Saying Au Revoir To The WORLD’S MOST POPULAR TAXI
IN MOROCCO LOCALS TRAVEL BY GRAND TAXIS, battered but colourful old diesel Mercedes that never let them down. With the government trying to force them off the streets, we hitch a ride to understand their cultural significance, while shedding light on the suffocating legacy of the West’s new car market and the rapid expansion of North African automotive production
END OF AN ERA
Morning at Essaouira’s Place des Grand Taxis is a unique scene. Long before daybreak, drivers start demisting cracked windscreens with filthy wads of old newspaper while oil-covered mechanics coax weary engines back to life, through clouds of blue smoke. Groups of travellers huddle together, dotted among cars. They are waiting for a ride, their faces concealed from the cold by hooded woollen cloaks called Djellabas.
Along the many lines of battered and bruised diesel relics being readied to hit
