“With 13,000 taxicabs trolling our streets at any given time, the canary-colored chariot is as ubiquitous and easy to get into as Paris Hilton. And now that the New York cab is turning 100, a nonprofit group is whipping up a special birthday present—an exhibit of taxis past and (possibly) future as part of this weekend’s New York International Auto Show at the Javits Center.
PULL UP TO MY BUMPER All’s fare at the Taxi 07 next-gen cab exhibition.
Image courtesy of Standard Taxi
From that initial meeting, nine prototypes were created for the auto show exhibit, part of the yearlong Taxi 07 initiative. Outside Javits, Hybrid Technologies is displaying a lithium-battery-powered, zero-emissions taxi, while Kia is showing off its Rondo taxi, made in collaboration with local design firms. “It’s got a rotating front passenger seat so special-needs passengers can be lifted out, and a toddler seat that folds down,” says Tim Kennedy of Smart Design, one of the firms responsible for the Rondo. “We also added additional interior lighting so riders are less likely to lose things.”
Not all the prototypes are so pragmatic. A 200mph, 1,000-horsepower hydrogen-powered Crown Victoria, dubbed “the World’s Fastest Taxi,” will be parked outside, as will the Donk, a ghetto-fabulous model from Rides magazine featuring exaggerated ground clearance, oversize rims and a tricked-out custom paint job.”
Yellow fever(TimeOutNewYork)
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