The London Taxi Company was a

taxi 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 choic ...

design and manufacturing company based in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the 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 city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

, England. It formerly traded as London Taxis International and Carbodies. It operated a coachbuilding business on Holyhead Road, Coventry. After half a century making short runs of limited demand bodies for major manufacturers it was obliged to replace these now moribund activities and in 1971 took from its former customer and supplier of taxi chassis,

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 ...

, the manufacture of complete London taxicabs. Two years later was bought by

Manganese Bronze Holdings Manganese Bronze Holdings plc (MBH) was the holding company of LTI Limited. The firm's sole business in its final years as a company was London black taxicab manufacturing through the LTI subsidiary. The Manganese Bronze and Brass Co was fou ...

. Rebranded as The London Taxi Company in October 2010, it was placed in administration in October 2012, with certain assets purchased by

Geely Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd (ZGH), commonly known as Geely (吉利 "auspicious"), is a Chinese multinational automotive company headquartered in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. The company is privately held by Chinese billionaire entrepreneur ...

to form what is now the London EV Company.

History

The origins of The London Taxi Company can be traced to 1919, when Robert 'Bobby' Jones, a former general manager at coachbuilder Hollick & Pratt took over the coachbuilding operations of his then employer, timber merchants Gooderhams and set up in business in premises acquired from Thomas Pass in West Orchard,

1919-1954

Standardised Coachwork

Hillman Minx sports tourer manufactured 1934 1185 cc

Rather than make bespoke bodies to individual designs, Carbodies set out to produce coachwork to a number of standardised designs for car companies that did not have their own coachbuilding facilities. Their first major customers during the 1920s were MG and

Alvis Cars Alvis Car and Engineering Company Ltd was a British manufacturing company in Coventry from 1919 to 1967. In addition to automobiles designed for the civilian market, the company also produced racing cars, aircraft engines, armoured cars and oth ...

. The scale of a new contract to build bodies for the MG M-Type Midget meant that they needed larger premises and in 1928, they moved to a larger site on Holyhead Road, where they remain to this day. In the 1930s, they supplied bodies for

Rover Rover may refer to: People * Constance Rover (1910–2005), English historian * Jolanda de Rover (born 1963), Dutch swimmer * Rover Thomas (c. 1920–1998), Indigenous Australian artist Places * Rover, Arkansas, US * Rover, Missouri, US * ...

, Invicta and Railton, but by far their biggest and most important customer in that decade was the

Rootes Group The Rootes Group or Rootes Motors Limited was a British automobile manufacturer and, separately, a major motor distributors and dealers business. Run from London's West End, the manufacturer was based in the Midlands and the distribution and de ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

the company made bodies for military vehicles. They also acquired press tools through the

Lend-Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...

scheme, which enabled them to make aircraft components. In 1943, Carbodies also became a limited company at this time, with Bobby Jones as governing director and his son, Ernest Jones managing director.

Taxicabs, Convertibles, Daimlers and other Postwar Vehicles

After the war, Carbodies negotiated with

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

taxi dealer

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, e ...

and

to make bodies for the Austin FX3 taxi, introduced in 1948, as well as finishing and delivering the complete vehicles. More than 7,000 FX3s, mainly destined for London, were produced over 10 years. They also developed a system for turning modern all-steel saloon cars into convertibles. This work was carried out on the early unit construction

Hillman Minx The Hillman Minx was a mid-sized family car that British car maker Hillman produced from 1931 to 1970. There were many versions of the Minx over that period, as well as badge-engineered variants sold by Humber, Singer, and Sunbeam. From t ...

, the

Austin Somerset :''See Austin A40 for other A40 models.'' The Austin A40 Somerset is a motor car which was produced by the Austin Motor Company from 1952 until 1954. The Somerset replaced the Austin A40 Devon and, as a body-on-frame car, it was comparable in ...

and

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester, England, Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. ...

, the Ford Mk1 Consul and Zephyr and, later the Mk2 Ford Consul, Zephyr and

Zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. The pa ...

BSA ownership (1954-1973)

In 1954, Bobby Jones sold Carbodies to the BSA Group, who put it under the control of its prestige car company, Daimler. Although it was intended for Carbodies to become the manufacturing plant for Daimler steel bodies, this was never fulfilled. It did, however convert the

Conquest Conquest is the act of military subjugation of an enemy by force of arms. Military history provides many examples of conquest: the Roman conquest of Britain, the Mauryan conquest of Afghanistan and of vast areas of the Indian subcontinent, ...

saloon into a drophead, using the same methods they used on Fords and Austin and also made a drophead coupe body for the Daimler Conquest Roadster and made bodies for the Daimler Majestic and Majestic Major saloons. Under BSA, manufacturing facilities were extended and more plant installed. In 1958, Carbodies began manufacturing the body and carrying out the assembly, finishing and delivery of the most important vehicle in their history, the Austin FX4 taxi. Carbodies also supplied prototype bodies and tooling, projects including the

Jaguar E-type The Jaguar E-Type, or the Jaguar XK-E for the North American market, is a British sports car that was manufactured by Jaguar Cars Ltd between 1961 and 1974. Its combination of beauty, high performance, and competitive pricing established the m ...

bonnet and panels for Triumph, Ariel and BSA motorcycles and scooters. Further contracts undertaken during the 1960s and early 1970s were the conversion of Humber Hawk and Super Snipe,

Singer Vogue The Singer Vogue name has been applied to two generations of motor cars from the British manufacturer Singer. Vogue Series I/II/III/IV The first generation Singer Vogue I/II/III/IV models of 1961 to 1966, was a badge engineered version of the ...

and

Triumph 2000 The Triumph 2000 is a mid-sized, rear wheel drive automobile which was produced in Coventry by the Triumph Motor Company between 1963 and 1977. It was introduced on 15 October 1963. It was styled by Giovanni Michelotti. It competed with the ...

saloons into estate cars, but gradually, as contract work on private cars and commercial vehicles fell away, the FX4 taxi would become more important for the company. In 1971 Carbodies bought the FX4 chassis assembly line from

British Leyland British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It was partly ...

Adderley Park Adderley Park is an area in the east of Birmingham, England. Charles Adderley MP donated of land to create the park, which he managed privately from 1855 to 1864. The park was opened to the public on 30 August 1856. At the park's entrance were ...

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 We ...

factory and moved it to Coventry, making them complete manufacturers of the FX4, in actuality if not in name.

Manganese Bronze ownership (1973-2013)

In 1973, Carbodies was included in the sale of BSA to

. In the 1970s, Carbodies tried to make a new taxi of their own, the FX5, but it was abandoned in 1979 because the development costs were too high. In 1982 Carbodies took responsibility for the complete manufacture of the FX4 taxicab, after British Leyland lost interest in it. By this time, the FX4 was the company's only product, despite attempts to introduce new lines, such as a Ford Cortina MkV convertible and the

Range Rover Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to ...

Unitruck. A new model of taxi, the CR6, based on a

bodyshell was abandoned after almost five years of development. In 1984, the London taxicab dealer Mann & Overton was bought by Manganese Bronze Holdings. Pending the development of a new model, the FX4 was further developed and became the LTI Fairway.

Rebranded as London Taxis International

In 1992 the company was rebranded London Taxis International with three divisions: LTI Carbodies, LTI Mann & Overton and London Taxi Finance. In 1997, a new model of taxicab, the

TX1 The LTI TX1 is a Hackney carriage (London "Black cab") introduced by London Taxis International in 1997 and designed to replace the ageing Austin FX4. It was designed by British product designer Kenneth Grange. Most are powered by a diesel en ...

was introduced as a successor to the FX4. Further development resulted in the launch in 2002 of the TXII, powered by a Ford Dura Torq 2.4-litre diesel engine and featuring an integral fold-down ramp for

wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), ce ...

users. It also has an intermediate step and swivel-out seat for passengers with moderate walking difficulties. For people with hearing problems it has an induction loop incorporated in the intercom system. In 2007 the TXII was replaced by the TX4. This series established LTI Vehicles as a worldwide supplier of London-type taxis. In October 2010 the London Taxis International was rebranded as The London Taxi Company. A

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...

with Chinese car maker

, who already held a 20% interest in the company through its Manganese Bronze shareholding, was formed to build a factory in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...

to manufacture London taxis for the export market and to supply components to the home factory in Coventry. In 2010 the Mann & Overton trading name was dropped.

Administration

In October 2012, following a suspension of sales due to the discovery of a serious flaw with vehicle steering components and having failed in an attempt to obtain new financing, the company was placed in voluntary administration. The quite recently specified faulty steering components had been sourced from Geely supplier, Gang Yang in China. In February 2013, certain assets of The London Taxi Company were purchased from administrator

PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounti ...

by Geely. It continued to trade as The London Taxi Company until rebranded as the London EV Company in September 2017 developing electric commercial vehicles at a new plant near Coventry, the first into production being an electric taxicab - the LEVC TX.

Gallery

Carbodies' MGs

They provided most bodies for the separate chassis cars MHV MG 14-28 sports 1924.jpg,

MG 14/28 The MG 14/28 Super Sports is a sports car that was launched in 1924. It was the second line of cars produced by W R Morris's MG company. The first line of cars were 1548cc Morris Oxfords fitted with a two-seater body supplied by Charles Raworth ...

MHV MG 14-40 saloon 1927.jpg, MG 14/40 MHV MG 18-80 Mark II coupe 1930.jpg, MG 18/80 Mark II Coupé MG M-type 1929.jpg,

MG M-type The MG M-type (also known as the MG Midget) is a sports car that was produced by the MG Cars from April 1929 until 1932. It was sometimes referred to as the 8/33. Launched at the 1928 London Motor Show when the sales of the larger MG saloon ...

MG C type front left.jpg, MG C-type MG D-Type 1932.jpg, MG D-type MG F2, Bj. 1932, Heck (2008-06-28) ret.jpg, MG F2 MHV MG J2 1933.jpg, MG J2 MG K1.jpg, MG K1 MHV MG L2 1933.jpg, MG L2 MG NB Magnette Airline Coupe.jpg,

MG Magnette The MG Magnette is an automobile that was produced by MG between 1953 and 1968. The Magnette was manufactured in two build series, the ZA and ZB of 1953 through to 1958 and the Mark III and Mark IV of 1959 through to 1968, both using a modified ...

'Airline' Coupé 110 ans de l'automobile au Grand Palais - MG Midget TA 'Airline' Coupé - 1936 - 010.jpg, MG Midget TA
'Airline' Coupé File:MGA (5140646534).jpg, 1956 MG AB.M.C. Claim 53 Per Cent. Ignore Strike. ''The Times'', Tuesday, Jul 24, 1956; pg. 8; Issue 53591

Carbodies' prewar sports bodies

Alvis 12-50 Sportsman's saloon 9715429970.jpg,

Alvis Alvis may refer to: *Alvis Car and Engineering Company, British luxury car and military vehicle manufacturer which later became Alvis plc *Alvis plc (formerly United Scientific Holdings plc), a defence contractor which acquired Alvis Cars and beca ...

12/50 Sportsman's Saloon 1931 Low Chassis Invicta 2-seat sports.jpg, Invicta low chassis 2-seat sports 1931 Alvis 1260.jpg, Alvis 12/60 2-seat sports

Carbodies' postwar drophead coupés and estate cars

1954 Ford Zephyr Mk I conv front.jpg,

Ford Zephyr The Ford Zephyr is an executive car manufactured by Ford of Britain from 1950 until 1972. The Zephyr and its luxury variants, the Ford Zodiac and Ford Executive, were the largest passenger cars in the British Ford range from 1950 until their re ...

convertible Ford_Consul_MkI_convertible_rear.jpg,

Ford Consul The Ford Consul is a car that was manufactured by Ford of Britain from 1951 until 1962. The name was later revived for a model produced by Ford in both the UK and in Germany from 1972 until 1975. Between 1951 and 1962, the Consul was the four-cyl ...

convertible Ford_Consul_204E_Convertible_rear.jpg,

MkII convertible Ford_Zephyr_206E_Convertible_front.jpg,

MkII convertible Alvis TA14 Carbodies DHC 1947 front.jpg, Alvis TA 14 drophead coupé Austin A40 Somerset convertible ca 1954.jpg,

drophead coupé Triumph 2000 Estate.jpg,

Estate Singer Vogue Estate License plate 1965.jpg,

Estate Humber Hawk Series I Estate rear.jpg, Humber Hawk Estate Humber Super Snipe Series V Estate front.jpg, Humber Super Snipe Estate

Carbodies' Daimlers

Daimler 1954.jpg,

Daimler Conquest The Daimler Conquest is an automobile which was produced by The Daimler Company Limited in the United Kingdom from 1953 to 1958. Based on the Lanchester Fourteen, the Conquest replaced the Daimler Consort. Sales were affected by increasing pri ...

drophead coupé 1957 Daimler Conquest (Mark II) Century drophead coupe (2011-03-23) 01.jpg, Daimler Conquest Century Roadster Drophead Coupé 1955-1957 Daimler.JPG, Daimler Majestic Daimler_7181HP_020510_CPS.jpg, Daimler Majestic Major Daimler Conquest Century Drophead Coupe.jpg, Daimler Conquest Century Drophead Coupé

Carbodies' taxis, hire cars and commercial vehicles

Austin_K8_Three-Way_front.jpg, Austin K8 1957 Austin FX3.JPG, Austin taxicab FX3 London_Taxi_4.jpg, Carbodies taxicab FX4 1962 Austin FX4 London taxi.jpg,

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 ...

1962 1965 Austin FL2 Hire Car.jpg, 1965 Austin FL2 Hire Car

LTI taxis

1985 Austin FX4Q London taxi.jpg, 1985 Austin FX4Q taxi Carbodies Fairway in Guinness livery.jpg, 1990 Fairway in Guinness livery 1995 Carbodies Fairway 95.jpg, 1995 Fairway 95 London taxi Wetzikon - Bahnhofstrasse - Wildbach 2010-07-01 12-24-20 ShiftN savagely cropped.jpg, TXII in Switzerland 2005 LTI TXII Silver Automatic 2.4 Front.jpg, TXII in United Kingdom SHB786K - London Cab TX4 in Singapore, SMRT owned front view.jpg, TX4 in Singapore

References

* Bill Munro, ''Carbodies: The Complete Story'', Crowood, UK 1998, * London Taxi Company press releases

External links

London Vintage Taxi AssociationOwners Club and Forum.
{{Automotive industry in the United Kingdom Coachbuilders of the United Kingdom Coventry motor companies Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United Kingdom Taxi companies Taxis of the United Kingdom Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1919 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 2013 1919 establishments in England 2013 disestablishments in England British companies established in 1919 British companies disestablished in 2013