motors Company of Kalamazoo, Michigan, between 1959 and 1963.^[1] The Superba used the Checker taxi cab bodies and were produced in two trim lines, standard and Custom, both in two body styles, a four-door sedan and a five-door station wagon.

On the exterior of the Superba, the grille was composed of an arched center section, flanked two-chrome wings; engine compartment ventilation was through 24 rectangular sections located in the center of the grille. Parking lights were placed on two solid panels flanking the ventilation spaces and housed in round star-like housings. When the Checker Marathon was introduced in the fall of 1959 it was only marketed in New York and the states of New England. In February 1960 the Checker was introduced nationally.

In 1962, the Superba received its only exterior change, a more sculptured front bumper raised up several inches. Additionally front fenders sculpturing was raised three inches. Larger rear wheel openings were increased on the rear fenders. The Starburst grille was replaced with a full-width egg-crate grille. Otherwise the car's appearance was exactly as it was when introduced in 1959.

Total production of the Superba in its first year was (1,050 units) was very limited compared to even the weakest full-line United States automaker at the time, Studebaker.

References

^ Mort, Norm (2010). American Station Wagons: The Golden Era 1950–1975. Veloce Publishing Ltd. p. 44. ISBN 978-1-84584-268-0.

External links

Checker Motors Corporation vehicles, 1922–1982

Type	1920s								1930s										1940s										1950s										1960s										1970s										1980s
	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2
Taxicab	H	H2	E	F		G		K	M		T			Y				A								A2			A4			A6			A8		A9			A11
Limousine																											A3		A5			A7									A11E / A19E / A12E
Car																																						A10		A12 Marathon
Wagon										MU6																												A10W		A12W Marathon
Specialty																																									A11W Aerobus													A11W
Bus																														Series E

Notes

Morris Markin formed the Checker Cab Manufacturing Company in July 1922 by merging two prior acquisitions: the Lomberg Auto Body Manufacturing Company (acquired 1920) and Commonwealth Motors (1921). Commonwealth sold the Mogul Taxi between 1918 and 1921, which used a body by Lomberg on a Commonwealth chassis; Checker continued Mogul Taxi production through 1928 with minor changes as the Models H, H2, E, F, and G.