1967 Austin fx4 London Taxi

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The FX4 is the classic London Black Cab. While the majority are black there is in fact no requirement in London for them to be black. Over the years, the FX4 has been sold under a range of brands.

The FX4 was the successor to the Austin FX3 produced between 1948 and 1959 and in its own day regarded as the classic London taxi. Like the FX3, the FX4 was designed by Austin in collaboration with Mann and Overton (a taxi dealership) and Carbodies (a coachbuilder). The design team included Albert Moore from Austin’s engineering division, Jack Helberg from Carbodies and David Southwell of Mann and Overton. The original design was by Austin’s Eric Bailey with the assistance of Carbodies' Jake Donaldson. Little change was necessary to produce the outline of the production vehicle.

Like the FX3, the FX4 had a separate chassis (which was in fact barely changed from the FX3 chassis) with a body stiffened by a divider between the driving and passenger compartments.

The first FX4, registration mark VLW 431, was delivered in July 1958 with an official launch later that year.

 

 

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