New York 2008: Mark Fields hails a Transit Connect Taxi Concept
Posted Mar 19th 2008 11:41AM by
Frank Filipponio
Filed under:
Concept Cars,
New York Auto Show,
Commercial Trucks,
Crossovers/CUVs,
Ford
Click above for a high-res gallery of the Ford Transit Connect Taxi
Where better than New York for Ford to show off a taxi cab? And what better platform than the company's new Transit Connect van? Ford's Mark Fields and designer J. Mays were on hand for the unveiling of the
Transit Connect Taxi Concept, and both were somehow amazed at the applause the concept generated. Seeing as how there were only a handful of us there and that the rest of the crowd consisted of Ford employees, we find it hard to believe there
wouldn't be applause aplenty. Seriously though, this is one fun cab. After spending some time in the regular fleet of bumblebee-colored Crown Vics this past week, we can attest that the Transit Connect Taxi has a lot of things that make it a natural improvement over current standard taxis. Our favorite was the
panoramic roof that allows passengers to take in tall buildings with a single glance, but we also liked the flexible seating and cargo configurations, as well as the
funky interactive infotainment system for the back seat. Although it looks a bit large in photos, the Transit Connect Taxi Concept actually has a small footprint vehicle and seems like it could go four-wide where the Vics can only manage three abreast. Check out the press release after the jump and all of our live high-res pics in the gallery.
So Ford pretty much owns the market with the Crown Vic and now the Escape Hyrbid Taxis,
-What happens when the CV goes out of production in the next few years?
-Would the Transit Connect even be an option if NYC wants to go all Hybrid by 2012?
