[anjan_c2007]

The Premier Padmini era is ending for Mumbai roads around this month viz. June 2020, when the last ones would be scrapped. The domination of Fiats in Mumbai's taxi trade commenced in the mid 1950's, when car imports started becoming scarcer. It began with the Fiat Millecento (1953), Elegant (1956), Millecento again (1958 with a new body), Select (1959), Super Select (1962) and lastly the Fiat 1100 Delight (1965). But around 1965 and till the early 1970's a motley mix of imported brands comprising Austins (the A 40 Devon was quite popular), Hillman Minx Mark III, Ford Prefect, Standard Super Ten, Chevrolet Fleetmaster, Plymouth P-10 (who can forget the Mehmood taxi in "Sadhu Aur Shaitan (1968)?) and some more dotted the Mumbai landscape, alongwith the newly emerging Fiats that were replacing most other ageing brands. Soon to follow were the Premier President (1972), the Premier Padmini (1974) and and lastly the Premier 137 D (1994), that almost monopolised Mumbai's taxi trade. By 1975, the surviving old imports from the 1940's and 1950's were reduced to very miniscule numbers.

Lately, the most loved and fittest to survive on the Mumbai roads, these were put to gruelling endurance tests as taxis, doing all sort of good to odd jobs as demanded. It had become an almost indelible part of the Mumbai landscape and hundreds could be found in long traffic jams. They appeared in all hues of the maintenance spectrum from excellent to ramshackle conditions. A traveller had quipped "I could see the tar road from below the rusted and corroded floor of the taxi I had boarded."

By the end of the 1990's the taxi fleet went for massive engine transplants, using second hand imported Japanese outboard motor and car diesel motors. The older petrol engines were discarded. These already rans and written off older diesels, now reconditioned created havoc with the air quality, emitting jet black smoke and polluting the environment, though profit making for the cabbie. A R.K. Laxman cartoon in the late 1990's showed the common man with his wife on their house terrace. On seeing black smoke, the wife said "Its going to rain." The common man retorted "Its a taxi in the neighbourhood." That's when the first court directive came from the Bombay High Court just after the turn of the millenium directing scrapping of all "end of life" older commercial vehicles. This High Court decision was later upheld by the Supreme Court and became a rule of law for all metros. The Delhi Blueline buses too gained notoriety for polluting and that started the CNG era in Delhi and the NCR.

The Fiat/Premier taxis have been used by once strugglers who are now big names in Bollywood, politicians especially of the Maharashtra government, lower, middle and upper class passengers of all hues, struggling enterpreneurs who have made it big, travellers, foreign tourists and a host of other categories of passengers from all ends of the spectrum.

A very few Premier Padminis/ 137 D's had survived till this day, as the scrapping game was a continuous process that required annhilation of older commercial vehicles. Lately, friends would remark that during their short trip/s to Mumbai, they would be lucky enough to sight even one Premier taxi as sightings had become very, very rare since the last five years or so. The Mumbai landscape will never be the same and all Fiat/Premier lovers will badly miss their presence.

[libranof1987]

What a moment this is; the Kaali-Peeli is an indelible part of transportation legacy in Mumbai / Maharashtra, perhaps even in India, alongside the Ambassadors from the East. Having travelled in them through the decades, most recently last year, there's something oddly romantic about navigating Mumbai in one. It's one of those experiences: not the most comfortable nor luxurious, but definitely one you enjoyed nevertheless.

All said and done, it's about time, they drove off into the sunset. While metros in country bring in curbs to reduce pollution and bring in less-polluting fuel/vehicles, these taxis, by far not the only ones, have been the proverbial thorn.

Gotta feel for the owners/drivers of these, number must be in several tens of thousands? I do hope that the Municipal Corporations / Govts. use this change to bring in sustainable alternatives, and regulate the industry to avoid glut/exploitation.

[Samba]

Very aptly an end of an era. Everything comes with a lifecycle and finally its the end of Premier Padmini taxis. Sad but we have to accept it.

I learnt driving in a Padmini and have some fond memories of Padmini Taxis when I visited Mumbai.
I will always have a soft corner for these Padmini Taxis, though am from Kolkata so I should love the Ambassador Taxis more, but no, it's the opposite!
This car gave birth to so many Fiat lovers (including me)!

Coincidentally day before yesterday, I was watching this movie!

[jkrishnakj]

Oh boy !. I cant recall the number of journeys made in the 'Kaali Peelis'. The rush to the Bandra Kala Nagar in an Auto, followed by a quick jump in the one at the first in the line used to be a super experience. Not once did i ever had to tell where i needed to go before jumping into any of the taxis there. Ofcourse the Air conditioned Santros and Wagon R's did make their way into this Queue slowly and its no surprise that this era comes to an end.

It will always be fond memories and stories to talk about.

[Hayek]

Personally, am very glad to see the end of the Padmini. I learnt driving in one - it was outdated even back then in 1991. My mother’s Maruti 800 was a far superior car.

The transplantation of scrapped Diesel engines into these taxis coincided with the worst period of the taxi trade in Bombay - the generally nice Sikh taxi drivers from the 1970s and 1980s were replaced by folks who could only be called Thugs. I have had occasions where a cab driver would suddenly stop on the route between Chembur and Vashi late at night and ask for extra money to complete the journey. And the level of pollution and the poor maintenance of these cars - most which drove at night without headlights or tail lights was ridiculous too.

Was delighted to see the Padminis replaced by Santros - which took over as the core of the Kaali Peeli fleet before Meru initially and then the Ola Uber revolution meant that folks like me stopped using normal metered cabs.

Sorry to be a wet blanket in this nostalgic thread - but the existence of the Padmini in 2020 is a sad reflection of our society.

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

The Mumbai landscape will never be the same and all Fiat/Premier lovers will badly miss their presence

I've always cherished travelling in Premier cabs in Mumbai, and barring a couple of instances involving cheat taxi drivers at Dadar W.Rly., have had lovely remembrances.

Several drivers who've moved on to Santros, WagonRs and Altos have said that they used to maintain their Premiers for peanuts compared to what they pay for their "modern" cars - and I agree with them. Even today, the taxi fares in Mumbai are much much lower than autorickshaw fares elsewhere.

There used to be workshops on the route from Saat Rasta to Dockyard Road Station where drivers said would build clutch plates for a song; similar stories for other parts.

Yes, the 137Ds were poisonous, but the last crop of Premiers on CNG were rather innocent.

[GTO]

Link to earlier related discussion (Premier Padmini Taxis in Mumbai: End of the Road). Was long overdue. When Ubers & Olas were unavailable, I dreaded travelling in these vintage, unsafe & rickety cabs.

Padmini owners should be happy with this news though. Now, the only examples we'll see on the road are from enthusiasts of the cars . They just went from "taxi image" to "desirable classic".

[Balthazar]

I have seen quite a few older drivers observe how Padminis were built to last. They say these taxis would take impacts well and come out without any major damage, whereas the curret cars just sort of crumple.

What I don't think they realise is that the energy in a crash needs to go somewhere, and when cars don’t crumple, their occupants do.

Kinda glad they are on their way out.

[Reinhard]

Hmm. The inevitable sunset. It was long overdue anyway. The only reason they carried on was the usual special Indian circumstance where poverty and need to feed family trumped other items like safety norms/pollution. At least gradually the change is now reaching completion.

I hope the scrapping is proper and some good vendors take out valuable and usable spares from the cars for sale to enthusiasts/owners of these "to be" classics. Especially trims, body parts, interior panels etc - which will be impossible to source later considering they are mostly metal & went out of production decades ago.

[sandeepmohan]

Puzzles me no end how these drivers could make a living with a car that was not very reliable. Curious on some stats on how long a car was on the road versus time spent in the garage. I am sure it spent more time on the road but garage visits would be a good enough indicator of how much attention was needed. For the kind of traffic Bombay has, the stock cooling system would have fallen apart. These cars are rust buckets too. I assume local garages ironed all the major and minor flaws and aced Fiat over the last 5 decades.

The few times I rode in one of these, I can say that every one of them was mechanically sound. Quite a different story on the inside.

[smooth indian]

For a dyed in wool Mumbaikar like me, the premier Padmini taxis along with red BEST buses were a source of identity. Back in the days a ride in the fiat taxis was no less than a presidential ride for the us. The fiat taxi was driven swiftly and steadily through the smooth Mumbai streets. And the reliability of the ride was charged strictly by the meter, which meant no need for haggling and a quick hop and ride experience.
Times have changed. With competition from ride-hailing services and private cabs, the domination of aging metered fiat taxis has ended. The new van taxis are carving their own niche by ways share-taxi rides. I have taken them on a couple of occasions and it was a nice experience. The share-taxis are quite cheap and they cover the dense urban jungle in south and central Mumbai quite effectively without cramming people; so more power to them.

[ads11]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

The Premier Padmini era is ending for Mumbai roads around this month viz. June 2020, when the last ones would be scrapped.

Great thread thanks! I've not yet had the opportunity to visit Bombay but I'd really like to soon. I was however aware that the classic cab there was the little Premier Padmini. I suppose it's a bit like when the ubiquitous black and yellow Ambassador cabs started to die out in Calcutta, on a sentimental level it was kinda sad to see them go but I think really their time has long since come. These relics had their day and they just don't cut it on so many levels (comfort, emissions, ride, ergonomics, you could go on..).

Originally Posted by Hayek

The transplantation of scrapped Diesel engines into these taxis coincided with the worst period of the taxi trade in Bombay - the generally nice Sikh taxi drivers from the 1970s and 1980s were replaced by folks who could only be called Thugs.

It's interesting. So as a teenager I would have a torrid time getting the cabs in Calcutta to ever agree to take me where I wanted to go, it would dumb found me because I thought that was the whole purpose. Anyway one particular day when I'd had a total trek because of a surly cabbie, I was grumbling to my granddad who told me how back in the day all cab drivers were Sikh gents. My parents confirmed that it was the case in their youth and that cabs weren't like the way I'd experienced. I wonder why this was the case? Were Sikh cab drivers the norm back then in metros?

So I think I can agree with you here, they've had their time in the sun, I don't particularly miss them. At least for the most part Uber and Ola and whatnot have made things less of a roulette wheel in terms of your cab journey.

Also I wasn't aware about this engine transplant but that's certainly something that should've been long since struck down. I'm fervently praying the autos get legislated against but alas as a vote bank I doubt any govt would risk irking them. At least force them to move to electric ones eventually

[Sran]

For everyone who love app based taxis there is always people like me who prefer these kali peeli taxis in mumbai or Ambassador's in Kolkata. Clean taxis, it is almost impossible to find a visible dirty taxi. Safe drivers and no route guidance. If anyone is alone and its night time these taxis are safer than app based taxis.

These are iconic symbols of Mumbai like Ambassadors in Kolkata and Vikram autos in Kanpur. I have always liked roaming around in mumbai's taxis, maybe it started from Vidya Sinha and Dinesh Thakur's song "Kai baar yun hi" from movie Rajnigandha. Marine Drive and Gateway will not look same without Fiat taxis.

[Blue Express]

The distinct look, small yet sofa like seats, and most importantly- the peculiar gurgling of the engine, still rings in my ears. The earlier fare meter used to be on the front passenger side, and as a kid I would always sit in the front seat and it was a joy to be allowed to put the meter down and watch the analogue numbers reset.
Can say that I was fortunate enough to take a ride in one of the last few Padmini cabs from CSTM to Nariman Point, just days before the lockdown began. Told the driver to take via Marine Drive and although it was a small journey, it was pure happiness which will go down memory lane.

[Mafia]

Finally!
This move was delayed by a few decades!

While I understand the nostalgia, letting things linger for too long has been big problem of the establishment of the country.