The Checker Series E were

transit bus Transit may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Transit'' (1979 film), a 1979 Israeli film * ''Transit'' (2005 film), a film produced by MTV and Staying-Alive about four people in countries in the world * ''Transit'' (2006 film), a 2006 ...

es sold by Checker Cab Manufacturing Corporation from 1951 to 1953, using a body built by the Union City Body Company (UCBC) of

Union City, Indiana Union City is a city in Wayne Township, Randolph County, Indiana, United States. , the city had a population of 3,584. Union City was a stop along the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad, a forerunner of the Pennsylvania Rail ...

on a chassis built by Checker in

Kalamazoo, Michigan Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolit ...

History

The Series E bus was designed by Transit Buses, Inc. in 1948. Transit Buses had been formed as a joint venture between

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

and UCBC in the 1930s; buses were assembled by UCBC by fitting their body to a Ford chassis, engine, and transmission. In 1947, Ford withdrew from the transit bus market and stopped supplying chassis and powertrains to Transit Buses; Transit Buses designed a new bus using the Continental I6 "Red Seal" engine and contracted Checker to build the chassis starting in 1948, with UCBC still responsible for final assembly in Union City. Checker acquired Transit Buses in 1950 and began marketing the bus as the Checker Series E in 1951. However, sales of the contemporaneous

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

"Old Look" buses, originally designed by

Yellow Coach The Yellow Coach Manufacturing Company (informally Yellow Coach) was an early manufacturer of passenger buses in the United States. Between 1923 and 1943, Yellow Coach built transit buses, electric-powered Trolleybus, trolley buses, and Coach (veh ...

, were much stronger and Checker withdrew the Series E in 1953.

References

External links

{{Checker Motors Series E Buses