The luxurious VIP taxi you can buy for £120,000 taking to London streets
Among the thousands of taxis you might have come across here in the capital, you've almost certainly never come across one this luxurious. With reclining heated leather seats with footrests, a surround sound system, full driver-passenger partition, 20-inch screens, drinks cooler, air conditioning, a backlit umbrella compartment, extra headroom, adaptable sunroof, pull-out working desks and USB charging points, the Clive Sutton VIP Class luxury taxi model on display at this weekend's Salon Privé London high-end transport and lifestyle show is probably the finest London taxi on the planet.
It's an example of how London's high-end transport sector is looking for new ways to deliver bespoke products for its demanding high value clientele. Unlike conventional taxi and chauffeur services which have been impacted by reduced demand for business travel post-Covid, the taxi vehicle offered by St John's Wood-based dealer Clive Sutton is for direct purchase by clients instead of private hire.
For an average of £120,000 you purchase the taxi outright and it's yours whenever you want, just like a private car. So far, the new taxi model has been purchased not just by Londoners, but by individuals in Miami and in France too. Clive Sutton, the man behind the business, told MyLondon: "At £115,000 to around £135,000 it's about the price of a Range Rover. It's mostly being sold to high net worth individuals for their own fleets, so we have customers who have Bentleys or other high end cars but they like the idea of having a London taxi to get around the city in style and comfort discreetly."
The taxi model is fully customisable with each model made to bespoke order using parts sourced from all over the world. Mr Sutton explained how the idea came about: "We had a customer who owned a London taxi and wanted it fully customised for his own private use and he was very specific about what he actually wanted.
"What we found [in doing the transformation] is that especially because of Covid, where people are looking for a transport solution with a physical division, to have something the size of a taxi that is anonymous from the outside but is full of luxury on the inside is a really successful proposition."
In addition to the VIP Class classic London taxi model, Clive Sutton also has a £170,000 variant of a As the taxi is purchasable instead of for hire, it's unlikely you'll be able to put your hand up and jump in one easily, but it could happen one day - after all, if TfL is making its buses 'bougie', it's about time our taxis are too.
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