Austin London Taxicab
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The Austin London Taxicab used a modified Austin Heavy Twelve-Four chassis clothed with new bodies designed by London's largest taxicab retailer and 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, ...
, and made for them by London coachbuilders.


History

Will Overton, director of the car dealership
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, ...
, had been selling
Unic Unic was a French manufacturer founded in 1905, and active as an automobile producer until July 1938. After this the company continued to produce commercial vehicles, retaining its independence for a further fourteen years before being purcha ...
taxicabs A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...
in
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 ...
since 1906. In 1924 their business with its French-made Unics had provided almost 80% of the new taxicabs bought in London. In 1925, with effect from 1 May 1926, McKenna duties were imposed on commercial vehicles to protect UK manufacturers from imports and in spite of Unic's local assembly operation in Cricklewood, opened in 1928, it was no longer possible to supply London with French Unic taxicabs at an acceptable price. So William Overton approached Herbert Austin about modifying the Heavy Twelve-Four hire car chassis so that it would comply with the London
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 ...
. It had been announced in 1927 that those regulations would be lightened with effect from 1928. In view of the easing of police regulations and the enormous gap in the market left by imported vehicles Austin duly modified their hire-car chassis to suit, and Mann & Overton arranged for their catalogued three standard bodies made in Greater London by: Strachan or Vincent or – for £5 more – Jones. From 1930 to 1934 this first
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 ...
London taxicab was colloquially known as the High Lot or Upright Grand. On a new chassis and thereby much lowered its appearance was revised in 1934 and it was renamed by Austin the Low Loading taxi. Previously Austin had only provided hire car chassis not troubling to make major amendments to that chassis to comply with Metropolitan Police regulations for London taxicabs.Malcolm Bobbit, ''Taxi!: The Story of the London Taxicab'', Veloce, Dorchester UK, 2011 File:LONDON TAXI (8668804704).jpg, 1934 Austin Taxi, body by Jones Bros File:LONDON TAXI (8668805594).jpg


High Lot

Because the overall height of the 1930 versionA New Taxicab
Austin Twelve for London Next Month
Scotland Yard has approved another new taxicab which, it is expected, will appear in the streets of London next month. This is an Austin Twelve which will embody all the latest features of taxicab comfort ... unsplinterable glass will be a standard fitting.
was much greater than the competition it received the nickname High Lot (HL) or Upright Grand. This design gave
top hat A top hat (also called a high hat, a cylinder hat, or, informally, a topper) is a tall, flat-crowned hat for men traditionally associated with formal wear in Western dress codes, meaning white tie, morning dress, or frock coat. Traditionally m ...
wearing customers plenty of room. It was soon outselling the
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and Morris-Commercial versions. 1933 Austin 12 4 High Lot Taxi 1.2 4350959111.jpg, 1933 Austin 12/4 HL by Vincent of Reading 1934 Austin 12 4 Taxi 1.1.jpg, 1934 HL Old Taxi Austin Six Covent Garden 4693400655.jpg, 1934 Austin 6 HL


Low Loading

Their new Low Loading (LL)
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 ...
was introduced in 1934 with an overall height some 7 inches lower arranged by using the redesigned back axle (the final drive was switched from overhead to underslung) and dropped cross-braced frame introduced by Austin for their new Light Twelve-Four and Light Twelve-Six cars. BYR155 030711 CPS 5923256754.jpg, LL body by Jones Bros File:1938 Austin taxicab (EXC 749), 2009 HCVS London to Brighton run.jpg, 1938 Austin LL File:1937 Austin Taxi Cab (5980290167).jpg, 1937 Austin LL, rear view 1937 Austin 12.4 Taxi.jpg, LL by Strachan of Acton 1937 Standard equipment included a luxuriously upholstered Standard Cab Landaulette body, cellulose blue with full windscreen, and both front and rear bumpers.
Fire extinguisher A fire extinguisher is a handheld active fire protection device usually filled with a dry or wet chemical used to extinguish or control small fires, often in emergencies. It is not intended for use on an out-of-control fire, such as one which ha ...
, horn, number plates, license holder, taxi sign, Trico visional wiper and
speedometer A speedometer or speed meter is a gauge that measures and displays the instantaneous speed of a vehicle. Now universally fitted to motor vehicles, they started to be available as options in the early 20th century, and as standard equipment f ...
were also included. All exterior fittings were
chromium Chromium is a chemical element with the symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in group 6. It is a steely-grey, lustrous, hard, and brittle transition metal. Chromium metal is valued for its high corrosion resistance and hardne ...
plated. The list price was 395. Hire purchase terms were £50 deposit with monthly installments of £10, for a total price of £472, or £18 less if purchased completed in 40 months (rebate reduced by £3 for each additional month.)


Flash Lot

There was one more variant before the outbreak of war, both grille and windscreen were raked, the grille and the wings (mudguards) were flared and matched those of the Austin Twelve saloon introduced in 1934. Few were made before the outbreak of war ended manufacture. These taxicabs proved to be the last with a landaulette body, which was forbidden by new regulations issued soon after the war. Austin Taxi 1939 East Anglia Transport Museum 8583304389.jpg, 1939 Flash Lot body by Jones Bros of Bayswater 1939


At Work

File:London , Kodachrome by Chalmers Butterfield edit.jpg, Shaftesbury Avenue from Piccadilly Circus, in the West End of London, 1949 File:London cab.jpg, London, 1946 File:London in the Spring of 1941- Everyday Life in London, England D2938.jpg, London, 1941 File:London Is Still London- Everyday Life in Wartime London, England, February 1941 D2100.jpg, London, 1941


Replacement

After the Second World War, Mann & Overton decided that it needed a more up-to-date design. So it was agreed that Austin would supply the engine/chassis and
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 ...
in
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 ...
the body, although it was actually designed by Austin's chief body designer Jim Stanfield. In 1948 a new Austin taxi appeared on the streets called the FX3. It was soon the market leader. Although in 1952 a diesel engine from
Perkins Engines Perkins Engines Company Limited, a subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc since 1998, is primarily a diesel engine manufacturer for several markets including agricultural, construction, material handling, power generation, and industrial. It was establis ...
was available as a conversion, by 1954 Austin was producing their own 2.2 litre diesel engine as a factory fit. Also made by Austin and Carbodies was the hire car FL1 which was almost identical but lacking luggage space by the driver, having instead a bench seat, and there was no roof sign.


See also

* List of Austin motor vehicles#London Taxicabs


Note


References


External links


Handbook of the Austin 12 h.p. Taxi, Publication no. 1384, Price One Shilling


{{DEFAULTSORT:Austin London Taxicab Taxis of London *12 Taxi vehicles