CAB-ULOUS CABS
ANCIENT TAXI APPEARS IN NEW EXHIBITION
Conservator Richard Horton cleans the Bersey Cab, London’s first electric taxi which appeared on the streets in 1897. The self-propelled vehicle will be one of the high- lights of Climate Changing Stories, a new exhibition at Lon- don’s
Science
Museum. In a city with more than 11,000 horse- drawn cabs, catching a lift in the Bersey would have been quite a novelty. Of the 75 cars that
were in operation, it is believed the Science Museum’s example is the only one remain- ing. According
to
WELL, WHO HASN’T FALLEN ASLEEP IN A CAB BEFORE?
Friends’ Rachel and Phoebe may have coined the term back in 1997, but ‘Relaxi-Taxi’
their idea is a
spokesperson for the museum, until now the car has been kept in storage at the muse- um’s Swindon storage hangars, and this is the first time the car has been put on dis- play to the public. The Climate Changing Stories
opened on 27 June 2012, and will run for two years.
exhibition The Bersey Cab
finally coming to fruition, it seems. One enterprising cab- bie has chosen to cash in on the sporting event by turning his hackney carriage into a portable hotel. David Weekes’s Relax- A-Taxi will be a breath of fresh air for the budget travellers who cannot afford inflated hotel rates. For just £50 a night, they will get a comfort- able sleeping space, bedside lamp, curtains and solar-powered radio, not to mention an iPad, portable fridge and teddy to cuddle at night. They will also be parked near a tube station so Mr Weekes, 49, can get home - and travellers can get out there and explore.
BRITAIN’S SMALLEST JUBILEE PARTY HELD IN STANMORE CAB
The UK’S smallest jubilee street party was held in the back of a cab in Harrow. Colin Sinclaire, 58, known locally as Colin The Cabbie, decked out his taxi so he could share the cele- brations with his customers. His black taxi came
complete with brass band music, bunting and a fold-out table of tasty treats including sandwiches
and
cakes. The spread was put on at no extra cost to customers, and many made the most of the mobile Jubilee bash. Mr Sinclaire from
Stanmore told the Wembley Observer: “I love celebrating a good British knees-up, but I couldn’t afford not to work on the busiest weekend of the year. I didn’t want this to stop me from joining the fun, so I created what I named ‘Britain’s
smallest
Colin Sinclaire (kneeling) turned his taxi into a party zone. Picture courtesy of the Wembley & Willesden Observer
PAGE 56
mobile street party’.” Employers GetTaxi were so impressed with his idea, they decked out a fleet of 100 cabs up and down the country in the same way. Mmm... Preparations are already in hand for the next time Britain celebrates a Jubilee which is likely to be Kate and Wills’ Silver Wedding Anniversary in 2036. Either that or the day that England win the Football World Cup. I know which is the more likely.
“I just wanted to do something for
the
Olympics and came up with the idea of renting the cab out for people to sleep in,” Mr Weekes, who has been a cabbie for 20 years, told Metro Lon- don. A ‘room’ at the Relax- A-Taxi can be booked via
wimdu.co.uk
Pictures courtesy of Diffusion PR and David Weekes
A satisfied cus- tomer
takes
advantage of the Relax-A-Taxi service ahead of the Olympics
£22,000’S A FARE PRICE FOR 102-YEAR-OLD TAXI FOUND IN GARAGE
A historic former taxi that lay abandoned in a Kingswood garage for 15 years has sold for £22,000 at auction. The 102-year-old Panhard et Levassor went under the hammer at the Cas- tle Combe racetrack in Wiltshire in June. Bidding opened at £18,000 and a keen collector paid above the estimate of £15,000 to £20,000 to secure his piece of history. Auctioneer
Philip
Taubenheim, of Wot- ton Auction Rooms, discovered the vehicle while carrying out a routine inspection of a house in Kingswood the chance discovery only happened after he asked to look in the garage. He told the Glouces- tershire Gazette: “It was just sitting there amongst all the debris, covered in cobwebs -
I’ll probably never find a car as old again in my working life.” Mr Taubenheim, a reg- ular contributor to the BBC’s Antiques Road- show, passed on the details to vintage car auctioneer Richard Edmonds, who con- firmed the age of the vehicle. Mr Edmonds said he believed the Panhard’s new owner intended to restore the old taxi.
He said: “He is an eclectic collector who has a big collection of old cars. He didn’t have a taxi so thought it would be perfect for his collection.” And according to Mr Taubenheim, the vin- tage car still has plenty of life left in it. “Because it’s a very early model, it is very rare. It could be used for weddings, or film work,” he said.
Panhard et Levassor taxi. Photo courtesy of Richard Edmonds Auctions Ltd
PHTM AUGUST 2012
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