Austin FX4
The Austin FX4 is a taxicab that was sold by Austin from 1958 until 1982. In 1982, Carbodies, who had been producing the FX4 for Austin, took over the intellectual rights to the car, and they continued production until 1984. In 1984, London Taxis International took over the rights to the FX4, and they produced it until 1997. More than 75,000 FX4s were built.
Design and launch
The FX4 London taxi was the successor to the Austin FX3, which was produced between 1948 and 1958. In its day the FX3 was the most widely used taxi in London. Like the FX3, the FX4 was designed by Austin in collaboration with Mann & Overton, the London taxi dealership that commissioned it (and paid for half of its cost) and Carbodies, the coachbuilder that built the body and assembled the cab ready for sale. The design team included Albert Moore from Austin’s engineering division, Jack Hellberg from Carbodies and David Southwell of Mann & Overton. The original design was by Austin’s Eric Bailey and it was engineered for production by Carbodies' Jake Donaldson. It would be the first London taxi to go into production that had four doors, since earlier London taxis had featured a luggage platform, open to the elements, on the pavement/sidewalk side at the front of the cabin, beside the driver's compartment.
