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Shanghai’s Copy of the London Black Cabs Will Actually Be Gold

A couple of months after automaker Geely announced they won the contract to run 200 London-like cabs on the street, the same company has said the Shanghai taxis will actually be gold as to “suit the city’s image better.” The first batch of 50 cars will go into service around the National Day holiday, in early October.
Shanghai’s London-like Black Cabs Will Actually Be Gold 8 photos
Photo: www.shanghaidaily.com
Etihad Airways Gold Cab in ManchesterShanghai’s London-like Black Cabs in GoldTX4 Taxi in "Shanghai Auto Show 2007" gold liveryTX4 Taxi in "Shanghai Auto Show 2007" gold livery: sizeTX4 Taxi in "Shanghai Auto Show 2007" gold livery: sideTX4 Taxi in "Shanghai Auto Show 2007" gold liveryTX4 Taxi in "Shanghai Auto Show 2007" gold livery
The cabs are more spacious than standard models and primarily aimed at providing a taxi service for elderly and disabled customers. They will have accessibility fittings and take bookings mainly through dispatch systems to carry passengers with special requirements.

The image of the new taxis were released yesterday by Geely. Reports claim the starting fare in such a cab would be 19 yuan ($3 or EUR2.32), which means it’s more expensive than the typical starting fare for regular, non-gold cabs downtown. Moreover, the charge for each kilometer after the initial charge will be 2.6 yuan ($0.42 or EUR0.33), which is 5 yuan more than the current flag down rate. However, the city’s transit authority has not yet confirmed the fare.

One might wonder why this Gold hue was selected. Truth be told, no explanation has been given for the choice. Admitedly, Chinese regard Yellow as one of the five “superior colors” that represent the elements, while the obivous world-wide association with wealth is also here. Or perhaps this is all thanks to the fact that the operator, Qiangsheng, already runs a fleet of Gold Volkswagen taxis.

Qiangsheng is Shanghai’s biggest taxi firm and the same company that won the contract to run 200 cabs, in July. Back then, they announced the new fleet will be made out of Geely’s China-made TX4 taxi, the same model as the famous black cabs from London. Initially, the cars were supposed to be finished in black, but according to Shanghai Daily, they will be gold instead.

This isn’t even the first time when the famous Black Cab turns Gold. Geely itself has done this in the past, while the UK also welcomed such taxis - back in 2009, a dozen cabs in Manchester were dressed in the Gold livery of Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways - we’ve attached a photo below (the mascots in the image make sure you won’t miss it).

Nonetheless, since Geely only offered us one pic, albeit from the production line, we’ve decided to give you a better view of the vehicle in a scale model form, as you can see below. It's not the exact car, but you get the... picture.
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