Taxi Driver Online

Original 1910 black taxi goes under the hammer

AN original black London taxi from 1910 has gone under the hammer after being found forgotten in a barn. The classic cab was sold for £25,000 at an auction house in Chippenham, Wilts,

The 102-year-old motor still had its original taxi meter and included switches in the back so passengers could tell the driver which way to go. It was made by French firm Panhard-Levassor, who exported 800 of them to the UK at the start of the last century. And it was cars like this that signalled the beginning of the end for the horse-drawn carriage in the capital, and the rise of motorised taxis.

The auctioned machine retired from the taxi service after the Second World War, but went on to appear in films. It starred alongside Moira Shearer in the 1955 flick ’The Man Who Loved Red Heads’.
More recently the cab has had a quiet retirement, and has spent the last 15 years in a barn near Wotton-Under-Edge, Glos.

The classic motor was bought by a British collector who intends to restore it to its former glory. In its prime, its 16 horsepower engine and three speed gearbox would have taken the cab to about 30 or 40mph. It had wooden wheels with early pneumatic tyres and paraffin lights on the front and back.

Expert and auctioneer Richard Edmonds said: “This was really the dawn of motoring. They were the original black cabs and took over from horse drawn carriages. “I expect most of them have been destroyed and we don’t know how many are left. “This was in great condition with the original leather interior and it still had its meter. “It became a minor celebrity in its own right and made public appearances and appeared in films.”

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IDFIMH

It starred alongside Moira Shearer in the 1955 flick ’The Man Who Loved Red Heads’.

If you gave a film a title like that nowadays it would probably have it's own minority group cult clientele..

No age requirements in the borough of the buyer then.

I'm positive the directors of Brighton's largest Taxi company all drive one of these, apparently they are all owned from new with an attached free plate!!!