 The roots of LTI's business
go back to 1919 when Carbodies
Ltd was established as a coach-building
operation under the guidance
of Robert 'Bobby' Jones on
a small site in Coventry.
It was not long before the
expanding firm moved to new
premises, followed by a further
relocation to the present
Holyhead Road factory in
1928. Carbodies soon
made a name for itself in
the automotive industry for
the fine quality of coach-building
it could offer prestigious
motor companies like Humber,
Singer, Daimler, Jaguar,
Ford and Rolls-Royce.
In
the late 1940s, Carbodies diversified
into building taxis. Thanks
to a partnership with Mann & Overton
and Austin the first FX3 taxi
model, carrying the Austin
badge, rolled off the production
line in 1948. Over the next
ten years, more than 7,000
taxis were produced, mainly
for the London market, with
only a few hundred used in
the provinces.
During
the 1950s, Carbodies built
bodies for the Commer van and,
in conjunction with BSA, made
the body for the Daimler Majestic.
The company also gained experience
of building convertible and
estate body shells, developing,
tooling and producing shells
for every Ford convertible
until 1964.
As 'convertible' work declined,
Carbodies concentrated on producing
complete taxis, starting with
the FX4 in 1959.
Carbodies was bought by Manganese
Bronze Holdings plc in 1973.
Then, in 1982, Carbodies took
over the intellectual rights
to the FX4 from British Leyland.
 When Manganese Bronze bought
Mann & Overton in 1984,
a new company by the name of
London Taxis International
was formed to manufacture and
sell taxis.
London
Taxis International (and its
predecessors) has manufactured
more than 100,000 taxis with
numerous model changes, including
the Fairway Driver in 1992,
Fairway Driver-Plus in 1993,
Fairway 95 in 1994, the TXI
in 1997, the TXII in 2002 and
the TX4 in 2006.
The TXII has been available
in the US since 2003. The next
generation of London Taxis,
the TX4, is likely to be introduced
in the US during 2009.
WNBC
New York - "London Taxis
hits N.Y."
NBC-KNTV11-News
- "A New Ride"
KRON-4
News - "San Francisco
Arrival"
CLTV
News - Featuring "AMEX
Blue" |
