Old taxicabs are interesting relics, especially in a time when the classic taxi model is quickly disappearing under the crush of driver-owned ride shares that are as random as what’s in your neighbor’s driveway. The Checker Marathon cab was the first to meet its demise, and then we saw the Panther platform leave the lineup. There were countless others, but if you happened to be known as the “Taxi King” in Rio de Janeiro, you can just keep all the retired models inside the same farm structure where the pigs go to feed. Find the whole story and photos here on Motor1, and thanks to Barn Finds reader Dave H. for the find.
Now, finds like these aren’t going to make anyone significantly wealthier, and certainly not the Taxi King. The collection largely consists of the typical economy car fodder that are used for taxis in foreign countries. The U.S. seemed to skirt outside these norms, as pre-Uber you’d never see a Nissan Sentra used for inner-city hired transport. The collection in Rio consists mostly of 1992 and 1993 Chevrolet Chevette L 1.6/S and Chevette Junior 1.0 models, which are obviously an era of the econobox model not sold in the states. There’s also a few oddballs outside of the fleet of Chevettes, including a Volkswagen Gol and a Chevy Corsa.
The cabs obviously racked up high miles, and of course, these vehicles are hardly used delicately. Condition is an afterthought, and while seeing the paint look relatively fresh on the air cleaner assembly is reassuring, it’s likely one of the few details that remains in good shape on this example. The story behind the cab collection is pretty intriguing, as the Taxi King had them stored in a warehouse he owned for years. Eventually, he passed away, and his heirs became responsible for managing the collection. Then, a fair offer came along for the warehouse property, so the building was sold and the collection relocated to the family farm.
The interior on this model actually looks fairly clean, aside from the thick coating of dust. That said, none of these classic cabs are headed for restoration. As the article notes, most are going to be used as parts cars for other Chevettes that are (shockingly) still on the road. The average selling price has ranged from $240 to $370, so if you’re in the vicinity (and if any are left – one guy bought ten), head over to the pig farm and get yourself an ex-cab Chevette that once belonged to the Taxi King of Rio.
The coupes actually look like the Opels sold in America alongside the Manta. Of course, these look nothing like the US Chevy Chevette, which would make a sad taxicab!
Not very strange really, the Brazilian Chevette IS a variant of Opel Kadett C. Actually both the Braz and US Chevettes are based on this same GM T-car platform. GM do Brasil has a long tradition of producing local variants of Opels just wearing the Bowtie instead, and also once they’ve tooled up they tend to manufacture these ‘Opelolets’ several years after being deleted from the original Opel markets.
Except from Africa there were GM T-car variants manufactured on all continents with almost every GM badge. There was even a GMC(!) Chevette made in Argentina
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_T_platform_(1973)
Brings to mind the old joke often attributed to lawyers…What do you call 60 Chevettes locked into an old warehouse?
I wonder why they blurred out the gauges in the interior shot, must have been NSFW.
Yeah, one of those days.
Found were they missing.
Let’s all chip in, buy the rest, and hold a Chevette spec-racer series.
I am shocked that anyone would put any effort into moving them anywhere except to the crusher.
I would love one of these
I was thinking the same thing! Lol
why?
60 Chevettes under one roof? Am I the only one getting a boner here?
Mike…..
Looks like it…..
Might be enough good parts there to make a whole car.
Whole car, but not a whole good car! What if they are all broken in the same way and need the same repair, each and every one of them?
Future bean cans.
60 Chevrolet Chevettes? Wow, they must be worth a total of 150 US dollars!
As I live down here, here’s a little explainer about the “SCRAP” status. You pay rego every year whether it is on the road or not until it is 25 years old (in many states) and then you only pay a small token payment. It sucks and it often makes cars this crappy already not viable to put back on the road because all that owed back rego has to be paid. So it looks like the owner has had them permanently annulled from the vehicle registry, an act that in not reversible.
To make it all worse, it’s normal down here to see leadfoots rack up huge fines and rego can’t be renewed each year until all fines are paid. The fines for speeding etc are connected to the car, not the driver, he only gains points until his license is cancelled. So the owner often decides to stop paying rego at all and just drives it until it breaks or is impounded in a traffic stop. After that, the owner has 3 months to collect or it is sold and all cars over a certain age have their rego cancelled and are sold as scrap parts only. I’ve seen cars here for sale that make me cry when I realize it can never be driven on the road again.
So what you’re saying is that you pay an annual road fee, and once you withdraw the vehicle from active duty you still have to pay? And if you decide to unregister the vehicle you cannot license it again in any future…? Almost like a certificate of destruction? How is it if one of those vehicles were exported?
Yup, yup and more yup. All true. The nimber plate os connected to the VIN and once that plate is annuled, it’s scrap. You could export them of course but most stuff here is not worth exporting. What are exported a lot are the home grown Brazilian beetle based stuff like the SP2 and the Brazilian Karmann Ghia TC, most of which go to Europe. Because of these laws and the fact that not a lot of interesting stuff ever came here, means that the old car resto scene is crappy as and very limited. I had a Brazilian bodied VW Type 3 notchback here for a while a few years back but there is very little here left to restore and getting stuff in from neighbouring Uraguay, a country rich in old US and European iron, is complicated and expensive. You will find a few old Mavericks here but anything odd mostly came in with diplomats and stayed here or were imported by the real one percenters here.
Well, if I spent any time at all in Brazil I’d definately keep my eyes open for my personal Brazilian favorite, the Chev Opala SS 4100, to bring back home! 😁
Well explained.
That’s exactly it.
Back in high school I used to tell people I drove a Vette, sadly it was a CheVette. Yep, my Vette was a chick magnet! Maybe not. It was crazy times back then in the math lab.
Math or meth lab?
Howie, I was the coolest nerd in Math lab. All the cheerleaders friend zoned me!
Insure the building and this stuff…..pay Joe a couple bucks to throw a match in on a late night….and walk away…..sorry.
How sad.
Seems strange to use a two door for a taxi cab? Hummmm