Comments on: A Checkered Past http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/1428 Jason Scott's Weblog Sat, 21 Nov 2009 20:59:02 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: ben st pete http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/1428/comment-page-1#comment-42799 ben st pete Mon, 03 Aug 2009 04:33:42 +0000 http://ascii.textfiles.com/?p=1428#comment-42799 Hi Jason! Enjoyed your Checker tale. I bought an A12 Marathon new in Aug of 1972 and I still use it every day. I had the Chevy 5.7 V8 installed when new it lasted 28 years about 300k miles. I then had a 2000 version of the same engine installed and it is humming along in 2009! This amazing car has no rattles no rust and and still shines. I really enjoy the questions so many people ask! Keep on enjoying ! Hi Jason!

Enjoyed your Checker tale. I bought an A12 Marathon new in Aug of 1972 and I still use it every day. I had the Chevy 5.7 V8 installed when new
it lasted 28 years about 300k miles.

I then had a 2000
version of the same
engine installed and
it is humming along
in 2009!

This amazing car has
no rattles no rust and and still shines.

I really enjoy the questions so many people ask!

Keep on enjoying !

]]> By: Trent http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/1428/comment-page-1#comment-5377 Trent Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:18:34 +0000 http://ascii.textfiles.com/?p=1428#comment-5377 Forgot to say, I noticed you have one of the rarer 'extended' models. The back door was even longer than the regular ones, and they had rectangular jumpseats instead of the common round ones. If you use the back a lot, watch for problems with your door hinges, they weren't meant for that extra length and weight. Good luck. Forgot to say, I noticed you have one of the rarer ‘extended’ models. The back door was even longer than the regular ones, and they had rectangular jumpseats instead of the common round ones. If you use the back a lot, watch for problems with your door hinges, they weren’t meant for that extra length and weight. Good luck.

]]> By: Trent http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/1428/comment-page-1#comment-5376 Trent Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:11:14 +0000 http://ascii.textfiles.com/?p=1428#comment-5376 I drove a Checker cab in Omaha for about three years, in the early 80s. They were set up to run on propane, and you 'leased' the cab, for a monthly payment, then, after paying for gas, oil and whatever inspections and maintenance was needed, everything you made was yours. Before the days of GPS and automated dispatching, we had our characters, both in the office and on the road. I was in my mid-20s and loved to drive, and it was pretty good fun for awhile.....no future in it, of course, but for a footloose and single guy, not too bad, especially since the cab served as my personal car, too. Any time, day or night, I could turn on the radio, see if fares werre poppin, log in to the area I was, and take a few calls, make 30-50 dollars in an hour, then go do something else. I had a brand new Yellow Cab, number 319 (I wrote Country song lyrics about it), and drove it till I decided to try something else. It didn't pan out, so I went back to driving, sometimes with a partner, sometimes not, until a driver got shot in an early-morning robbery-hostage situation. He was the roommate of our early-morning dispatcher, and that hit too close to home.....I got paranoid, and after a harmless but scary incident with a fare, decided to quit the biz altogether, but I'd love to be able to afford one of the few restored cabs out on the roads today. Good memories, good times. I drove a Checker cab in Omaha for about three years, in the early 80s. They were set up to run on propane, and you ‘leased’ the cab, for a monthly payment, then, after paying for gas, oil and whatever inspections and maintenance was needed, everything you made was yours. Before the days of GPS and automated dispatching, we had our characters, both in the office and on the road. I was in my mid-20s and loved to drive, and it was pretty good fun for awhile…..no future in it, of course, but for a footloose and single guy, not too bad, especially since the cab served as my personal car, too. Any time, day or night, I could turn on the radio, see if fares werre poppin, log in to the area I was, and take a few calls, make 30-50 dollars in an hour, then go do something else. I had a brand new Yellow Cab, number 319 (I wrote Country song lyrics about it), and drove it till I decided to try something else. It didn’t pan out, so I went back to driving, sometimes with a partner, sometimes not, until a driver got shot in an early-morning robbery-hostage situation. He was the roommate of our early-morning dispatcher, and that hit too close to home…..I got paranoid, and after a harmless but scary incident with a fare, decided to quit the biz altogether, but I’d love to be able to afford one of the few restored cabs out on the roads today. Good memories, good times.

]]> By: Jason B. http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/1428/comment-page-1#comment-5375 Jason B. Sun, 20 Jul 2008 20:09:01 +0000 http://ascii.textfiles.com/?p=1428#comment-5375 s/mph/mpg/??? s/mph/mpg/???

]]> By: bayard http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/1428/comment-page-1#comment-5374 bayard Fri, 18 Jul 2008 06:52:13 +0000 http://ascii.textfiles.com/?p=1428#comment-5374 Classy machine. That's true love to buy her now. Classy machine. That’s true love to buy her now.

]]> By: Flack http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/1428/comment-page-1#comment-5373 Flack Wed, 16 Jul 2008 20:30:53 +0000 http://ascii.textfiles.com/?p=1428#comment-5373 You are right; the car's lines obfuscate its age. I would have guessed it was twenty years older. I also didn't recognize it because I'm not sure I've ever seen one on the road. Caprice Classics are the taxi of choice here in the midwest. You are right; the car’s lines obfuscate its age. I would have guessed it was twenty years older.

I also didn’t recognize it because I’m not sure I’ve ever seen one on the road. Caprice Classics are the taxi of choice here in the midwest.

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