Perspective taxi: Soviet utopian cab design
Despite this “futuristic” idea being quite popular, it never went into mass production.
A London black cab would, no doubt, “cry” at the sight of a Soviet mom rolling an entire stroller with a baby inside the Soviet concept taxi.
It was a test model dubbed the “perspective taxi” and designed in the USSR in 1964. Soviet officials decided that cabs should be different from ordinary passenger cars and look more like a small bus. Compact and maneuverable, but still roomy - with a flat floor, an internal trunk, wide doors and a separate driver's cabin.
The prototype was assembled by designers of the All-Union Research Institute of Technical Aesthetics (VNIITE).
The new conceptual car was then tested on the streets of Moscow and it was planned that it would end up going into mass production. But, that never happened. Soviet officials were deadlocked in arguments about the advantages and disadvantages of such a design. Would it be safe? Would it be better to use than ordinary cars? Finally, which factory was to produce it and where to find production facilities for it?
Too bad, it looked like a cool idea! Would you have taken a ride in one of these?
