On Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:18:07 +1100, Kwyjibo blathered on in :
> "Toby Ponsenby" <me@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
> news:frt87r$k5j$1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> On Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:19:36 -0700, jackbadger56 blathered on in :
>>
>>> http://tinyurl.com/24ds3t
>>>
>>> Some neat ideas here. I like how the meter incor****ates a GPS map.
>>> Have had to use cabs a lot over the last 2 months, and maybe even more
>>> soon as the Tarago is definitely on it's final legs!
>>>
>>> BTW does anyone know who made the old NY cabs; the old style rounded
>>> shape that looked like they were designed in the 50's-60's but
>>> continued being made until very recently? ;-)
>>
>> Who?
>> Dunno - but they're called Checkers (spulling is sus there) and believe
>> it or no they are 'based on' the Humber Super Snipe series 5, or 4 -
>> it's a bit hazy in RAM at the moment.
>> I'm guessing they were originally used Chrysler power/drive train,
>> given what they are -
>
> Dunno about the 40s and 50s, but from 1960 until the late 70s they were
> using a chev straight 6 or, in a small number of cases, a small block
> chev V8.
I went digging about them for a while - there are some weird and
wonderful things out there loosely called taxis - the most amusing one
for moi was an attempt at a stretched beetle.
Also checkers tried a front wheel drive device which never hit production.
GM V6's aplenty in their lineage, it appears, too.
I can't get the idea about the Humbers outa here - and I note that no-one
I could find mentioned anything about the lineage of the Marathon other
than the A, B and other ****e model numbers. So, were they chevs,
humbers, chryslers or what. i find it difficult to believe that a little
company building specialist vehicles came up (or could afford, since it
seems they were perpetually broke) with molds for the presses, or even
the presses. So, I reckon they were trucked in - bolt-holes and spare
metal added later:-)
It's eerily similar to the train buffs that know the model designations
of every loco ever built but don't have a ****en clue how they work, what
the design actually does and who 'invented' the various objects of their
obsession.
Or the plane spotters..... Hang on..at least they may have spotted some
'rendition' aircraft out here with their fixation with rego numbers and
'livery';-)
>
>> but IIRC the later machines use Small-blocks and other GM ****e for
>> running gear.
>>
>> Solid as... they have to be.
>> I'd be *very* interested in what they use in the braking department.
>
> They were drums all round.
Faark - the Yankees sure as hell are s l o w learners.
I recall I drove a 68 Falcon manual cab with bench seats, no seat-belts
and drum brakes.
With the bigger 6:-) It was almost 'expired' in the scheme of things at
the time, but it was in close to show-room condition - rare as rocking-
horse **** in the cab game then. Gear linkages were perfect and it had
real tyres on it, too. And wheel trims...
Speaking of slow learners, - it took me a few weeks to tell the owner of
the damm thing that as mechanically sound (not one rattle in it) as the
the thing was, he could stick it..
> One interesting design feature they had was that every panel (other than
> the roof) was a bolt-on item. Even the rear quarter panels. It made for
> quick and easy repairs in the crash-and-bash of new york traffic.
I loved the ****ney cabs with their light rail bumpers. Nice.
Shades of Citroen - did the Checkers cabs also get narrow track at the
back so girl drivers didn't stuff the tyres on kerb corners?
Duh - what am I saying - girlies driving cabs in Chicago and New York
back then?
Nah, not there.
>
> The last one active one in new york was retired from service in 1999 and
> was sold at auction for US$134,500 :
> http://web.archive.org/web/20031220225106/http://www.newsday.com/other/
special/ny-ihny0418story.htmlstory
--
Toby
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