Gold Rolls-Royce Phantom Poorly Disguised as a Taxi Is a Sure Way to Get Attention

The world is filled with strange, amazing, horrible, and badass custom rides, including gold-wrapped, gold-plated, or solid-gold cars. This much gold, especially on something that should be, first and foremost, a functional thing is tacky, pointless, and unnecessarily flashy, but to each their own. Those who don’t see any of this when looking at a blinding, gold car are more than welcome to jump into this taxi.

Running for the unofficial title of the world’s strangest and flashiest taxi is an older-model Phantom that’s been roaming the streets of Kerala, India. Though some reports claim it’s gold-plated, in reality, the luxury sedan is only gold wrapped, but that doesn’t take anything away from its attention-grabbing potential.

As you can see in the video at the bottom of the page, every time the gold Phantom taxi is out in the street, it gets the kind of attention an A-list celebrity would command, with people snapping photos and selfies, stopping traffic to get either.

The Phantom is the property of local multi-millionaire Boby Chemmanur, a famous businessman, entrepreneur, and influencer. Doctor Chemmanur got his start by inheriting his family’s gold business, but he’s been able to successfully branch out in a variety of areas, including real estate, wellness, charity, and savings. He’s also a world record holder, officially so, attested by Guinness in 2019 for the largest human image of a peace sign, and the proud owner of the gold taxi, which he occasionally drives himself.

With an estimated net worth of over $100 million, Chemmanur actually boasts a large collection of expensive rides, but the gold taxi is the most famous of the lot, if not the most prized. The businessman bought it at an auction and commissioned it to be wrapped in gold, with the purpose of offering a “unique” experience to tourists staying at his resorts.

With the big unveiling in 2020 came the announcement that this was the first gold Phantom taxi in the world, a claim as bombastic as it was unverifiable. Later, no doubt seeing the kind of attention the vehicle got, Chemmanur expanded the experience to include free rides for guests, as an extra perk.

Obviously, this was and remains a promotional vehicle – and it’s not even the most subtle or particularly creative, either. But it does its job as if it were both to the same extent, and proof of that is in the proverbial pudding, in the way people react to and interact with it. This just goes to show that, as much as we’d like to scoff and laugh at such gaudy, ironically cheap display of wealth and bad taste, you can never go wrong with gold.