Markin was a Russian-born immigrant who made the mecca to Chicago with two bucks in his pocket and the drive to make good. With the help of his uncle, Markin made his mark in the clothing industry eventually taking ownership of a ready-to-wear garment company that soon flourished.
In 1921, he got involved in the taxi business quite by accident after a colleague who owned a body shop enterprise defaulted on a $15,000 loan that Makin provided and ceded the company to the clothier. The business he acquired made both passenger cars and taxis but with all the competition from the former, Makin decided to concentrate his energy and resources in the cab business when he formed the Checker Cab Manufacturing Company the next year.
In searching for a suitable production site for his new venture, Makin settled for the former Dort Auto Body plant in Kalamazoo in 1923. The Dort plant was no longer needed by the recently reorganized Flint, Michigan automaker and the site was advantageous because of the number of the citys hundreds of skilled auto workers and body craftsmen that had lost their jobs during the previous year when a number of Kalamazoo-based automakers had gone out of business.
The first Checker Cab offered was known as the Model H and was little more than a standard passenger car with a heavy-duty clutch and suspension. To make sure customers knew what cab they were riding in, Markin decked his cars with checkerboard patterned beltline and logo and even installed little checkered lenses on its parking lamps.
In 1923, the shrewd Markin established a Manhattan sales office called the Mogul Checker Sales Co. and late in the year an improved version of the first Checker called the Model H2 was introduced to much acclaim. It wasnt long before orders started pouring in not only from the Big Apple but cities like Chicago, Detroit and Pittsburgh.
Markin followed his rival John Hertz of Yellow Cab (who later gained some fame as a founder of a car rental agency) by having his drivers open doors for the fares and outfitting each driver with a uniform. Under Markin, Checker became the first cab company to hire African-American drivers and the first to require that drivers pick up all fares, not just those with white skin.
In the early days, competition between the taxi rivals for fares was fierce and occasionally violent. The infighting between the two cab companies even escalated to the point when Markin's home was firebombed, purportedly by Yellow Cab thugs.
By the 30s Markin gained control of Hertzs Yellow cab but now faced competition from none other than General Motors who got into the taxi business using the name Terminal Taxi Cab. Like its battle with Hertzs Yellow Cab Company, Checker and Terminal became embroiled in an intense clash over the lucrative New York City market.
After a largely unsuccessful run at producing passenger cars, Markin got in the business of OEM body stampings, eventually, producing truck bodies for Hudson, Ford and REO. During World War II Checker built tank retrieval trailers, tank recovery vehicles, as well as semi, petroleum and other types of trailers.
By 1956 when Model A8 was introduced, the Checker body style changed little through its remaining years. The chassis was designed for exceptional durability and additional front-end protection. Power steering, power brakes and automatic transmissions made their debut. The glass area was increased to give the driver better vision. And, of course, the feature the Checker Cab was most known for “ spacious cabin space. It voluminous interior could comfortably accommodate five adult passengers at a time and its said that baby carriages could be rolled in the cab without being folded.
1957 Checker Cab Drivermatic A8 parked in front of the Checker Motor Corp. head office June 2002.
With the death of Markin in 1970 and the sharp increase in the price of oil in the 70s the gas guzzling Checker Cabs fortunes began to wane. By the time the last cab rolled off the assembly line, the bulk of the Checker Cab Companys business came not from ferreting passengers around town but from sheet metal stamping and sub-assembly work for the automobile industry.
As of July 30, 2009, Checker Motors went bankrupt and closed its doors for good. However, the Gilmore Car Museum located in Hickory Corners, MI has proudly displayed three of these regal machines for viewing.
Three of them, different ages, at the Gilmore Museum in Hickory Corners, Michigan, near Kalamazoo
For more information about other iconic figures, go to MotorCities National Heritage Area at www.motorcities.org.