PremierPadmini

01

Origins

Premier Automobiles began building Fiat's 1100 in Bombay in 1964, and as the Premier Padmini — named for a Rajput queen — it became one of India's two automotive constants, sharing the licence-raj road with the Hindustan Ambassador for three decades. Compact, repairable and fond of overloading, it conquered the taxi trade utterly: the black-and-yellow Padmini became Bombay's moving emblem, its Fiat twin-headlamp face known to every Indian. Production continued little-changed until 2000, protected by import walls and sustained by mechanics who could rebuild one blindfolded. Mumbai's last Padmini taxis retired only in 2023, mourned like landmarks. Few cars anywhere have been so completely absorbed by a city; the Padmini stopped being Italian within a decade and never stopped being Bombay's.