Mumbai says goodbye to Padmini taxis

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We told you about the sudden disappearance of Mexico City’s VW Beetle taxis not too long ago; now a very similar story reached us from India. Under the title ‘Mumbai Padmini taxis quietly fading into obscurity’ the disappearance of Mumbai’s infamous taxis is told through some lovely images. Made by PAL (Premier Automobiles Limited), the Padmini was a Fiat 1100 under a licence. And one was never far away from you in Mumbai. At their peak in the mid 1990s some 65,000 were reportedly seen on the streets of Mumbai.

But now, very few remain, with the one on the picture above reportedly being one of 300 left nowadays. And, yes, it does look rather sorry for itself. Once again it’s a governmental decision that has made this happen. Looking for less environmentally unfriendly vehicles, the Indian authorities have decided to scrap all of the old-fashioned Padminis. The report from the Hindustan Times states that the plan is that “By December 2018 there will be none left on roads.” The newspaper spoke to a taxi union chief in Mumbai, who was quoted: “It really is an iconic car because for so long it was the only vehicle used by taxi operators here. It must have been the largest fleet in the world.” We feel a bit sorry about all these little cars being scrapped, there has to be someone who sees something in them?

(Words editor, picture Indranil Mukherjee)

 

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