[Closed] Further information needed on the IXO / Altaya Taxi Models

Peter, this topic will require a lot of research.

Taxis Of The World came out at different times in many European countries and Brazil, as far as I know; many models were repeated, but some were unique. Some are over 10 years old.

There are some new models now, as some countries launched the series all over. Again, not all models are new.

Here is a website that lists many of the series, albeit on French.

http://cntrois.over-blog.com/

Taxis du Monde vs. Taxis of the World

Peter, Taxis du Monde is the current partwork, sometimes called "Taxis du Monde 2.0" with good reason: there was another taxi partwork that preceeded it called "Taxis of the World", which, in France anyway, was sold as "Taxis du Monde". Google "Taxis du Monde 1" and you can find the list of cabs for that original set. The one currently being released actually has its own thread featuring pictures of all models, released and otherwise, on a French model forum.

Thank you both for this valuable info.

I've spent the better part of my day off...

doing the research, Albert you were right! I think I may have a ways to go yet! What I found is that the current "Taxi's of the World ending with #30 '36 Buick, which I must say is quite enticing. I hope that they produce a "street" version too. Then I went to the French site that you had so generously provided the link to and found the original series there, all 70 of them. I also went to eBay in search to see what might still be available, there are still a surprising amount of the originals available. Though ranging in price from around $10 all the way up to around $60. And these prices do not include the shipping costs. If I am going to collect them, I think I better get started! Though I have to say, that not all were to my liking. I'll start with the ones that I either did not find or there was only one being listed. Which means that these must be the hardest to find. Those4 being the Renault Goelette, Willys Jeep Surry, Jeepney, Toyota BJ Safari Park, Hindustan - New Dehli, Holden FE, Tatra, Fiat 600 Jolly, Renault AG1 and a few others.

That 36 Buick New York taxi sure is an interesting subject. How accurate is it?

Anyone on the Forum have any expertise on mid 30s Buick NY taxis? Striking color scheme of orange and cream...do we have any period pictures for a "Terminal Taxi Co"?

It's similar to a real cab company called Arcade, BUT...

...they literally did the 1936 Buick Special from the 1996 film "The Phantom". In fairness, Arcade, which was a small private firm (Dad says he doesn't think it operated outside the Bronx) during the 1930's until the 1970's, had a similar livery, but Dad noted a black band in-between the white top and yellow-orange body. He also said the taxi sign itself was much plainer and just said "taxi".

In fairness, 1936 Buick Specials actually WERE popular as private fleet taxis in NYC, however. My uncle Julius drove one, among other things, and I believe I have a photo of it (but he did NOT drive it for Arcade). Dad believes that due to the "faux Arcade" livery on the movie car, combined with its relatively Spartan interior, that it may have begun life as an Arcade Taxi Company cab; they sold their cabs to buy new ones, after all. At the very least it does seem to have been based on one, though is missing the black band, the logo is obviously different, and the taxi sign is totally different, too.

It's from a make believe movie and doesn't have to be accurate and the Phantom isn't real either.

Pete's model garage has Altaya taxis.

Pete's Model Garage has various taxis from the Altaya series
selling for $9.00. You need to contact him to see what's available. All I know is he doesn't have the NYC Checker cabs.

http://www.petesmodelgarage.com/

You missed my point, I think...

...my point was that unlike, say, the Ford Fordor in Taxis du Monde II modeled on a cab whose livery was created by Disneyworld and was promptly turned around and sold as a "New York City taxi", the livery on this one was close enough to a real cab company that actually used the car in question that it could pass for one without too much suspension of disbelief. Scott asked how realistic the car was. I answered said question, in part on the not-exactly-wild assumption that Scott would be looking for something true to the "New York, 1936" printed on the display stand. I also speculated that due to the unique livery being based on a car that Arcade Taxi Company used, it may have begun life as a real Arcade Taxi. Is there really a need for the sarcasm?

Thanks, J-W! Now that the waters have been thoroughly muddied, I think I'll buy that Buick taxi.

Why? It looks neat.

It would be nice though if the Altaya people would base the car on a real photo or photos. I seem to remember we had the same problem with the Plymouth Savoy (#21). Originally announced as a Baltimore taxi, the final release was "Across The Street Taxis" in Atlanta Georgia...apparently a completely made-up livery.

I don't always get the "fascicule" or booklet that comes with the model, but in that case I did, and was interested to see a photo of the actual taxi my model Plymouth was based on. But the Altaya booklet showed a photoshopped picture of a Savoy dolled up so it would look like the model. Oh the disillusionment! The scales fall from my bright young eyes!

Oh, well, okay, so they're not working too hard on these things and coming up with fantasy liveries. Eeh, wadda you want? They have product to crank out. At least they have some sort of vague, basic shred of truth to them, right? Right?...sigh...maybe they'll come up with an actual photo on #30's fascicule.

The Plymouth Savoy, except for the actual cab company, isn't a made-up livery...

Here's an Atlanta taxi from 1956, also a Plymouth Savoy...

http://donmcclellan.wordpress.com/2011/01/07/a-1956-taxi/

Otherwise, I would agree, however. Some of their cars (the French G8 taxis, for example, the Moscow Maybach taxi is incredibly real[I've even got a photo!], they nailed the GAZ-3110, all the Spanish cabs, the Cuban Lada 1200 limo, the Lada 1200 that has a 1500 grille and engine jury-rigged [as shown in the non-photo-shopped secondary photo; bizarrely, they felt the need to photoshop the main picture, even though they illustrated their very real prototype], the Hindustan Ambassador, and the Austin FX3 that's forthcoming...plus the DeSoto S-11) are basically identical to what the real car was, some get it close but aren't quite there, but others (the Disneyworld ride Ford Fordor, for example) make it a little difficult to suspend disbelief unless you want a Disneyworld ride. On the other hand, I guess if one was looking for a Disneyworld ride, it would make a pretty amusing prop.

By the way, if you don't already have it, I'd also strongly recommend the 1959 Plymouth Savoy Taxi from the James Bond Car Collection. It was neither a prop nor owned by EON Productions. They literally used a real Istanbul taxi to drive halfway down the street to have Sean Connery get out of (next time you watch From Russia with Love, watch the shot as Bond gets out of the car and halfway down the road, you can see an entire FLEET of Plymouths, Dodges, and DeSotos going back to about 1952 and up to about 1960). Since they were filming in Istanbul, they just figured it was cheaper. Still, they apparently wanted a "formal-looking" cab that British audiences might identify with (many Istanbul taxis were simply taxi packages [and, sometimes not!] ordered in the colors one would expect to see from their stock sedan counterparts, then had some checkering painted on!). Thus, they picked a black-colored taxi...which happened to be the '59 Plymouth Savoy!

A Tacotaxi, huh? Will it deliver?

Strange, the inspirations of these Altaya people! Do you think they happened on the blog post and decided to go with this contemporary restaurant for the idea for their Atlanta cab?

Mr. Greenbaum I got your point and there was no sarcasim intended. But Scott Brown asked about accuracy leading one to believe if such a car and company were real and you searched the internet looking for an answer. Most of us know that in the movies accuracy is not always a strong point and that's what my post is based on. Since the car is a Buick it's possible to be a fleet of 1 maybe 2 cars using another company name if one was ever used in the real world.

Who knows? The cab is apparently wearing its original livery, so I'm guessing that's why.