Design Classic – VNIITE – Promising Taxi

In 1962, the employees of the All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Technical Aesthetics (VNIITE) were instructed to develop a special car for the taxi service. It was supposed to be a small bus – reliable, compact, maneuverable, roomy, with a flat body floor, an internal trunk, sliding doors and a separate driver’s cab. The “promising taxi” should have been comfortable for both the passenger and the driver.

A place for luggage was supposed to be inside the passenger compartment, separated from the driver by a partition. The passenger compartment door was supposed to be sliding and have an electric drive, which allowed the driver to open and close it. It was convenient and safe for the passenger: he could not open it while driving; when boarding, especially with luggage or a baby carriage, he did not need to open the door himself. The driver did not have to get out of the car every time to help passengers with their luggage, now they could do it themselves. For this, among other things, the floor level in the car was lowered. The partition between the driver’s cab and the passenger space protected him not only from a possible attack, but also from infections and colds due to the constantly opening door during the cold season. A sliding door, rather than a swing door, made it possible to use less space for parking the car.

In total, two prototypes of the “promising taxi” were manufactured, one of which worked around Moscow streets for a month. This project was more successful than the one proposed a decade later by the famous Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro. But the car was never released into mass production. Nevertheless, it may well be considered the “predecessor” of the minivans launched into mass production almost 20 years later – some of the most popular types of cars in Europe and America.