1933 Checker Model T

Many people are not aware that a 1933 Checker Model T cab is on display at the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum in Auburn, Indiana.

This would not have been the case except for the close connection between Morris Markin (the founder of Checker) and Errett Loban Cord.

As the plaque next to the Model T states:

"In August 1933, Markin was forced out of Checker Cab, but in two weeks time and with Cord's financial assistance, he quickly regained the office of President. This also placed Cord as controlling stockholder. But it would be Cord's and Markin's complicated business relationship which prompted the newly created Securities and Exchange Commission in 1937 to charge Cord with stock manipulation and ultimately bring Cord's transportation empire to and end."

As for the Model T, the sign continues to state:

"This Checker Model T used the same Lycoming 8-cylinder, 100 horsepower engine as found in Auburn cars of its day. On the wooden firewall, "T6" is stamped as a reference to the model number, yet the data plate reads "T8." Was this car originally built as a T6 then upgraded to a T8, or was it a prototype taken from the assembly line? We may never know the story behind this oddity."

Model T cabs were only built in 1933 and 1934. 1934 was a slow year for Checker with roughly 1,000 cars coming off the assembly line.

Here then are many more photos of the Model T owned by the Auburn museum.