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Car of the Day: April 7, 2010; Welly '78 Austin FX4 London Cab
Topic Started: Apr 6 2010, 06:10 PM (1,181 Views)
james_autos
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Minivan
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Today's car of the day is Welly's 1978 Austin FX4 London black cab

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Quote:
 
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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For more information and pictures of the real car please go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_FX4

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I wasn't too sure what year to put this one down as because over it's near 40 year production it barely changed. These are still quite a common sight in London and around other towns and cities in the UK although rarely pre-1985. The Welly model is easily the best and mode detailed FX4 in this scale, putting the Corgi, Matchbox and Tomica versions to shame. These cars are also known as 'Hackney Carriages', and by law in the UK all Hackney Carriage drivers must carry a bail of hay around with them at all times, and are also allowed to relieve themselves against the tyres of these vehicles. No joke!
Edited by james_autos, Apr 6 2010, 06:13 PM.
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Swifty
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The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
Nice model! Okay, I'll bite- what's the bale of hay used for?
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JustDavid
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SUV
When ya gotta go...ya gotta go.
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ivantt
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New casting? Quick! Take it apart!
Oh you guys, it's BALE of hay, not BAIL!! Do you need a Nevada rural redneck to to teach 'ya how to spell?? Geez, Vern!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

WOW! I never knew of a Welly Austin taxi or ever seen one. WHY is one of these NOT in my taxi collection??? It does look noticably different than other castings and very good in profile.

Nice unexpected choice for CotD, James. :P
Edited by ivantt, Apr 6 2010, 08:17 PM.
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Swifty
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The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
ivantt
Apr 6 2010, 08:12 PM
Oh you guys, it's BALE of hay, not BAIL!!
Depends on whether it bails him out of bad situations by having that bale there. If the tires are for 10-100*, maybe the hay bails the driver out of those 10-200* situations?


*Reference "Smokey & The Bandit".
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Tone
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Rocket 88
It's obvious! The bale of hay is to feed the horse that pulls the taxi cab.

Nice toy by the way. :)
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james_autos
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Quote:
 
It's obvious! The bale of hay is to feed the horse that pulls the taxi cab.


I'd say you're probably right there, Tone. The law goes back to the 19th century when Hackney carriages were horse-drawn. It is still law as far as I know but it's not enforced. It's just another one of those silly old laws that no longer mean anything to no one yet still exists.

There's another law that says pregnant women are allowed to use a policeman's helmet to pee in. Could you ever see that happening in public?
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Sak
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Ezekiel 25:17
There was a Ford version of the Austin taxi here ten years ago, owned by some guy in an apartment complex in East Windsor, NJ. I came back with a camera, but it was put in storage.

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ivantt
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New casting? Quick! Take it apart!
Rocky and Bullwinkle Show:
"Bail, bail, bail!"
"Stroke, stroke, stroke!"

SAK, that guy who put the one you saw in NJ in storage--that means nothing will ever be done with it.

I see a vote coming this week......I really like this casting. :wub:
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Swifty
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The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
ivantt
Apr 7 2010, 09:38 AM
Rocky and Bullwinkle Show:
"Bail, bail, bail!"
"Stroke, stroke, stroke!"
LOVED that skit!
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