Luc Besson wrote the script in 30 days while waiting for Columbia Pictures to commit to the production go-ahead for The Fifth Element (1997).
Just before filming was supposed to begin, director Gérard Pirès fell off a horse and needed to stay in hospital for a few weeks. During this time Gérard Krawczyk (who would later direct the sequels Taxi 2 (2000) and Taxi 3 (2003)) filled in on-set while Pirès watched the dailies at the end of each day to check on the progress of filming.
Shot over a period of 30 days.
When Émilien (Frédéric Diefenthal) is taking his driving lessons, the driving school is called G. Pires, just as the director of the film (Gérard Pirès).
110 cars were used during the making of the film.