Check it Out: Checker Plans 2 New Retro Models

Checker Motor Cars says it is developing two limited-edition vehicles that the company hopes to launch in three years. Although there are no plans of relaunching the iconic yellow Checker taxis, the new models will have a host of retro styling cues.

The Haverhill, Mass.-based company, which has been providing parts and repairs services for Checker cars for more than a decade, recently purchased the rights to sell vehicles under the Checker name.

The original Checker Motors Corp., which was based in Kalamazoo, Mich., stopped producing its signature Marathon cab in 1982 the company stamped and welded components for other carmakers until it went bankrupt in 2009.

The first new Checker model will be a limousine called the A888, which looks similar to the long-wheelbase Checker Aerobus that was built in the 1960s and 1970s. With room for 12 adults, the car will have four rows of seating and six doors four full-size doors and two smaller doors for the last row.

The second model resembles a Chevy El Camino. Checker calls the vehicle a sport pickup crossover vehicle.

The vehicles will share a newly developed frame that will be built in Salt Lake City, Utah. They'll feature rack-and-pinion power steering and disc brakes. Power is expected to come from General Motors' 4-cylinder Duramax V-8 diesel engine.

Checker says the frame and all of the new components are being designed to fit older models with no major modifications. The company hopes to sell about 400 of the new models.