All hail the New York City taxicab

Over my brief tenure at Automotive News, I’ve had the privilege to test-drive a few dozen of the auto industry’s newest and finest cars.There have been the cars that reminded me of the young man I once was: a committed mass-transit commuter who occasionally needed wheels to pop into the city after-hours, or haul more than two arms’ worth of groceries to the old apartment. Basic, reliable, easy-to-park transportation with a trunk. Toyota Corolla. Kia Rio. Good times.There have been the cars that appeal to the planet-hugging, power-sacrificing team player I know I ought to be. Toyota Prius. Chevy Spark EV. Ford C-Max Energi.There have been the cars that occupied my driveway for a night, and my dreams ever since. Audi S7. Porsche 911S. BMW 650i Gran Coupe. [Insert sound Roy Orbison makes.]But when, I have long wondered, will I be offered a vehicle that truly speaks to the person I am today? Someone who must shuttle kids to school and their swim lessons and basketball games, but who is hypersensitive to distracting noise from the back seat. Someone who is always game for an airport run, and who considers it his obligation to load and unload the family’s luggage after trips. Someone who would much rather take a circuitous detour than idle in traffic; after all, time is money.When will that vehicle come along?It finally did this week, when Dan, guardian of our office test-car fleet, approached me with a single key on a ring and a photo of the corresponding vehicle parked in the garage. It was a Nissan NV200 -- purpose-built to be the next New York City taxicab.Did I mention I’m an immigrant from South Asia?Flat fare to JFKNV200 cabs began hitting the streets of New York last fall, two years after Nissan won a bid to design the Taxi of Tomorrow under a plan that would have made it the exclusive supplier to the city’s taxi fleet.Presumably, if the NV200 could make it there, it could make it anywhere. But why presume? Why not take this opportunity to see just how well a New York cab would fare for a day in Michigan -- not as a Detroit taxi, but as a family hauler?The vehicle supplied by Nissan was easy to find in our garage. It was, after all, taxicab yellow, and branded with near-authentic New York details: A decal that said “Flat fare to JFK,” a fake Taxi & Limousine Commission medallion (the real ones can cost over $1 million) and even some specks of asphalt spray on the hood.But it may as well have had my name written all over it.The NV200 knows what it is. It is not a performance car or a luxury car. It is not a symbol of prestige or achievement. It is, at heart, a public conveyance, a way to get from Point A to Point B, possibly by way of Point L.The infotainment system is standard-issue Nissan, with satellite radio and a utilitarian nav. Buttons are basic black plastic, except for the silver gray ones on the steering wheel. Yet it’s got enough considerate touches to make for a safe, comfortable, productive ride for a rear-seat passenger, and a not-so-shabby mobile workplace for the fellow in the driver’s seat.This was a vehicle built for New York, so I thought I’d break it in on familiar ground. On the first leg, I detoured off a congested “expressway” and onto Woodward Avenue, a busy but free-flowing boulevard that slices diagonally across our region’s urban street grid. Consider it the Broadway of Detroit. Here, I aimed for every pothole I could find.

All hail the New York City taxicab

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