The Black Cab impressed me immensely the one time I visited in 1984. I especially liked how I had access to my luggage while riding in comfort, with extremely ample legroom.
Fabulous watch and fascinating history. I once bought an FX4 cheap as a replacement while our people carrier was off the road and liked it a lot, although the engine was well shot after 280k miles and too much Easystart 😂 While pig slow on the motorway (which admittedly wasn't its main playground) it was a lot of fun to drive around town. People always waved at me a lot 😂 and I took a ridiculous amount of childish pleasure in fitting a loudish stereo and playing Joe le Taxi with the windows open. My kids loved it and always fought over who got the fold-down seat. I liked the driver's seat, which while appearing to be just two slabs of foam, remained comfortable driving all day, never got backache from it, and the simple slide-up and down driver's window. Best trip ever was a camping trip to N Wales, where driving over Pen y Pass got quite a few interested looks.
When the TX4 was introduced they were called Noddy cabs. I used to sometimes think Taxi driving was a crap occupation, until I took my cab down to Limehouse to get the underneath sprayed with underseal, as required in the overhauls at the time. The poor bloke doing the undersealing, his PPE covered in underseal! Then there was the Friday cab, Monday cab scenario with some FX4s being great and some absolute mingers, depending on what day they were built. What always amazed me with London taxis was that LTI would get the chassis and say, " do you think we could squeeze this engine and gearbox in", regardless of whether it would go in straight. Rear main oil seals where a regular problem, not an easy job having to take the gearbox out every 3 months. The diffs used to blow because the engines were sometimes too powerful. A driver would get no heating in the winter because the cab used to run cold and then get too hot in the summer. Parts were mainly leftovers from production lines of popular cars, ending with the boat engine rejected by the Italian army for, ironically, overheating called the VMotori. Really for what they were, London Taxis apart from the Nissan fairway engine, were very overpriced and a complete load of crap. Even today, an electric taxi with a windscreen that splits when going over bumps, with a range of just 70 miles for £60k. The public/tourists loved them but the drivers hated them.
The electric one is a PHEV Hybrid that does have a range extender drivetrain though, isn't it? And which regular production car can provide the wheelchair accessability of the London Taxi?
@@1121494 Putting the extra cost of the cab being wheelchair accessible, on the meter fare, was one of the reasons for the taxi trades demise. The price of cabs went up, so did the meter with disastrous results and drivers would pick up one or two wheelchair users a year! It maybe a good thing that the whole fleet was wheelchair accessible but totally unnecessary. The trade had purpose built vehicles that the public were not prepared to pay for. The new LEVC taxi has a maximum electric range of 70-80 miles depending on the time of year. Fast charging (at work) takes 30 mins and costs a couple of quid. Most drivers just use the petrol engine when the charge runs out, even though these engines are not designed to be used all the time.
I drove one day and night for 22 years starting on fx4 (which had to go when they decided suicide doors were dangerous and old fashioned the same year rolls Royce stuck em on their new phantom 🤣)and packed in after having to scrap a perfectly good vehicle when the enviro Nazis demanded a £60k replacement and changed the max service life to ten years...that's about a third of what a taxis designed to last...how the hell can you lose £6k a year in depreciation have batteries that are a £10k change after four years, watch as streets and ranks are closed or filled with bollards and flowerpots,watch as your licensing system allows anybody with a fiver and a simcard to set up in competition doing something they told you you needed to be mastermind and squeeky clean to do? Latest laugh...now Ubers having a 'purpose built vehicle' made because they think that might be the way forward 😂😂🤣😂👍 couldn't make it up....just here do ya mate?🚖👍
The FX3 is still my favourite - because that was THE taxi shape when I was little.(Born `48). In common with other accounts of car firms - what a muddlesome history! What with the plethora of regulations, labour issues linked with financial ones - it makes one wonder how anything got done, sometimes! Too many cooks, perhaps?
1897 first electric cab with a range of 30 miles. The same as today’s LEVC electric taxi in winter with heating on (although it has a petrol range extender).
My family visited London in 1959 and were impressed with the cabs. One of our drivers complain about the mini-cabs that had been introduced recently. He did not like the lack of luggage space and vertical height.
There is an original ivory coloured in the rental fleet of the local cab/weddingcar company in my town. The Tesla's and transit luxury vans do the modern cab work. At the weddingcar section you see several automotive beauties/icons form all over the world.
Excellent video as always. I now have three of the LTI FAREWAY cabs and they are Awesome. Love them. Rugged, but very versatile and easy to maintain. Plus real talking point too. And just totally iconic. Get lots of comments and so far. ALL positive at classic vehicle events. Absolutely incredible vehicles and all mine are in the "400 to 500,000 miles on the clock" area of usage, with absolutely NO sign of ever giving up. A true British icon.
5:57 - that's a Winchester, not an FX4 prototype. Was intended as a competitor to the FX4, but only just over 200 were sold I think. Maybe you could do a separate video on this model? There certainly isn't much info about them online so it'd be very educational! :)
I rather like when a place has an easily identifiable long lasting particular style for the public transit, like Hong Kong double-decker trams. Britain does not allow me to visit, but been rather enjoying the stylishness of Toyota Crowns in Japan every visit. Recently introduced rather stylish Toyota JPN Taxi it seems also got some design clues from traditional London cabs. 1:39 Always impressive to see examples on how in 1890s-1910s there was a major battle between electric and petrol cars, the advance of electric vehicles at the time been near-completely eradicated from the common knowledge.
I was introduced to your channel via this video some time ago, via TH-cam's suggested videos. At that time, the longer version of this video was available, and I enjoyed the details you gave in that longer version. I know a lot of your audience enjoys short videos, but I enjoy the detailed, longer videos. Is it possible to get back the longer version. As always, you do a superb job of making these videos. Keep up the good work!
I've ridden in a lot of taxis. The TX1 and TX2 were absolute bone-shakers - the ride in the back was atrocious. By the time of the TX4 they had improved it a lot. But when the choice presented itself an older FX4 was way more comfortable and soaked up the bumps much better, despite what I presume was a leaf-spring/live axle setup.
5:56 - Somewhat strange that in a section discussing the prototype Austin FX4, a Winchester MK1 is shown, a product from a completely different company.
Mercedes Vans were also authorized for use as London black cabs - they were modified for this purpose to include 4-wheel steering. And they were cheaper than LTI.
That was interesting! Very glad none of the horrible 70s designs every made it anywhere - apart from the hideous Metrocab, but that‘s gone too now. I think the electric black cab is a really successful retro design. Mercedes Vito or Ford Galaxy or no match at all and could have never replaced the iconic Black Cab.
Living just across the road from the old Metro Cammell works, I’ll always have a bit of a soft spot for the Metrocab. It won’t win any beauty awards, but a great typical MCW boxy design.
Amen. But compared to the expense of American disabled carriers... I chose to learn to drive with hand controls. As American disability benefits can ruin you in a hurry.
The new ‘London’ taxi introduced by Geely is in fact a hybrid. It used electric power to drive it but it has an ICE engine to provide range extender power. While they can run purely as an electric taxi, and most of the time they will only use electric transmission, they are hybrids... and there are now van versions of the taxis too. For more information www.levc.com/technology/ecity-technology/
Your mistaken it is not a hybrid as the 1L petrol engine only acts as a alternateor to maintain battery level and will not even charge the battery. The engine also only runs at pretty much idle so emissions are super low pretty much the same as a motorcycle on idle. It is designed to allow the cab to finish a journey and get to a charge point without breaking down a hybrid is only classed as one if the battery and engine drives the drive shafts 👍
No you are mistaken the meaning of a hybrid car is “a car with a petrol engine and an electric motor, each of which can propel it.” Well the petrol engine does not propel it! You might want to educate yourself better on the meaning instead of your personal interpretation! I’ll look forward to my grammar corrections 🙄
@@typos1477 hahaha You know better than the dictionaries explanation then! Mabe your not as clever as you think, a person who knows everything about nothing springs to mind. why don’t you give LEVC a call and ask their opinion? I guess you won’t because only your opinion matters right!?!
Informative as always @Ruairidh - thanks for the video. Just one question, was there a reason for missing out the whole saga of the demands to address the passenger door and window mechanism after numerous deaths and incidents in mistaking operation - there was a very large television campaign at the time?
I wonder if there are any FX4 experts who can help me... Does anyone know what door handles were used with a 1970’s FX4? Or what car would have the same handles? Though I could be wrong, I can’t imagine them being specifically made for the FX4. I have a 1976 cab and at some point it has had the later plastic handles fitted. I have a set of correct chrome ones for reference but they are in awful condition! Great video by the way, very interesting as our family has always used ex black cabs as private cars for years including an FL1 hire car and various FX4s, with later additions such as a Fairway and several Metrocabs and TX1s.
I don't know if I will ever make it to London, England, but if I do, I'd prefer to ride in the Old School Cab, (I think it's the FX4) The ones I've seen in the English movies and TV shows!
back in the 90's some guy bought the rights to produce the FX 4 in the U.S. .. the company failed after 1 year. there's not enough demand for a "purpose built taxi" in the U.S.
Not really. Just like in the victorian era, EV's have poor range compared to other forms of motive power, and take vast amounts of time to recharge. In open markets that don't have government mandated protectionism for them, they remain an expensive curiousity at best.
Electric taxis were also introduced in New York a month later, July 1897 than in London, and were still carrying passengers in 1907 when a fire destroyed 300 cabs.
Love your informative vids but could you slow down just a wee bit? If am watching on mobile can slow down to 0.75 but havnt found how to do this on my tv.
Don't understand why electric car companies put grills on there electric cars. The car is electric it doesn't need air. Also I found as a British citizen who lives outside of London taxi companies such as black cabs or miller taxis are buying old fx4s, I've seen a couple of them around some of them even have the "London taxis" sticker still on it. also I have seen one of the Chinese electric Levcs you mentioned about. I have enjoyed this video as much as all the others glad to see some top quality documentaries on TH-cam. Keep it up
Another excellent video. Unlike many I have no disrespect for China other than it's power hungry politics. I am a very well qualified vehicle designer and mechanic, however these days I take one look under a bonnet - and shut it. That's progress, so they say. Long live the London taxi, chopsticks and all.
The Metrocab lasted until 2018 in London. In the final couple of years, they were so rare that passengers - particularly tourists - didn't think they were 'real' London taxis and so wouldn't flag them down ...which was very frustrating for the driver!
Last time I rode in one (probably about 6 years ago) they were becoming rare in Greater Manchester. I was chatting with the driver about his cab and he said he didn't want to get rid of it but it would need some replacement heater parts before the next winter and parts supply for Metrocabs was becoming a problem. You never see them in revenue-earning service round here any more. Shame, they weren't a bad alternative.
My first taxi was a fairway then a tx1, tx4, now a txe I'd have my fairway back tomorrow to be honest cheap repairs bolt on bodie parts unlike my electric txe with is rolls- Royce price for parts..
Personally I find those Chinacabs' at the end extremely ugly, as well as faintly creepy. Given their PRC origins the latter revulsion is I suppose all too fitting. I will never use one. Hopefully the FX4 will be a visible part of British motoring, for many years to come.
I suppose, statistically, somebody has to. Not me though: they're as ugly as they're strangely sinister to look at. (having also seen them first hand for some months)
Interesting that the first motorised cab was an EV and the latest cab is an EV. Sort of full circle. I wonder when we can expect to see horse drawn cabs again.
Er whilst talking about licensed taxis why are you showing (2:04) an old PCO sign regarding licensed private hire which are not taxis i.e hackney carriage. By the way the PCO has been know for the past umpteen years as LTPH... London taxis & Private Hire or TPH... Taxis & Private Hire.
1:10 What’s the relevance of the Scouts logo? 2:05 You’re talking about 1906 taxis but showing a 2000s private hire or “ minicab” office sign. 2:39 “ Distinctive black paint” - shows a BLUE cab. 6:00 “ 1959 Austin FX4 prototype” but shows a fibreglass Beardmore taxi made by James Whitson & co. Very poor research.
All through this film; and honestly, for years prior, I've been thinking - why doesn't some smart egg come up with a universal, purpose built, electric taxi cab for the future that could be manufactured and used in any market in the world? The British had their black cabs, the Americans their yellow Checkers; it makes perfect sense to have a purpose built, universal taxi vehicles that can be used in any city as the requirements for taxis vary little wherever you go. I saw a TV show quite a few years ago now about an experimental fleet of electric taxis in Japan that had interchangeable battery packs that could be swapped out in less than 5 minutes. Brilliant! Then at the end of the film, I see that someone has gotten the idea and started to work on it. The @#&* CHINESE!! WHY!!! can the Chinese innovate like this and we can't?? WHY!! can the Chinese see the future and build for it and we can't?? The Chinese are taking over the world because WE are letting them! They are stealing nothing from us, we're GIVING it to them and they're improving on it and eating OUR lunch! What the hell is wrong with us??!!
In 1975, LUCAS built two prototypes of Electric London taxis. They had also interchangeable battery packs that could be swapped out in less than 5 minutes !!! And they were 100% British !
Fairway cabs were better for longer distances I always thought - faster and a bit more comfortable. I was never much of a fan of the Metrocab - felt like sitting up in a pram....
Hello..we had to have one space for every five passengers (20% of our capacity).. meanwhile buses have (1%) and Ubers don't have to have any (0%) This made the vehicles expensive
Typical for the conservative Brits. They cling on to their FX cabs and the Routemaster busses. The new design of the FX looks like crap. A designer at any other factory that comes up with this shit will get kicked out asap (the designer of the Fiat Multipla as an exemption).
The Black Cab impressed me immensely the one time I visited in 1984. I especially liked how I had access to my luggage while riding in comfort, with extremely ample legroom.
A London Cab should always look like an FX-4. To mho any cab should. Thanks for another fab documentary.
Oh I Agree sir!!
@@kelvinbremont1341 me 2.
I like the red van….STUFF ‘EM IN!
Fabulous watch and fascinating history. I once bought an FX4 cheap as a replacement while our people carrier was off the road and liked it a lot, although the engine was well shot after 280k miles and too much Easystart 😂
While pig slow on the motorway (which admittedly wasn't its main playground) it was a lot of fun to drive around town. People always waved at me a lot 😂 and I took a ridiculous amount of childish pleasure in fitting a loudish stereo and playing Joe le Taxi with the windows open. My kids loved it and always fought over who got the fold-down seat. I liked the driver's seat, which while appearing to be just two slabs of foam, remained comfortable driving all day, never got backache from it, and the simple slide-up and down driver's window.
Best trip ever was a camping trip to N Wales, where driving over Pen y Pass got quite a few interested looks.
When the TX4 was introduced they were called Noddy cabs. I used to sometimes think Taxi driving was a crap occupation, until I took my cab down to Limehouse to get the underneath sprayed with underseal, as required in the overhauls at the time. The poor bloke doing the undersealing, his PPE covered in underseal! Then there was the Friday cab, Monday cab scenario with some FX4s being great and some absolute mingers, depending on what day they were built. What always amazed me with London taxis was that LTI would get the chassis and say, " do you think we could squeeze this engine and gearbox in", regardless of whether it would go in straight. Rear main oil seals where a regular problem, not an easy job having to take the gearbox out every 3 months. The diffs used to blow because the engines were sometimes too powerful. A driver would get no heating in the winter because the cab used to run cold and then get too hot in the summer. Parts were mainly leftovers from production lines of popular cars, ending with the boat engine rejected by the Italian army for, ironically, overheating called the VMotori. Really for what they were, London Taxis apart from the Nissan fairway engine, were very overpriced and a complete load of crap. Even today, an electric taxi with a windscreen that splits when going over bumps, with a range of just 70 miles for £60k. The public/tourists loved them but the drivers hated them.
That takes me back Friday cab
The electric one is a PHEV Hybrid that does have a range extender drivetrain though, isn't it?
And which regular production car can provide the wheelchair accessability of the London Taxi?
@@1121494 Putting the extra cost of the cab being wheelchair accessible, on the meter fare, was one of the reasons for the taxi trades demise. The price of cabs went up, so did the meter with disastrous results and drivers would pick up one or two wheelchair users a year! It maybe a good thing that the whole fleet was wheelchair accessible but totally unnecessary. The trade had purpose built vehicles that the public were not prepared to pay for. The new LEVC taxi has a maximum electric range of 70-80 miles depending on the time of year. Fast charging (at work) takes 30 mins and costs a couple of quid. Most drivers just use the petrol engine when the charge runs out, even though these engines are not designed to be used all the time.
Thank you for your perspective. 🖖
I drove one day and night for 22 years starting on fx4 (which had to go when they decided suicide doors were dangerous and old fashioned the same year rolls Royce stuck em on their new phantom 🤣)and packed in after having to scrap a perfectly good vehicle when the enviro Nazis demanded a £60k replacement and changed the max service life to ten years...that's about a third of what a taxis designed to last...how the hell can you lose £6k a year in depreciation have batteries that are a £10k change after four years, watch as streets and ranks are closed or filled with bollards and flowerpots,watch as your licensing system allows anybody with a fiver and a simcard to set up in competition doing something they told you you needed to be mastermind and squeeky clean to do?
Latest laugh...now Ubers having a 'purpose built vehicle' made because they think that might be the way forward 😂😂🤣😂👍 couldn't make it up....just here do ya mate?🚖👍
I'm old enough to remember the FX3. Always loved the open luggage space, and was sorry to see them go.
I remember it in Dinky Toy form. I had a green and yellow one.
The FX3 is still my favourite - because that was THE taxi shape when I was little.(Born `48). In common with other accounts of car firms - what a muddlesome history! What with the plethora of regulations, labour issues linked with financial ones - it makes one wonder how anything got done, sometimes! Too many cooks, perhaps?
1897 first electric cab with a range of 30 miles. The same as today’s LEVC electric taxi in winter with heating on (although it has a petrol range extender).
My family visited London in 1959 and were impressed with the cabs. One of our drivers complain about the mini-cabs that had been introduced recently. He did not like the lack of luggage space and vertical height.
3:00 - ‘Distinctive black paint’ - Illustrates the point with one painted blue.
There is an original ivory coloured in the rental fleet of the local cab/weddingcar company in my town.
The Tesla's and transit luxury vans do the modern cab work. At the weddingcar section you see several automotive beauties/icons form all over the world.
wonderful, very informative, from Steven Olsen at London taxi wedding services, Melbourne since 1994
Watching this got me searching for a history of the Checker Cab. Alas, no such video equal to this seems to exist.
The information density of these videos is staggering.
Requiring focussed speed listening.
Your probably used to American documentaries
Excellent video as always.
I now have three of the LTI FAREWAY cabs and they are Awesome.
Love them. Rugged, but very versatile and easy to maintain.
Plus real talking point too.
And just totally iconic.
Get lots of comments and so far. ALL positive at classic vehicle events.
Absolutely incredible vehicles and all mine are in the "400 to 500,000 miles on the clock" area of usage, with absolutely NO sign of ever giving up.
A true British icon.
Thanks...@5.57 we are shown footage of a Winchester Mk 1. An unsuccessful fibreglass competitor to the FX4...
Was about to say this!
I couldn't fathom the relevance of this either. Also surprised there was no reference to the Beardmore, which enjoyed some modest success.
@@davidjones332 Yes, the Beardmore was also bodied in fibreglass and was powered by a 1.7 litre Ford Consul engine.
5:57 - that's a Winchester, not an FX4 prototype. Was intended as a competitor to the FX4, but only just over 200 were sold I think. Maybe you could do a separate video on this model? There certainly isn't much info about them online so it'd be very educational! :)
I rather like when a place has an easily identifiable long lasting particular style for the public transit, like Hong Kong double-decker trams. Britain does not allow me to visit, but been rather enjoying the stylishness of Toyota Crowns in Japan every visit. Recently introduced rather stylish Toyota JPN Taxi it seems also got some design clues from traditional London cabs.
1:39 Always impressive to see examples on how in 1890s-1910s there was a major battle between electric and petrol cars, the advance of electric vehicles at the time been near-completely eradicated from the common knowledge.
Too expensive for me
00:40 Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660. 1654 was during the Commonwealth Interregnum.
9:05 I've never seen a car wheel turn that far. There wouldn't be room in most modern engine bays for that.
Why the World Scout Badge at 1:11?
I was wondering, too.
I was introduced to your channel via this video some time ago, via TH-cam's suggested videos. At that time, the longer version of this video was available, and I enjoyed the details you gave in that longer version. I know a lot of your audience enjoys short videos, but I enjoy the detailed, longer videos. Is it possible to get back the longer version. As always, you do a superb job of making these videos. Keep up the good work!
I've ridden in a lot of taxis. The TX1 and TX2 were absolute bone-shakers - the ride in the back was atrocious. By the time of the TX4 they had improved it a lot. But when the choice presented itself an older FX4 was way more comfortable and soaked up the bumps much better, despite what I presume was a leaf-spring/live axle setup.
I have driven 5 TX4's in the last year and it is hard to believe they were all made in the same factory. I'd take a TX1 anyday though.
Great video mate really interesting. .. thanks
Once again, superb historical retrospective! Bravo!
Sounds like a brilliant exposition of good old British Don’t Get it Done expertise
5:56 - Somewhat strange that in a section discussing the prototype Austin FX4, a Winchester MK1 is shown, a product from a completely different company.
No one cares it's still a good high quality documentary a single mistake doesn't affect the quality of the documentary.
@@MtF_EeepyGrill_Leah_QT3.14 No need to be so rude. We watch the video to learn stuff -- there's no need to suppose we don't care.
Yes !! I saw this mistake. Surprise also to see my own cab 13.13 shoted with other cabs in France in 2018 for the anniversary of the FX4
A friend used to have a TX1 as his standard car. It had several issues, but was very comfy to ride in. Seemed to roll a lot with corners...
Your uploads are so thoughtful, down to every detail. Thank you.
Mercedes Vans were also authorized for use as London black cabs - they were modified for this purpose to include 4-wheel steering. And they were cheaper than LTI.
That was interesting! Very glad none of the horrible 70s designs every made it anywhere - apart from the hideous Metrocab, but that‘s gone too now. I think the electric black cab is a really successful retro design. Mercedes Vito or Ford Galaxy or no match at all and could have never replaced the iconic Black Cab.
Living just across the road from the old Metro Cammell works, I’ll always have a bit of a soft spot for the Metrocab. It won’t win any beauty awards, but a great typical MCW boxy design.
Excellent documentary. Thanks for the wealth of Information..Happy New Year and we would love to have a lot more content from you this year!
Me, a wheelchair user, seeing the advert of someone being manhandled into a taxi with NO RAMP:
Heckin’ YIKES!
Amen. But compared to the expense of American disabled carriers... I chose to learn to drive with hand controls.
As American disability benefits can ruin you in a hurry.
10:01 That's NOT Courthouse Green! It's the Gosford Street factory of Morris which ceased engine production in the 1930s and burnt down in 1964.
Some of those proposed redesigns were absolute shockers. Who ever looked at that early 80s redesign and thought “yeah, that looks acceptable” ? 😂😂
If you go to London, you must at lease once take a taxi ride around. It's a experience.
The parking regulations would keep me from renting a car. 🤭🤭😆☠
Where do you find all these clips 😂
Up his bum, 2nd shelf
@@EFFEZE damn bro got the whole squad laughing
SHUT YOUR GULLETS GIRLS
Well researched. Well done!
The new ‘London’ taxi introduced by Geely is in fact a hybrid. It used electric power to drive it but it has an ICE engine to provide range extender power.
While they can run purely as an electric taxi, and most of the time they will only use electric transmission, they are hybrids... and there are now van versions of the taxis too.
For more information www.levc.com/technology/ecity-technology/
As usual a good watch, but the LEVC TX is NOT "all electric" its a petrol electric hybrid.
Your mistaken it is not a hybrid as the 1L petrol engine only acts as a alternateor to maintain battery level and will not even charge the battery. The engine also only runs at pretty much idle so emissions are super low pretty much the same as a motorcycle on idle. It is designed to allow the cab to finish a journey and get to a charge point without breaking down a hybrid is only classed as one if the battery and engine drives the drive shafts 👍
@@cliffhackett420 Nope, not mistaken - electric + ICE (in whatever combination) = hybrid, period. BTW its "youre" not "your".
No you are mistaken the meaning of a hybrid car is
“a car with a petrol engine and an electric motor, each of which can propel it.” Well the petrol engine does not propel it! You might want to educate yourself better on the meaning instead of your personal interpretation! I’ll look forward to my grammar corrections 🙄
@@cliffhackett420 I m fully educated on what a hybrid car is thanks very much and the LEVC is one.
@@typos1477 hahaha You know better than the dictionaries explanation then! Mabe your not as clever as you think, a person who knows everything about nothing springs to mind. why don’t you give LEVC a call and ask their opinion? I guess you won’t because only your opinion matters right!?!
I liked the first upload!! Shorter isn't always better.....
I wish I could live in a place with decent cab service.
Or busses, or the tube.. Sacramento, CA
Great information and great assessment
Informative as always @Ruairidh - thanks for the video. Just one question, was there a reason for missing out the whole saga of the demands to address the passenger door and window mechanism after numerous deaths and incidents in mistaking operation - there was a very large television campaign at the time?
Been looking forward to this being reuploaded. miss the full version though.
I wonder if there are any FX4 experts who can help me... Does anyone know what door handles were used with a 1970’s FX4? Or what car would have the same handles? Though I could be wrong, I can’t imagine them being specifically made for the FX4. I have a 1976 cab and at some point it has had the later plastic handles fitted. I have a set of correct chrome ones for reference but they are in awful condition! Great video by the way, very interesting as our family has always used ex black cabs as private cars for years including an FL1 hire car and various FX4s, with later additions such as a Fairway and several Metrocabs and TX1s.
Are the door handles from the mk1 Leyland Sherpa?
Great vlog as always!
So this was London's Checker cab. They also were designed with bolt on fenders.
Had a few of these FX Cabs
Brilliant machines 👍👍👍👍👍
Still built in Coventry they recently
move to Antsy Industrial park
Brilliant doco! Well done!
There is a 100% electric taxi built just on the outskirts of Coventry it's based on the Nissan E-NV200. It's called The Dynamo taxi.
I don't know if I will ever make it to London, England, but if I do, I'd prefer to ride in the Old School Cab, (I think it's the FX4) The ones I've seen in the English movies and TV shows!
Surely the FX-5 is no improvement
back in the 90's some guy bought the rights to produce the FX 4 in the U.S. .. the company failed after 1 year. there's not enough demand for a "purpose built taxi" in the U.S.
Interesting that the first motorized taxi was an EV and now they seem to have come full circle.
Not really. Just like in the victorian era, EV's have poor range compared to other forms of motive power, and take vast amounts of time to recharge.
In open markets that don't have government mandated protectionism for them, they remain an expensive curiousity at best.
@@jimtaylor294 Personally I tend to agree but not according to this guy and his messiah. th-cam.com/video/n7udiFb1ryA/w-d-xo.html
Electric taxis were also introduced in New York a month later, July 1897 than in London, and were still carrying passengers in 1907 when a fire destroyed 300 cabs.
Love your informative vids but could you slow down just a wee bit? If am watching on mobile can slow down to 0.75 but havnt found how to do this on my tv.
I agree it is rushed
I LIKE THIS DESIGN OF FX4 AND I THINK IT COULD STILL WORK FOR ANY CITY WORLD WIDE REALLY
I have been in a lot of cabs. The old FX4 had a way better ride than the TX1 and later
Excelent as usual. Thanks
Don't understand why electric car companies put grills on there electric cars. The car is electric it doesn't need air. Also I found as a British citizen who lives outside of London taxi companies such as black cabs or miller taxis are buying old fx4s, I've seen a couple of them around some of them even have the "London taxis" sticker still on it. also I have seen one of the Chinese electric Levcs you mentioned about. I have enjoyed this video as much as all the others glad to see some top quality documentaries on TH-cam. Keep it up
The "all electric" LEVC TX is a plug in hybrid. It has an engine and needs a grille to cool said engine.
Think its to make cars feel familliar for people, but we are seeing a move away from grills on EVs just look at the newer tesla cars.
@@LiamE69 it's a Toyota Prius in disguise!
‘Their’
@@AtheistOrphan didn't ask
Hello G-vnor!!! (excerpt from the regular show)
Didn't you post this a while back? I thought I watched this before, but couldn't find it when I went looking for it again...
I watched it too. Was the earlier one a much longer video?
I think Big car channel had a video about the London taxi as well
I wish the original longer version was still available...
Another excellent video. Unlike many I have no disrespect for China other than it's power hungry politics. I am a very well qualified vehicle designer and mechanic, however these days I take one look under a bonnet - and shut it. That's progress, so they say. Long live the London taxi, chopsticks and all.
1:06 It's odd to see a man wearing a beard and a stovepipe hat but NOT attempting to portray Abraham Lincoln.
I called them London cabbies
You’d still see those boxy ones as late as 2015 ish
Still a few earning their keep in Birmingham, we're a bit backwards here..
The Metrocab lasted until 2018 in London. In the final couple of years, they were so rare that passengers - particularly tourists - didn't think they were 'real' London taxis and so wouldn't flag them down ...which was very frustrating for the driver!
Last time I rode in one (probably about 6 years ago) they were becoming rare in Greater Manchester. I was chatting with the driver about his cab and he said he didn't want to get rid of it but it would need some replacement heater parts before the next winter and parts supply for Metrocabs was becoming a problem.
You never see them in revenue-earning service round here any more. Shame, they weren't a bad alternative.
That is a long way to go just to produce something like the Chevy HHR !
No mention of how the TX1 was designed by Sir Kenneth Grange?
Friking cats get OBEs these days
Another good one!
I'm convinced sedarlns as we know it were just a fad. Look at these older cars. They look like old time crossovers.
Lovely.
My first taxi was a fairway then a tx1, tx4, now a txe I'd have my fairway back tomorrow to be honest cheap repairs bolt on bodie parts unlike my electric txe with is rolls- Royce price for parts..
Personally I find those Chinacabs' at the end extremely ugly, as well as faintly creepy. Given their PRC origins the latter revulsion is I suppose all too fitting. I will never use one.
Hopefully the FX4 will be a visible part of British motoring, for many years to come.
I suppose, statistically, somebody has to.
Not me though: they're as ugly as they're strangely sinister to look at.
(having also seen them first hand for some months)
Interesting that the first motorised cab was an EV and the latest cab is an EV. Sort of full circle. I wonder when we can expect to see horse drawn cabs again.
Kinda, it's an art maintaining lead-acid batteries.
Mark Melton productions?
Excellent!:-) 🖖
How much of an issue were lice? Gross
In 1956 no less... Anyone heard of hot water?
Er whilst talking about licensed taxis why are you showing (2:04) an old PCO sign regarding licensed private hire which are not taxis i.e hackney carriage. By the way the PCO has been know for the past umpteen years as LTPH... London taxis & Private Hire or TPH... Taxis & Private Hire.
1:10 What’s the relevance of the Scouts logo?
2:05 You’re talking about 1906 taxis but showing a 2000s private hire or “ minicab” office sign.
2:39 “ Distinctive black paint” - shows a BLUE cab.
6:00 “ 1959 Austin FX4 prototype” but shows a fibreglass Beardmore taxi made by James Whitson & co.
Very poor research.
Uk was so advanced for its time. And now you have borris
REAL CAR WITH CHARACTER AND SIMPLE!!
do story of Checker Marathon, please
All of the UK is in administration now, is it not ...?
All through this film; and honestly, for years prior, I've been thinking - why doesn't some smart egg come up with a universal, purpose built, electric taxi cab for the future that could be manufactured and used in any market in the world?
The British had their black cabs, the Americans their yellow Checkers; it makes perfect sense to have a purpose built, universal taxi vehicles that can be used in any city as the requirements for taxis vary little wherever you go.
I saw a TV show quite a few years ago now about an experimental fleet of electric taxis in Japan that had interchangeable battery packs that could be swapped out in less than 5 minutes. Brilliant!
Then at the end of the film, I see that someone has gotten the idea and started to work on it. The @#&* CHINESE!!
WHY!!! can the Chinese innovate like this and we can't?? WHY!! can the Chinese see the future and build for it and we can't??
The Chinese are taking over the world because WE are letting them! They are stealing nothing from us, we're GIVING it to them and they're improving on it and eating OUR lunch! What the hell is wrong with us??!!
Well...they are the perfect opportunists and manipulators, after all
The Chinese have just developed a new (Blade) battery, cheaper easy to replace and service. 2020
The Chinese can innovate because they don't have our smothering government regulation. Simple
In 1975, LUCAS built two prototypes of Electric London taxis. They had also interchangeable battery packs that could be swapped out in less than 5 minutes !!! And they were 100% British !
@@nlu413f8 Something like that not catching on 50 years ago is somewhat understandable. Today, not so much.
Someone should have another go at it.
Fairway cabs were better for longer distances I always thought - faster and a bit more comfortable. I was never much of a fan of the Metrocab - felt like sitting up in a pram....
I avoid the metro cabs as a passenger
But there were a few still about until very recently -the fibreglass body built by Reliant doesn't rot.
Nice
Sure the tacci changes.
It's 4:20 P.M.
Where?
@@aliarshad3012 Three weeks ago in Texas time.
1620
Tea POT time!
Loicence, please!
This is too fast. I think I'd prefer the longer version.
Seriously, are there that many wheelchair. Clients in the EU? I mean, in America it everyone for themselves. 👿.
Note, I currently use a wheelchair.
Hello..we had to have one space for every five passengers (20% of our capacity).. meanwhile buses have (1%) and Ubers don't have to have any (0%)
This made the vehicles expensive
No mention of Nissan engines then
Yes, he mentioned the Nissan 2.7 engine when on about the LTI Fareway.
Typical for the conservative Brits. They cling on to their FX cabs and the Routemaster busses.
The new design of the FX looks like crap. A designer at any other factory that comes up with this shit will get kicked out asap (the designer of the Fiat Multipla as an exemption).
Really nice 👌 😍💋 💝💖❤️