Wait, if it has a see-through roof...what will the Cash Cab be like?

TLC Chairman David Yassky also says the winning car must be an "iconic vehicle that can be identified with New York City and exemplifies the character of the city."

Hey- what the hell kind of spec is this?!?

This seems to have been dreamed up in the contemplation of the mind of god! (Sheesh- What a joke!)

I think it look Great and very futuristic, and knowing Turkish auto makers provides %65 of Europes cars l would say go for it,

it look great and very sleek, it is not a gass googler so fares won't go up incase oil raise, wheel chair that is a great touch, and for those who are hateful for any race of people whom made comments here take your hate to yuor bed, and dream in it,

it is noce car we have to give them credit , and it is the front runner for a reason.

The Turks are anything but leaders in automotive engineering and design… What makes anyone think this thing is going to meet the long-term requirements? Color me skeptical.

The other thing is, Taxi operators need plentiful access to cheap parts. I don’t think that is going to happen if the city chooses a proprietary (at least in the USA) vehicle design. This leads me to vote for something like Ford’s Transit Connect, where there are civilian versions already roaming the country.

I have some Transit Connect Taxi pictures from the 2009 NYIAS on my flickr page in anyone is interested.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/glennqnyc/page9/

Not saying anything about the Turk's entry, but the Transit looks fine until someone is in it.

That looks like two average-sized dudes, yet their knees are at rib level ... not exactly comfortable seating. MINI's have better seating than that.

Eek.

Protectionism, especially for major capital investments, is short-sighted. I'm glad the city went international for this and did not bend to the whims of porcine unions and inept American firms crying poverty and patriotism. If Hiroshi Mustafa's widget is better than Johnny Hayseed's dingus, then let the better man win regardless of nationality.

Maybe the Turks will get the IHH to fill the cars with knives, bulletproof vests, sniper scopes, night vision equipment and convicted terrorists like those on the Mavi Marmara that attacked Israelis and then claim that "humanitarian aid" was onboard even though NONE was found on 3 of the 7 ships:

1) Erdinç Tekir – IHH operative wounded aboard the Mavi Marmara, was involved in the violent 1996 terrorist attack on the Russian ferry Avrasya to bargain for the release of Chechen terrorists from Russian prisons . He was convicted & sentenced to eight years in prison, but served only 3 years.

2) Raed Salah- Leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, previously convicted by Israeli court for raising money for Hamas

3) Hilarion Capucci was a Vatican bishop in Syria convicted and sentences to 12 years in prison for running guns and explosives for the PLO, in his official Mercedes while the PLO was massacring Christians in towns like Damour.

4) Hassan Aynsey (28), a member of a Turkish charity association, regularly transfers funds to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group.

5)Hussein Orush, from the Turkish IHH organization, intended to assist al-Qaeda activists into the Strip via Turkey.

6) Ahmed Omemun (51) from Morocco, who also has French citizenship, is a Hamas member.

7) Amin Abu-Rashid, 43, chief fundraiser of Hamas in Western Europe

8) Yasser Muhammed Sabag, Syrian intel officer working with Iran and others according to Serbian news agency FOCUS (He was an active member of Abu Nidal terrorist organization)

TLC should require the next gen cab to be a hybrid running on biodiesel or SVO (straight vegetable oil). With the hundreds of thousands of restaurants in the city, all the used deep fryer oil is a huge, untapped source of fuel that could help reduce our dependence on foreign oil. And who would really mind a taxi that smells like french fries? Sure beats the alternative.

Heh. I guess it'd more specifically be based on this version:

http://www.fordvehicles.com/trucks/transitconnect/features/#page=Feature8

See? Not a work van at all!

that is incredible. pathetic.

i can't even get past the typos on the website to try and start to wrap my head around that hideous derivative turd as a set of design "responses". a fleet of those things waddling from red light to red light through the city would be really _________.

turkish people are majorly muslim. Anyone guess how's this gonna play out?

you are a red neck, what anthig to do with been muslim, why dont you take your hate to your bed and drown in it in your dreams and when you wake up you re live it for making a comment such as someones religion, ignorant redneck

It's pretty pathetic that not one American car company could manage to bring themselves to build a decent enough cab. I feel like a cliche saying that, but it's a damn shame.

Ford and GM were the other two companies that submitted entries. Ford's is a version of this van:

http://www.fordvehicles.com/trucks/transitconnect/

According to the TLC, the "process is far from complete", there are no frontrunners at this stage, and most likely each of the four companies will be asked to make some changes and re-submit an entry.

What sparked the story, apparently, is that the Turkish company put out a press release claiming to be in the lead.

jeez, ford - retarded much? "well, we do already make an ugly-ass work van - perhaps we could paint it yellow..."

c'mon america - get up off your ass on this. the industrial design kids at schools everywhere are falling all over themselves about this stuff - call them in if you're imaginations really have packed up and left. are we really this pathetic? christ.

I refuse to get in any car with the back seats almost directly against the back of the car. If you get rear ended, you're effed.

+1

i suppose we're supposed to be excited about sending our tax dollars to foreign corporations?