Don't know why it came into my head - but I recall at one time London Taxis
had an open luggage space on the nearside front.
Was this in response to a ruling - or what is a whim of a maker?

On 21/02/2021 09:47, JohnP wrote:
Don't know why it came into my head - but I recall at one time London Taxis
had an open luggage space on the nearside front.
Was this in response to a ruling - or what is a whim of a maker?


Until the late 1950s, vehicles licensed as London taxis were required to
be provided with an open-access luggage platform in place of the front
passenger seat found on other passenger cars (including taxis licensed
for use in other British cities).

Andy Bennet wrote:

JohnP wrote:

I recall at one time London Taxis had an open luggage space on the
nearside front. Was this in response to a ruling - or what is a
whim of a maker?

Until the late 1950s, vehicles licensed as London taxis were required to
be provided with an open-access luggage platform in place of the front
passenger seat

I thought it was for the bale of hay :-P

In article ,
JohnP wrote:
Don't know why it came into my head - but I recall at one time London Taxis
had an open luggage space on the nearside front.
Was this in response to a ruling - or what is a whim of a maker?

All sorts of odd regs. For example, the driver's door couldn't be locked.
Perhaps to discourage street parking?

I'd wondered if it was to discourage it being used as a private car when
off duty?

But it does provide luggage space on a smaller vehicle than one with a
boot, if you don't allow a passenger alongside the driver. So the servant
went by bus. ;-)

--
*Who are these kids and why are they calling me Mom?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 21/02/2021 10:25, Andy Burns wrote:

Andy Bennet wrote:

JohnP wrote:

I recall at one time London Taxis had an open luggage space on the
nearside front. Was this in response to a ruling - or what is a
whim of a maker?

Until the late 1950s, vehicles licensed as London taxis were required
to be provided with an open-access luggage platform in place of the
front passenger seat

I thought it was for the bale of hay :-P

That was hung underneath :-P :-P

In article ,
Andy Bennet wrote:
On 21/02/2021 10:25, Andy Burns wrote:

Andy Bennet wrote:

JohnP wrote:

I recall at one time London Taxis had an open luggage space on the
nearside front. Was this in response to a ruling - or what is a
whim of a maker?

Until the late 1950s, vehicles licensed as London taxis were required
to be provided with an open-access luggage platform in place of the
front passenger seat

I thought it was for the bale of hay :-P

That was hung underneath :-P :-P

Think it was a requirement it fitted in the boot in later versions.

--
*Marathon runners with bad footwear suffer the agony of defeat*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 21/02/2021 09:56, Andy Bennet wrote:
(including taxis licensed
for use in other British cities).

I once took a sorry looking beat-up London black taxi in Belfast.

The owner hadn't even removed labelling and ads inside from it's
previous life on London streets!

--
Adrian C

In article ,
Adrian Caspersz wrote:
On 21/02/2021 09:56, Andy Bennet wrote:
(including taxis licensed
for use in other British cities).

I once took a sorry looking beat-up London black taxi in Belfast.

The owner hadn't even removed labelling and ads inside from it's
previous life on London streets!

Usually by the time they're sold off from use in London, they're well
clapped out.

--
*I'll try being nicer if you'll try being smarter

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 21/02/2021 09:47, JohnP wrote:
Don't know why it came into my head - but I recall at one time London Taxis
had an open luggage space on the nearside front.
Was this in response to a ruling - or what is a whim of a maker?

used right up into the 60's...very cool

"JohnP" wrote in message
. ..
Don't know why it came into my head - but I recall at one time London
Taxis
had an open luggage space on the nearside front.

presumably the logic behind it is that many people would be travelling with
a trunk

which wouldn't otherwise fit anywhere else in the cab

On 21/02/2021 09:47 am, JohnP wrote:

Don't know why it came into my head - but I recall at one time London Taxis
had an open luggage space on the nearside front.
Was this in response to a ruling - or what is a whim of a maker?

There is a legal requirement for a luggage space on the nearside, at the
front, opposite the driver.

There has never been a requirement for it to be open to the weather, and
as it happens, the last cab which had a luggage space open to the
elements was sold and licenced in 1959 in the form of the Austin FX3,
replaced that same year by the four-door FX4.

The luggage space is still there, of course, but for the last sixty two
years (or so), behind a door.

The boot doesn't have much luggage space at all - it's really only there
for the spare wheel and associated paraphernalia and any private
possessions of the driver.

On 21/02/2021 04:34 pm, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

Adrian Caspersz wrote:
Andy Bennet wrote:

(including taxis licensed
for use in other British cities).

I once took a sorry looking beat-up London black taxi in Belfast.

The owner hadn't even removed labelling and ads inside from it's
previous life on London streets!

Usually by the time they're sold off from use in London, they're well
clapped out.

London cabs tend to do 50,000 a year (or more) if double-shifted and can
be licenced for a continuous period of eleven years in normal
circumstances. Yes, that tends to knock the stuffing out of them, even
with all the maintenance and and care and attention they get.

But not all garages keep them for the full eleven years and many are
sold s/h well short of that age, mainly for use in other British cities,
as you say.

On 21/02/2021 11:22 am, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

JohnP wrote:

Don't know why it came into my head - but I recall at one time London Taxis
had an open luggage space on the nearside front.
Was this in response to a ruling - or what is a whim of a maker?

All sorts of odd regs. For example, the driver's door couldn't be locked.
Perhaps to discourage street parking?

Almost!

The law until late 1975 or early 1976 (when the Home Office relaxed it)
was that only the driver's door (plus the front luggage door on an FX4
or similar) could be lockable.

It was the passenger (ie, rear) doors which were not allowed to be
fitted with locks.

A cab certainly could be left reasonably secure, whether in the street
or elsewhere.

Whisper it, but there were ways of locking the rear (passenger) doors at
night.

An oddity was that the driver's door could not be locked from outside
with a key. The driver had to lock that door from inside, then climb
over the dividing panel between his seat and the luggage space, exiting
the cab through the luggage door, which was the only one with a key lock.

I'd wondered if it was to discourage it being used as a private car when
off duty?

But it does provide luggage space on a smaller vehicle than one with a
boot, if you don't allow a passenger alongside the driver. So the servant
went by bus. ;-)

Some localities (Blackpool comes to mind) did allow the FX4 to carry six
passengers, with an extra seat fixed into the space designed for luggage
(it also obviously had to have a seat belt provided because the law then
was that they had to be fitted in all front seats).

On 21/02/2021 04:36 pm, Jimmy Stewart ... wrote:

On 21/02/2021 09:47, JohnP wrote:

Don't know why it came into my head - but I recall at one time London
Taxis had an open luggage space on the nearside front.
Was this in response to a ruling - or what is a whim of a maker?

used right up into the 60's...very cool

FX3... last seen working in London around 1970.

On 21/02/2021 04:50 pm, tim... wrote:


"JohnP" wrote in message
. ..
Don't know why it came into my head - but I recall at one time London
Taxis
had an open luggage space on the nearside front.

presumably the logic behind it is that many people would be travelling
with a trunk

which wouldn't otherwise fit anywhere else in the cab

With the boot being hinged at the bottom (and strongly reinforced and
fitted with very robust cable stays), it was possible to carry luggage
in the boot (with the lid open).

On 22/02/2021 01:18, JNugent wrote:
On 21/02/2021 04:36 pm, Jimmy Stewart ... wrote:

On 21/02/2021 09:47, JohnP wrote:

Don't know why it came into my head - but I recall at one time London
Taxis had an open luggage space on the nearside front.
Was this in response to a ruling - or what is a whim of a maker?

used right up into the 60's...very cool

FX3... last seen working in London around 1970.
cool

In article ,
JNugent wrote:
On 21/02/2021 04:50 pm, tim... wrote:


"JohnP" wrote in message
. ..
Don't know why it came into my head - but I recall at one time London
Taxis
had an open luggage space on the nearside front.

presumably the logic behind it is that many people would be travelling
with a trunk

which wouldn't otherwise fit anywhere else in the cab

With the boot being hinged at the bottom (and strongly reinforced and
fitted with very robust cable stays), it was possible to carry luggage
in the boot (with the lid open).

That's how we went of holiday in my mother's 1936 Wolseley in the 1940s.

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England
"I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle

On Monday, February 22, 2021 at 1:20:28 AM UTC, JNugent wrote:
On 21/02/2021 04:50 pm, tim... wrote:


"JohnP" wrote in message
...
Don't know why it came into my head - but I recall at one time London
Taxis
had an open luggage space on the nearside front.

presumably the logic behind it is that many people would be travelling
with a trunk

which wouldn't otherwise fit anywhere else in the cab
With the boot being hinged at the bottom (and strongly reinforced and
fitted with very robust cable stays), it was possible to carry luggage
in the boot (with the lid open).


Just like the original Mini where the number plate folded down to reman visible

In message , charles
writes
In article ,
JNugent wrote:
On 21/02/2021 04:50 pm, tim... wrote:


"JohnP" wrote in message
. ..
Don't know why it came into my head - but I recall at one time London
Taxis
had an open luggage space on the nearside front.

presumably the logic behind it is that many people would be travelling
with a trunk

which wouldn't otherwise fit anywhere else in the cab

With the boot being hinged at the bottom (and strongly reinforced and
fitted with very robust cable stays), it was possible to carry luggage
in the boot (with the lid open).

That's how we went of holiday in my mother's 1936 Wolseley in the 1940s.

My father had an old Wolseley 18 in the '50's. Ran a big end trying to
overtake something on the A1:-)


--
Tim Lamb

On 22/02/2021 11:31, Tim Lamb wrote:
In message , charles
writes
In article ,
Â* JNugent wrote:
On 21/02/2021 04:50 pm, tim... wrote:


"JohnP" wrote in message
. ..
Don't know why it came into my head - but I recall at one time London
Taxis
had an open luggage space on the nearside front.

presumably the logic behind it is that many people would be travelling
with a trunk

which wouldn't otherwise fit anywhere else in the cab

With the boot being hinged at the bottom (and strongly reinforced and
fitted with very robust cable stays), it was possible to carry luggage
in the boot (with the lid open).

That's how we went of holiday in my mother's 1936 Wolseley in the 1940s.

My father had an old Wolseley 18 in the '50's. Ran a big end trying to
overtake something on the A1:-)



Porlock Hill used to be the death of many cars back in the
1950's

On 22/02/2021 21:46, Andrew wrote:
On 22/02/2021 11:31, Tim Lamb wrote:
In message , charles
writes
In article ,
Â* JNugent wrote:
On 21/02/2021 04:50 pm, tim... wrote:


"JohnP" wrote in message
. ..
Don't know why it came into my head - but I recall at one time
London
Taxis
had an open luggage space on the nearside front.

presumably the logic behind it is that many people would be
travelling
with a trunk

which wouldn't otherwise fit anywhere else in the cab

With the boot being hinged at the bottom (and strongly reinforced and
fitted with very robust cable stays), it was possible to carry luggage
in the boot (with the lid open).

That's how we went of holiday in my mother's 1936 Wolseley in the 1940s.

My father had an old Wolseley 18 in the '50's. Ran a big end trying to
overtake something on the A1:-)



Porlock Hill used to be the death of many cars back in the
1950's

I remember being on holiday, as a child, with my parents' somewhat dodgy
Austin 1800, when we missed a sign (it was overgrown as we found out a
few days later) and ended up going up Porlock Hill, towing a Sprite
Musketeer caravan. It crawled. It struggled, but it got to the top,
passing a broken down and steaming, unencumbered car on the way.

On 22/02/2021 21:46, Andrew wrote:
....
Porlock Hill used to be the death of many cars back in the
1950's

It was slowing for the hairpin bend that was the main problem. My father
once ended up going up there in reverse, as it was the lowest ratio gear
he had.

--
Colin Bignell