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London Taxi always rolls with the times

Same look, big changes mark history of iconic Black Cabs

Joe Duarte
Published: November 3, 2015, 2:05 PM
Updated: November 6, 2015, 1:32 PM

Same look, big changes (Wikimedia Commons/TerriersFan)

Classic cab rolls with the times in the 21st Century. ▲

LTI Taxi

The London Taxi Corporation was producing the iconic London Black Cab - albeit horse-drawn- even before the motorized vehicle was invented. Since 2003, production of the London Taxi, under the London Taxi Company logo, has been the only business for Manganese Bronze Holdings plc. In 2006, Manganese entered into a manufacturing joint venture with Chinese maker Geely to make the iconic cabs in Shanghai, for supply in various Asian countries. The result was the TX4, which was introduced as a prototype to promote the joint-venture. ▲

London Taxi Company TX4

In 2008, Manganese moved all production of the TX4 to Shanghai with the exception of cabs for the UK, which would continue to be built at Coventry. With a look reminiscent of the classic British makes, the TX4 was originally designed to meet European emissions regulations, and has been updated twice since then to keep up with evolving regulations. The exterior has basically stayed the same over the years, with minor tweaks such as a larger grille, and new bumpers and lamps. Updates to mechanicals have included the addition of anti-lock brakes, stability control, tire pressure monitoring, coil rear suspension and diesel particulate filter. ▲

London Taxi Company TX4 interior

Internally, the London Black Cab is one of the most spacious cars on the road, rivalling many larger vehicles with its low-floor mid-sized platform. Their interior seating arrangement has also changed little over the past decades, offering spacious seating for three with room for their carry-along baggage, or expanded with sliding rear seats to create room to transport more luggage or more room for passengers in rear-facing jump seats. Updates have included the addition of head rests, improved intercom and heating/ventilation, and the addition of in-car entertainment. ▲

Nissan NV200 Black Cab interior

All service vehicles performing as London Cabs have to comply with Conditions of Fitness – a set of regulations governed by Transport for London’s Taxi and Private Hire office. The designated passenger seating and interior floor arrangement requirements lend themselves quite well to the growing segment of minivans, which made companies such as Nissan take note in preparing its NV200 for taxi service. ▲

Nissan NV200 Black Cab concept

The Nissan NV200’s small footprint, low floor and wide side door opening make it particular attractive for taxi conversions, as evidenced in its being named New York’s Taxi of the Future. With the general taxi layout already accepted, it then became a fairly easy transition to transform it from a New York Yellow Cab into a London Black Cab. ▲

Nissan NV200 London Taxi 2

Nissan wasn’t quite satisfied with just proposing the NV200 for London Taxi consideration, however, choosing to modify the look of the minivan’s front end to comply more with the classic (and subjectively more-attractive) London Black Cab round-eyed/large-square-grille look. ▲

Nissan NV200 London Taxi EV charging ports

The large grille on the Nissan NV200 London Black Cab concept is actually a fake panel to cover the electric vehicle’s charge ports. Nissan’s electrification plans fit in perfectly with the zero-emission requirements that take effect in 2018 for London Taxis and cars for hire. ▲

London Taxi TX5 plugged in

The change in regulations to require electrification also benefited London Taxi, which was able to leverage its parent company’s expertise – Chinese maker Geely is one of the most prolific makers of electric cars in the world. Taking effect in January 2018, the new regulations require that all London Taxis and cars for hire be capable of no-emissions motoring for at least 30 miles (48.3 km). The new TX5 is a plug-in hybrid, switching between an electric motor and gasoline-fed combustion engine as needed. ▲

London Taxi TX5

London Taxi had planned to update the TX4 in response to the latest round of Euro emissions regulations, and took the opportunity to unveil the new TX5 during the state visit to England by the Premier of China, Xi Jinping. The new London Cab will take advantage of electrification expertise from Chinese automaker Geely (London Taxi’s parent company) for its plug-in hybrid gasoline powertrain. The new car will be made at a new factory in Coventry, the country’s first new auto plant in a decade, with service launch ready for 2017. ▲

Geely Englon TXN concept

The London Taxi TX5 is fairly true to the Geely Englon TXN concept – a study into how the Chinese maker saw the future London Black Cab – introduced at the 2010 Beijing Auto Show. The TXN concept was Geely’s vision of the Hackney Carriage as it entered into its second century as a motorized vehicle. ▲

Metrocab

The other primary manufacturer of London Taxis is Metrocab, which started producing Hackney Carriages in 1987, although its parent company – bus-maker Metro-Cammell-Weymann had had a hand in taxi production (under its various captive companies) since the mid-1950s. Metrocab ceased production in 2006, but got back into the Black Cab business in 2014 with an all-electric car in response to the upcoming change in regulations. Its new model is an extended range electric vehicle (similar to a Chevrolet Volt), using two electric motors and having a gasoline fed engine/generator when it runs out of electric charge. ▲

Metrocab interior

Although it serves the same market and must conform to the same regulations, Metrocab appears to be a more upscale version of the London Cab, with often pristine interiors that feature the same room for six (an optional seventh passenger in the front) with rear-facing jump seats and a split/sliding rear bench, but are enhanced with mood-lighting, light leathers and a panoramic sunroof. Wheelchair access is easy through the large rear doors and open passenger space (as it is in the other London Cabs). ▲

Hansom Cab (Wikimedia Commons/Andrew Dunn)

The Hackney Carriage has taken on the mantle of the London Cab for hire, but the roots of the term go back centuries to the horse-drawn carriage, as you probably guessed. Hackney itself is derived from the French hacquenée, a type of strong horse suitable for drawing carriages over prolonged distances because of its sustained trotting abilities. The first Hackney Carriages date back to Elizabethan England and the first “for hire” carriages are traced back to 1630s. Many auto enthusiasts will know “cab” as a short form for cabriolet (French for convertible). Cabriolets were introduced to England in the mid 1800s, mostly from a design by New York architect Joseph Hansom – lightweight, two-wheeled horse-drawn carriages accommodating two, with the driver behind – and were used for hire alongside the more cumbersome two-horse, four-wheeled, four-passenger “growlers,” whose drivers rode in front. ▲

1939 Morris Super-Six taxicab (Wikimedia Commons/Draco2008)

Motorization naturally took over for the horse and motorized Hackney Carriages started to appear in the late 1890s as electric vehicles, which were in turn replaced by gasoline-engined models early in the 20th Century. As expected the development of the London Taxi followed very closely with the development of native British vehicles, most notably those from Austin and Morris. Austin may be the name mostly associated with the Black Cab but it was Morris who was first out of the gate when Scotland Yard licensed the first taxicab to Morris-Commercial International. Among its innovations were safety glass all around, leather upholstery, and an intercom through which a passenger need only press a button and speak in an ordinary voice to the driver via a microphone. ▲

1933 Austin 12 4 Taxi High Lot (Wikimedia Commons/Clive Barker)

Austin taxicabs came along at about the same time as the Morris units, and carried through the decades becoming the model most associate with the Black Cab, with its unmistakable design in later years. The first Austin models were referred to as High Lot or Upright Grand because they stood much taller than their counterparts, making them more popular to the top-hat wearing crowd and allowing Austin to take over a substantial part of the taxi market. Austin introduced a 7-inch lower “Low-Loading” model in 1934, which reportedly became quite popular for its ease of entry and exit. Mostly all Austin taxicabs had bodies by Mann & Overton. ▲

1946 London Taxi

Mann & Overton are responsible for the evolution of the look of the London Taxi. Not only did the company provide the bodies for the Austins that have become synonymous with the Black Cab, it had a hand in the London taxicab businesss since the early days of the motor vehicle right up through the 1980s. John Mann and John Overton began distributing Unic taxis from France at the dawn of the 20th Century and reached their peak distribution in the mid 1920s. Faced with increasing import tariff costs, they eventually turned their attention to developing Austin’s taxi business in the 1930s and the rest is history. ▲

1937 Beardmore Taxi (Wikimedia Commons/dave_7)

One of the early players in the London Taxicab market was Beardmore Motors. The early years of the industry were populated with importers and assemblers but the Scottish engineering and shipbuilding firm William Beardmore and Company. Beardmore began producing high-quality taxicabs in Paisley after World War I and continued through the late 1950s, when their body-supplier Weymann was bought up by Metropolitan-Campbell (eventually to evolve into Metrocab). ▲

Nuffield Oxford Taxi Series I (Wikimedia Commons/MunBill)

The first new taxicab licensed under the new Conditions of Fitness (then administered by the Metropolitan Police) following the Second World War, it was originally marketed as the Wolseley Oxford Taxi and is primarily known for transporting guests at (now) Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip’s wedding in 1947. It was the last new model launched at Wolseley’s plant in Ward End, and moved to Adderley Park in 1948, continuing through 1953, the year after Nuffield’s holder Morris merged with Austin Motor Company to form the British Motor Corporation. In 1953, the Nuffield Oxford design was scrapped in favour of the Austin FX3 and the rest is history. Of note was that the Nuffield design continued the open luggage platform beside the driver that had characterized London Taxicabs since the dawn of motorization and was a requirement for London Cabs until the late 1950s. ▲

1957 Austin FX3 London Taxi

Probably the granddaddy of the Black Cab, the Austin FX3 was officially adopted as the London Taxicab in 1953, and stayed in active duty until 1958 when it gave way to the iconic Black Cab look that is still evident today. Many of the models retired from active duty on London streets made their way to other parts of England, where they continued as functional taxis until they couldn’t drive any more. The FX3 was the last taxi to have the left-side open luggage platform beside the driver, as its replacement the FX4 was the first four-door taxicab to navigate London streets. ▲

1962 Austin FX4 London Taxi (Wikimedia Commons/MunBill)

In 1958, Austin updated its Taxicab and the FX4 became the face of the Black Cab – an iconic car that is as instantly recognizable worldwide as a Volkswagen Beetle, Ford Mustang or Porsche 911. ▲

London Taxi with advertising livery (Wikimedia Commons/Lemur12)

Although it is collectively referred to as the Black Cab, not all London cabs are black and some have in later years started to accept advertising, which makes them considerably more colourful. ▲

Mercedes-Benz S-Class private hire car (Wikimedia Commons/EI321)

The difference between London Cabs and taxis in other parts of the world isn’t just found in the way they look. There are the types of taxis on London’s streets that would seem more familiar to us in North America. They are commonly referred to as minicabs, though some like the Mercedes S-Class are hardly mini in stature. The difference is that Hackney Carriages can be hailed on the street or hired at taxi ranks (stands) or just about anywhere on the streets of London, but minicabs have to be pre-booked either by phone, online or at the car-service’s office. ▲
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