Once again, going on a business trip, I called on convenient, easy-to-remember number of taxis. Usually located in a pleasant colour and touch the Interior of the new Ford Mondeo, suddenly found myself thinking that I was missing something. That's just what? And here I am not clock ticks: ošarašivaet!. .
Anyway, he wasn't there at all. Only a printed price list was available in the driver's arsenal. Although almost a month has passed since the operation without a taxis of cars was outlawed. The chauffeur informed him that the chauffeur had told him that they were not smoking in their cars, and that the first gear had come forward and started to move smoothly. The silence of the salon was broken by the loud music of the speakers ... The Mondeo-Mondeo-taxi is no different from the usual car. There's no counter here. But there is a father with a price list, but for some reason, her accompaniment could not replace the nostalgic ticking that had been interrupted by a periodic click, which marked the change of the figure in the window. Yes, "Volga" was perceptitive, and it was very curd in the corners, and at speeds above 100 km/h, the fuel and oil consumption was simply obscene, but it had a special atmosphereThe atmosphere of the cutters on the lines in time not smear joints of suspension, specific fragrance of the inner lining (with a light fitting of petrol) and of that ticking of the meter. A whiteboard in a young age, would you say? Perhaps. But maybe this is how emotions should be, should I tell you about the cab of the recent past and try to compare it to the current one? Let' s try. The first "Volga" panel is supplemented by a counter. At the time of the shooting, the dollar fell by by 97 kopecks to 71.54 rubles. Pay attention to the real radio station between the front seats to communicate with the dispatcher as a child of the current 40-year-old taxi meter. For some, as a departure from the status of their material wealth (not always legal), for others-as a metronome, the countdown of the facilitating purse, and for the others-as the manning "fire of a big city" with green, naturally, the tide. Previously, the choice was much more modest, but few felt it, because in the taxi business almost only the gas machines were involved: the "quartet" in all their articles, before the 21st, "Pobeda", "Femke" and even the legendary Henry's legendary GAZA. Now the assortment is much wider: from the once-utilitarian Logan to the respectable Mercedes E-Class. But the most popular is the middle. Ford Mondeo belongs to it. It is not convenient to Georgia because of the high edges of the trunk, but by the standards of the owners of "Moskvich" and "Zhiguigi", the giant certainly, modern taxis are safer, because the security perceptions over the past years have changed a lot. Have you ever been able to imagine inflatable curtains, or at least individual head restraints in the backseat? That's it! In the "quartet", at first, even the driver had no such elementary identity as the safety-belt. But in terms of comfort (except for the acoustic), the difference is not so principled. This is particularly good in the back seat. The Sofa Mondeo is almost as soft and spacious as GAZ-24 spring-loaded gallery. With regard to the space for the legs of the rear, too, parity, but regarding the distance to the ceiling of "24-k" would give a head start to a modern "foreigner". It is true that the latter is taken out during the landing process-the landing: the doors are torn wider and the seat cushion is higher. And, of course, the air-conditioner in the car was not even suspected. What about the built-in audio system with MP3, LCD displays, and multifunctional steering. On the other hand, the priority of the "Volga" priority is that it does not feel anything at all. A very scary way of looking at it. In the back of the car the machine is very asphaltic-pay attention to the hand windows. But here is a simple and snug hold of the Mondeo-give to everyone! It is a low case, but it is necessary to push the suitcases under the back of the rear window A driver in the Mondeo is much better than a 40-year-old taxi driver. Mainally in terms of ergonomics. Take at least the exterior rear-view mirrors-Ford has two of them, and they are much larger in size (plus the volume is remotely controlled by means of servo-drives). To talk about the seat-back profile and seat cushion, its ranges and the adjustment possibilities, the steering shape of the steering wheel rim ... The "Volgov" scrawny and slippery baranka had to be able to hold it in his hands. Especially in the steering-amplifier. And with the driver's shapeless driver's seat, the fifth point was all the way to the opposite of the vibration. In general, the difference in the controllability of the taxis of the two eras is roughly the same as the "Underwood" typewriter and the laptop. Ford has a perfect straight line without requiring constant bridesmating. Hunting into turns, and is distinguished by the excellent information of the steering. GAZ-24 is a car that is better not to drive at a speed of more than 100. It's so calm. But in terms of the dynamics, the budget version of Ambiente with 120-strong 1.6-litre engine is like the Volga, with the difference that the first one would refuse to go from the "bottom", and the second, conversely, does not want to "spin." Incidentally, such behaviour of the "wave" powertrain spawed the characteristic manner of driving of the then taxi drivers: they were reduced only when the revolutions fell below idle and flashes in the cylinders could have been counted out aloud. But that, too, was his charm. So, time of action-for example, 1981, the place of action-the Soviet Union. Hand raised-the effect is most likely to be zero: Volga even with a burning green light, like a desire to plant passengers, runs past the most insolent way-either to an order, or to a park, or to choose a better choice for itself. And even in the case of a sharp brake screwup-no, not near you, but meters 30 farther (and you run with hope-will?)-most of all, the non-path response is followed. But where does the taxi driver's path go where the client is going? But in years of total deficit and ideological pumping, the taxi driver was socially antagonized to his passenger-in most cases "shrapnel of the old world", the person is most likely cultural and intelligent. But the "master" choplop felt the same day-and Soviet authorities and ceps-illegals easily caught the waves of the canvas and the hidden meaning of "what do you want?" in a rough question, "where to go?". " First to the Eliseevsky, and then you will get into the square of the Rising, you wait, and a fly on the hippodrome. "I won't hurt you!" Now, the raised arm responds mainly to the bombing of the curb. The initials are mostly ordered. I got the number, called the delivery address and the trip route, figured out the approximate cost and wait for myself. The "legals" still have enough problems to occupy the weighty niche that is assigned to the taxi service in the cities abroad. Civilised parking areas, as in Europe, where cars would be lining up, and the client would sit in the first order, simply not. Another problem is the absence of single call numbers. Dozens of firms offer the same services for more or less the same price. Their often beautiful rooms are easy to meet, and customers tend to be loyal to their familiar taxa. But in the big cities, a hundred-another machine, pinned behind this call number, is a drop in the sea. And waiting for the next free time is 20 to 40 minutes, which is no longer a long time for a mobile person to be employed. In Europe, almost everywhere there is a single number of calls, and the dispatcher sends you the nearest car without turning around the park it belongs to. After all, when tens of thousands of taxis are in the system, the deadline is reduced to a few minutes, even under serious traffic jams. As the taxi driver lived and died, it was not easy to build taxi drivers to work in a taxi cab, and the social status of the taxi driver was high enough. The worst of the work was voluntary, and many were left with her "foot forward"-the mortality from the nervous sedation of the good half did not allow to reach the age pension. Plus, they had been beaten to death by a lot of other people, and there were no straps (and when they were there, they were not allowed to use them in a taxi), and the rubber of the winter had not yet existed. But when they buried the deceased "in the line of duty," were escorted by a column of huddled "Volga" with steps, realizing that everyone could become next. The so-called tape speedometer was very unreliable (by the way, the version of the taxi was digitized to 160, not 180 km/h), and in the mid-70s a new combination of devices with a speed-point sign changed. First, in 1972, the shape of the exterior rear-view mirror and the lock of the boot lock changed. In 1974, massive fangs with rubber inserts appeared on both bumpers, and the speedometer instead of a tape became a meter. In 1977, all lighting equipment changed, and the front panel had acquired a black herbal coating. Well, in the middle of the eighties, there was another, very radical, upgrade-the light saw the modification of 24-10. Again, in the mid-70s, a herbal-proof-proof version of the instrument panel (not only in its upper part, as previously) was raised by foam polyurethane foams. Her middle part was cut by the film "under the tree" In my view. " By the way, there is another problem due to traffic problems-payment in Russian mega-cities is not going the distance, as it was in the whole world and as it was in the Soviet Union, but in time. That is, the problems of heavy traffic are put on the client's shoulders-it is forced to pay each minute of standing in a barely creeping stream. But this "bicycle" has long been invented in the notorious "civilized" countries-taxi cars can move on the free lanes of public transport. Victor Fomin, Editor-in-Chief