Mumbaikars have bid farewell to the iconic Premier Padmini taxi, fondly called the “kaali peeli,” as part of the government”s launch of app-based cab services. On social media, Mumbaikers took a moment to reminisce about the glory of the Premier Padmini, which reigned the roads for almost six decades.

Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra also remembered the classic Premier Padmini with a touching note on X (formerly Twitter), thanking Kaali-Peeli taxis for the good times they provided.

As the iconic car vanished from Mumbai roads, Mahindra was overwhelmed with memories. The young generation may find the Premier Padmini to be clunkers, uncomfortable, unreliable, and noisy, with little baggage capacity.

From today, the iconic Premier Padmini Taxi vanishes from Mumbai’s roads. They were clunkers, uncomfortable, unreliable, noisy. Not much baggage capacity either. But for people of my vintage, they carried tons of memories. And they did their job of getting us from point A to… pic.twitter.com/weF33dMQQc

— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) October 30, 2023

But for people of Mahindra”s era, they carry tons of memories. “And they did their job of getting us from point A to point B. Goodbye and alvida, kaali-peeli taxis. Thank you for the good times…” Mahindra wrote in his tweet.

The Premier Padmini was first introduced as a taxi in Mumbai in 1964, and its popularity grew over the years. However, on October 29, 2003, the era of Premier Padmini taxis came to an end when the last of these vehicles were registered as cabs.

The last car was owned by Kareem, who purchased his taxi for Rs. 1,70,000 in 2003. He has a few regular customers who travel to their workplaces in his cab every day, and he looks for other passengers during the rest of the day.

Although it is a fuel-intensive car that requires Rs. 500 worth of petrol to earn Rs. 1,000, he is reluctant to switch to another vehicle. “I love it when people see the taxi and are delighted. It’s a joy to drive around,” he said.