Jean-Phillippe Lajoie Dorval (zwiti) was inspired to build this can by the comic book “Les cercles du pouvoir,” which also inspired the film, The Fifth Element. It looks like they didn’t change the style much for the movie, because this is a great likeness of the cabs in the movie. It looks accurate right down to a door with a hinge on top.
It would be more accurate to say that the artist who drew “Les cercles de pouvoir” (Jean-Claude Mezieres) later worked as one of the main concept artists on The Fifth Element, contributing in part the taxi design. Another French comic book artist, Moebius, was also one of the main designers, and the famous fashion designer Jean-Paul Gauthier helped turned their concepts into costumes. The overall look of the film owes much to French sci-fi comics in general, and in turn had an influence on the output of French sci-fi artists, but the story is an original creation of Luc Besson, the director.