The Austin FX3 is a
taxicab
A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...
that was sold in the United Kingdom by the
Austin
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
from 1948 to 1958. It was designed to comply with the
Metropolitan Police
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...
Conditions of Fitness
The Metropolitan Conditions of Fitness for Taxis set out the requirements for vehicles that may be used as licensed Hackney carriage taxi cabs in London. They are what makes London's taxis unique in the world and are governed by Transport for L ...
for
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
taxicabs, but was also used in other towns and cities in the UK. It was commissioned from Austin by taxi dealers
Mann & Overton
Mann & Overton Limited owned and operated a motor vehicle dealers business previously known as Mann & Overton's and established 14 May 1901 which came to specialise in the supply and financing of London taxicabs, first Unic then Austin Taxicabs, ...
and built by
Carbodies
The London Taxi Company was a taxi design and manufacturing company based in Coventry, England. It formerly traded as London Taxis International and Carbodies.
It operated a coachbuilding business on Holyhead Road, Coventry. After half a c ...
of
Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...
on a chassis supplied by Austin.
Prototype
The first prototype, the FX had a 1.8-litre sidevalve engine that proved inadequate for the job. The second prototype, the FX2 had a 1.8-litre petrol engine, but this was replaced by the third version, the FX3, which had a 2.2-litre ohv petrol engine. Fitted with an all-steel body from Carbodies the FX3 was registered as JXN 842, and it and the FX2 (registered as JXN 841) went on test in the summer of 1948. It was announced at the
Commercial Motor Exhibition in the following November and went into full production in 1949.
Following on from previous designs of London taxi, the FX3 had a traditional 3-door body, with an open luggage platform rather than a front passenger seat beside the driver. The FX3 was fitted with mechanical brakes, with rod operation, beam axles on leaf springs and a built-in Jackall hydraulic jacking system. Like all London taxis, it has a tight turning circle of 25 ft (7.6m) diameter, as required by the Conditions of Fitness.
The petrol engine proved too expensive to run and a conversion to a
Standard Standard may refer to:
Symbols
* Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs
* Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification
Norms, conventions or requirements
* Standard (metrology), an object th ...
diesel engine was offered by taxi and bus proprietors
Birch Brothers
Birch Brothers was a bus and coach operator in south east England.
History
William Birch started running horse-drawn cabs in London in 1837. After his death in 1846 his widow, Elizabeth, took over the business and in 1847 extended it to inclu ...
of
Kentish Town
Kentish Town is an area of northwest London, England in the London Borough of Camden, immediately north of Camden Town. Less than four miles north of central London, Kentish Town has good transport connections and is situated close to the ope ...
. A 3-litre Perkins engine was also offered and these, as well as pressure for Mann & Overton prompted the Austin Motor Company to develop their own diesel engine. This appeared in 1956 and quickly became the most popular choice in the FX3. The FX3's manual transmission has four forward speeds plus reverse, with synchromesh on all but first gear. In 1957-1958 a series of automatic transmission test vehicles were manufactured, of which only two are known to survive.
Outside London, cab operators in major UK cities like
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
,
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
,
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
and
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
ran FX3s, either bought new or when they were retired from service in the capital. Examples of four-door FX3s were known to run in Manchester, where, in common with every other UK local authority outside London different taxi licensing regulations were enforced. Several FX3s were exported to
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
, Spain and proved successful. Attempts to sell them to the United States were a failure.
![2010 NEC Clsassic Car Show DSC 1457 - Flickr - tonylanciabeta](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/2010_NEC_Clsassic_Car_Show_DSC_1457_-_Flickr_-_tonylanciabeta.jpg)
A Hire Car version, the FL1 was also made, which had four full doors, a bench front seat,
column gear-change and an umbrella-type handbrake handle. The two occasional seats faced forward. A 'driveaway' chassis-cab was also supplied to outside coachbuilders. Several shooting brake ('woodie' ) bodies were made, as well as newspaper vans for the three London evening papers, the Star, News and Standard. A number of hearse bodies were also mounted on FL1 chassis by such coachbuilders as Simpson and Slater,
Alpe and Saunders
The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...
,
Arthur Mulliner
Arthur Mulliner was the 20th century name of a coachbuilding business founded in Northampton in 1760 which remained in family ownership. The business was acquired by Henlys Limited in 1940 and lost its separate identity.
Mulliner Northampton
...
and Woodall Nicholson. Undoubtedly the most remarkable body built on an FX3 chassis belonged to Armenian oil magnate
Nubar Gulbenkian
Nubar Sarkis Gulbenkian ( hy, Նուպար Սարգիս Կիւլպէնկեան; 2 June 1896 – 10 January 1972) was an Armenian-British business magnate and socialite born in the Ottoman empire. During World War II, he helped organize the u ...
. Built by London coachbuilders
FLM Panelcraft
FLM (Panelcraft) Limited was a small coachbuilding firm in Battersea, London which, in addition to other work, specialized in converting saloon cars to estate cars or convertibles. FLM also did major restoration of valuable old cars and design ...
, it was an open-drive town car, with carriage lamps and wickerwork decoration on the body sides. It was powered by a Ford six cylinder engine.
[Bonhams 1783. 14 Aug 2015. Lot 42 The ex-Nubar Gulbenkian 1960 AUSTIN FX4 BROUGHAM SEDANCA](_blank)
/ref>
The FX3 was a popular model. Out of a combined production total of 12,435 FX3 and FL1 models, 7,267[Mann & Overton sales records] were licensed in London between 1948 and the end of production in 1958.
The FX3 was replaced in 1958 by the Austin FX4
The Austin FX4 is a hackney carriage that was produced from 1958 until 1997. It was sold by Austin from 1958 until 1982, when Carbodies, who had been producing the FX4 for Austin, took over the intellectual rights to the car. Carbodies continu ...
, but continued in use in London until 1968. Many other examples ran for longer outside London. In turn, the FX4 ceased production in 1997 and was replaced by the TX series.
The Austin FX3 is still sought after by collectors and enthusiasts of vintage London Transport. Several Austin FX3s have been shipped to the United States of America and to continental Europe by collectors, hobbyists and for use as advertisement icons.
Carbodies became part of LTI (London Taxis International) and from 2010 is known as The London Taxi Company
The London Taxi Company was a taxi design and manufacturing company based in Coventry, England. It formerly traded as London Taxis International and Carbodies.
It operated a coachbuilding business on Holyhead Road, Coventry. After half a c ...
.
See also
*Taxicabs of the United Kingdom
Taxicabs are regulated throughout the United Kingdom, but the regulation of taxicabs in London is especially rigorous with regard to mechanical integrity and driver knowledge. An official report observed that: "Little however is known about ...
*Hackney carriage
A hackney or hackney carriage (also called a cab, black cab, hack or London taxi) is a carriage or car for hire. A hackney of a more expensive or high class was called a remise. A symbol of London and Britain, the black taxi is a common ...
References
Other sources
* Public Carriage Office archives
* Overton family private documents
* Town Police Clauses Act 1847
The Town Police Clauses Act 1847 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (10 & 11 Vict c. 89). The statute remains in force in both the United Kingdom (except Scotland) and the Republic of Ireland, and is frequently used by local coun ...
* Austin FX3 brochure
* Birch family private archive
* A Pictorial history of the British Hearse Dean Reader
* Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders production figures
* Mann & Overton sales records
Taxi History – London Vintage Taxi Association
LTI's History
Further reading
* Bill Munro, ''London Taxis - a Full History'', Earlswood Press 2011
*Nick Georgano
George Nicolas "Nick" Georgano (29 February 1932 – 22 October 2017[Nick Georgano](_blank)
Alvis Archive Bl ...
& Bill Munro, ''The London Taxi'', Shire Publications 2009
*Colin Peck, ''British Woodies from the 1920s to the 1950s'', Veloce
*Dean Reader, ''A Pictorial History of the British Hearse'', Classic Hearse Register 2008
{{London Hackney Carriage Taxicabs
Taxis of the United Kingdom
Taxi vehicles
FX3