The Checker Superba was an automobile produced by

Checker Motors Company Checker Motors Corporation was a Kalamazoo, Michigan, vehicle manufacturer and tier-one subcontractor that manufactured taxicabs used by Checker Taxi. Morris Markin established the company in 1922, initially named the Checker Cab Manufacturing ...

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 ...

, between 1959 and 1963. The Superba used the Checker taxi cab bodies and were produced in two trim lines, standard and Custom, both in two body styles, a four-door sedan and a five-door

station wagon A station wagon ( US, also wagon) or estate car ( UK, also estate), is an automotive body-style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door ( ...

. On the exterior of the Superba, the grille was composed of an arched center section, flanked two-chrome wings; engine compartment ventilation was through 24 rectangular sections located in the center of the grille. Parking lights were placed on two solid panels flanking the ventilation spaces and housed in round star-like housings. When the

Checker Marathon The Checker Marathon is an automobile produced by the Checker Motors Corporation of Kalamazoo, Michigan, between 1961 and 1982. It was marketed as a passenger car for consumers, as opposed to the similar Taxi, which was aimed at fleet buyers. ...

was introduced in the fall of 1959 it was only marketed in New York and the states of

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

. In February of 1960 the Checker was introduced nationally. In 1962, the Superba received its only exterior change, a more sculptured front bumper raised up several inches. Additionally front fenders sculpturing was raised three inches. Larger rear wheel openings were increased on the rear fenders. The Starburst grille was replaced with a full-width egg-crate grille. Otherwise the car's appearance was exactly as it was when introduced in 1959. Total production of the Superba in its first year was (1,050 units) was very limited compared to even the weakest full-line United States automaker at the time,

Studebaker Studebaker was an American wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, with a building at 1600 Broadway, Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 as the Studebaker Brothers M ...

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Superba 1960s cars Cars introduced in 1961 Rear-wheel-drive vehicles Cars of the United States {{Classicpow-auto-stub