The Checker Medicar was a special-purpose “Ambulance-Limousine and Wheelchair Car” intended for institutional use by medical care facilities, retirement and nursing homes, schools, emergency services, and private individuals and businesses (but notably *not* taxi companies), to transport passengers in wheelchairs and stretchers.
Based on what I could find about pre-1970s/80s wheelchair-accessible cars (search results are mostly dedicated cars that wheelchair users can *drive*, and mentions of cars with hand controls), it seems the usual transport method for *passengers* in wheelchairs was a regular ambulance or, per the Medicar’s sales brochure, a “converted truck, van or oversize station wagon”. The Medicar was designed as a luxurious(-ish), dignified, cheaper sedan alternative to these. The brochure claims it was the first purpose-built transport car in this regard, but I don’t know if that’s true.
Anyway, the Medicar was a Marathon on a 129-inch limousine wheelbase. The front passenger bucket seat and center-rear bench seats could be removed, with three intended interior configurations: a “wheelchair car” that could accommodate three wheelchairs, an “ambulance” that could accommodate a wheelchair and a stretcher, and a “limousine” with all passenger seats installed. Wheel locks in the floor kept any wheelchairs or stretchers in place. Custom wide-opening rear doors and a ramp allowed passengers to roll right in without having to switch between wheelchair and car seat. The ramp and removable seats were stored in the trunk when not in use. Otherwise, it was a normal Marathon. Sort of. Not really.
Two variants were produced: the standard model with a regular low metal roof, and the more distinct raised-roof model with a vinyl roof (I’ve seen pictures of metal raised roofs, but I digress) that was raised about 8 inches with taller rear doors. The standard model was designed for stretchers and special (lower/smaller?) wheelchairs, while the raised-roof model was intended for standard and powered wheelchairs.
Around 100 Medicars were produced between 1969 and 1971. I don’t know why it didn’t last very long, but I have some ideas. I’ve read that by the 1970s Checker was struggling financially and customers were gravitating toward newer cars that were pretty much everything the Marathon wasn’t. But it might’ve also been that 100-unit sales figure (for comparison, over 3,500 examples of the *much* more specialized Aerobus were produced). Regardless, very few Medicars survived to the present, and many that survived don’t seem mint-condition anymore, because apparently no one can treat Checkers right.
