Leyland F. Goodspeed was chief of engineering staff at Roamer, with over twenty years of experience as an engineer. Goodspeed was a true auto enthusiast, not only a patent holding engineer, Mr, but he was a race car driver having participated twice in the Indianapolis 500. At a national level, Goodspeed was a minor celebrity in various automotive circles: manufacturing as well as racing.
In the Fall of 1921 Commonwealth Motors was having financial difficulties. The producer of sedans, tourer and taxicabs. The standard automotive line was in decline, the basic design dated back to 1915 yet the Taxicab line of Mogul taxis was doing quite well and expanding.
Morris Markin was both a Commonwealth supplier of taxicab bodies and was acquiring an interest in the Chicago Checker Taxi Conpanies, buying Commonwealth Mogul Taxicabs for his Chicago based cab syndicate. Markin had control of the Checker Mogul taxi operation in Chicago and sourced all his cabs from Commonwealth. Concerned about his investments he merged his auto body companies into Commonwealth and effectively took control of the Commonwealth operations in 1921. Over the course of the next year Markin would transform Commonwealth and create Checker Cab Manufacturing. Over a ten years period he slowly to total control of Checker Taxi in Chicago in the early thirties.
By November of 1921 Markin’s impact on Commonwealth would be felt. In the November 21, 1921 Automotive Industries magazine the following item appeared: “Leyland F Goodspeed for the past five years or more Chief of Engineering staff of the Roamer has resigned from at Barley Motor Car Company Co to join forces with Commonwealth Motors of Chicago and Joilet, Illinois. Has been elected vice president in charge of engineering of commonwealth Motors which at the present time in working on a new passenger car.”
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1921 Commonwealth Sedan
By May of 1922 Markin had forced a reorganization of Commonwealth and created Checker Cab Manufacturing. The Commonwealth passenger cars were discontinued and only Mogul Checker taxicab production continued ultimately transforming into the Checker Model H in 1923.
Goodspeed was retained, but he effectively had a new job, turning around production and moving the company from Chicago to Kalamazoo. Goodspeed lead the effort to take over the Knight-Handley and Dort manufacturing facilities. Additionally Goodspeed re-engineered the Model H and launched the Model H-2. The primary difference was the switch from the Herschell-Spellman engines to Buda.
1924 Checker Cab Model H operated by Fuller Taxicab Corporation in Los Angeles
Goodspeed would later bring his former colleague from Barley, a 20 year old Jim Stout onboard in 1923. Working with Stout, the two would turn around business from consumer cars to taxicab production.
Although Plant 1 was used to produce Checker until 1982, the production processes set up by Goodspeed and Stout would be very different in 1923. The vehicles were “assembled” hand build cars. Frames were outsourced to Parrish & Bingham, engines to Buda and electricals to Westinghouse and Scintilla. Checker would essentially produce wood bodies and press metal parts such as the hood and fenders then assemble and shipped.
The production process was long. According to Jim Stout, it could take a body twenty days to clear the paint shop. They were also hampered with a limited number of machine capacity. Again Stout told stories of lines forming around the drill press.
The May 1924 issue of Motrcab News documents the process established by Goodspeed and Stout. A little grainy, are fantastic as they present and describe the process.
The machine shop in plant 1
A battery of Electric Hammers used in shaping sheet metal parts and body panels
A section of the Enameling Room with the front doors of one of the electric ovens in the left foreground
Another section of the Enameling Rooms, where the sheet metal after being buffed and cleaned, is submitted to another cleaning before dipping
A battery of Small-Part Paint-Spray Booths. This one in particular showing how wheels are sprayed
A corner of the Buffing Room, where all sheet metal parts are buffed and cleaned
A corner of the Framing Department, where the frame of the body is assembled. The sub-assemblies are built up into complete halfs and then the top and bottom half are matched in the master jig. There are six sub assembly operations prior to the final assembly of the body frames
The Metal Shop where all wood frames are paneled and prepared for painting
Final body assembly where the bodies are fully equipped with hardware and windows installed
Checker Cab ready for shipment. The picture was taken on a rainy day and clearly indicates that the CCM factory was a modern daylight factory.
Exterior view of plant No. 1, showing loading dock, warehouse sheds, railroad facilities, and in the distance power plant and warehouses (note factory mule car to the lower left, it appears to be an unbodied Model H)
Scranton Taxicab Co’s shipment of Checker Cabs being loaded into New York Central box car at K-zoo factory.
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