Over the years we have promoted stories about the happy members of the Internet Checker Taxicab Archive. Back in 2015 via our blog we introduced one of our youngest members, Alex Hale.
We reported in 2015 as follows:
Alex lives in Atlanta and will be a freshman at Elon University in Greensboro next year, he is perhaps one of the youngest Checker owners in the collector car world today. We need more young members in this group and Alex is the type of collector that will carry the Checker tradition on for years to come.
Over the years Alex would introduce himself to the owners and learned much about his future Checker. Apparently the woman he purchased the
1978 Checker A11 from in 2015 was the original owner of the Checker A11. The original owners purchase the A11 directly from CMC and drove to Kalamazoo to pick the Checker up from the factory.
Over time Alex shared his desire to buy the Checker, according to Alex “after much negotiation and maybe a little schmoozing” he bought it from the original owner and named it after her, Miss Ida. The Checker sat for 10 years, so to get it running was a challenge. Once started and running Alex has started take on new challenges such as adding side mirrors. According to Alex, the Checker is cleaning up really nicely and he’s excited to be the second owner, its already been a lot of fun!
Update
Some time later Alex would post “Hi all, time to sell, unfortunately! Buying and fixing up my 1978 Checker has been one of the most satisfying and rewarding things I’ve ever done…but now I’m at school in North Carolina and am not home to enjoy it.”
As luck would have it, Alex sold his Checker to fellow Atlanta resident and ICTA member Jeff Friedman. Jeff did a spectacular full blown restoration on the A11 in full New York City livery. Since the restoration was completed, Jeff has taken Miss Ida all over the county for shows and other great events like The Hot Rod Power Tour.
This week Miss Ida aka Velveeta was reunited with Alex at the Atlanta International Auto Show. We want to congratulate both Alex and Jeff. Alex, congratulations for selling Miss Ida to Jeff so you could focus on your education. Congratulations to Jeff Freidman for executing a fine restoration on the A11.
