Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Dec. 1 -- A prototype of a new taxicab has attracted stares -- and even a few obscene gestures -- from motorists along the Grand Strand.
Officials at Coastal Cab in Myrtle Beach have signed a franchise agreement with a Florida-based company that specializes in cabs that resemble NASCAR race cars.
A multicolored look-alike of Jeff Gordon's Chevrolet has drawn cheers from the Winston Cup champion's fans and jeers from his detractors ever since the cab arrived in Myrtle Beach last weekend.
All the attention -- good and bad -- is an excellent marketing ploy, which is what convinced Coastal Cab to sign up as the 17th franchisee with the Racecab taxi company in Tallahassee, Fla. Racecab is owned by Rick Heuser, a former NASCAR Busch Series and ARCA driver.
The Florida company's fleets will feature cars bearing the marking and color schemes of various professional racers. Cab drivers also will wear clothing resembling race car driver uniforms.
Racecab has advertising contracts with national and worldwide companies such as soft drink and beer distributors, tire manufacturers and paint suppliers that will have their logos placed on the cabs.
The cabs also feature a computerized tracking system that helps dispatchers pinpoint a cab's specific location when customers request their favorite driver's car.
An internal camera also allows franchise owners to monitor the speed, behavior and location of each driver.
This feature, which also serves as a theft deterrent, is designed to discourage drivers from mimicking professional racers.
'[The] only drivers we'll have in the cars are the best of the best of the best,' said David Welles of Surfside Software Systems, a Clearwater, Fla.-based company that supplies the technology for the fleets.
On Monday, Welles was at Coastal Cab completing computer upgrades on the cabs.
Curtis Fredericks, public relations manager for Coastal Cab, said the company is in the process of awaiting certification from city officials for 10 taxicabs.
'This fits very well with Horry County and businesses in the area,' Fredericks said. 'We got Busch [circuit] races on U.S. 501, four different tracks and NASCAR Cafe. [Auto racing] is the fastest-growing spectator sport in the United States.'
Racecab's target markets are the cities where NASCAR has races and where racing is very popular.
'Myrtle Beach is one of these unique 17 cities that showed interest,' Welles said. 'Growth is here and a fan base is here.'
Within the next six months, the company wants to be in 47 cities across the country.
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