Carbodies was a

taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...

design and manufacturing company based in

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

, England. In its latter years it also traded as London Taxis International and The London Taxi Company. It operated a coachbuilding business on Holyhead Road, Coventry. After half a century making short runs of limited demand bodies for major manufacturers it was obliged to replace these now moribund activities and in 1971 took from its former customer and supplier of taxi chassis,

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

, the manufacture of complete London taxicabs. Two years later was bought by

Manganese Bronze Holdings Manganese Bronze Holdings plc (MBH) was the holding company of LTI Limited. The firm's sole business in its final years as a company was London black taxicab manufacturing through the LTI subsidiary. The Manganese Bronze and Brass Co was foun ...

. Rebranded as The London Taxi Company in October 2010, it was placed in administration in October 2012, with certain assets purchased by

Geely Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd. (ZGH), commonly known as Geely Holding ( ; ), is a Chinese multinational automotive conglomerate headquartered in Hangzhou, China. The company was founded by, and is privately owned by Chinese entrepre ...

to form what is now the

London EV Company London EV Company Limited (LEVC), formerly The London Taxi Corporation Limited, is a British Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer with its headquarters at Ansty Park near Coventry, England. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chinese ...

History

The origins of The London Taxi Company can be traced to 1919, when Robert 'Bobby' Jones, a former general manager at coachbuilder Hollick & Pratt took over the coachbuilding operations of his then employer, timber merchants Gooderhams and set up in business in premises acquired from Thomas Pass in West Orchard,

1919–1954

Standardised Coachwork

Hillman Minx sports tourer manufactured 1934 1185 cc

Rather than make bespoke bodies to individual designs, Carbodies set out to produce coachwork to a number of standardised designs for car companies that did not have their own coachbuilding facilities. Their first major customers during the 1920s were MG and

Alvis Cars Alvis Car and Engineering Company Ltd was a British manufacturing company in Coventry from 1919 to 1967. In addition to automobiles designed for the civilian market, the company also produced racing cars, aircraft engines, Armored car (military) ...

. The scale of a new contract to build bodies for the MG M-Type Midget meant that they needed larger premises and in 1928, they moved to a larger site on Holyhead Road, where they remain to this day. In the 1930s, they supplied bodies for

Rover Rover may refer to: People Name * Constance Rover (1910–2005), English historian * Jolanda de Rover (born 1963), Dutch swimmer * Rover Thomas (c. 1920–1998), Indigenous Australian artist Stage name * Rover (musician), French singer-songw ...

, Invicta and Railton, but by far their biggest and most important customer in that decade was the

Rootes Group The Rootes Group was a British automobile manufacturer and, separately, a major motor distributors and dealers business. From headquarters in the West End of London, the manufacturer was based in the English Midlands, Midlands and the distribu ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the company made bodies for military vehicles. They also acquired press tools through the

Lend-Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (),3,000 Hurricanes and >4,000 other aircraft) * 28 naval vessels: ** 1 Battleship. (HMS Royal Sovereign (05), HMS Royal Sovereign) * ...

scheme, which enabled them to make aircraft components. In 1943, Carbodies also became a limited company at this time, with Bobby Jones as governing director and his son, Ernest Jones managing director.

Taxicabs, Convertibles, Daimlers and other Postwar Vehicles

After the war, Carbodies negotiated with

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

taxi dealer

Mann & Overton Mann & Overton Limited owned and operated a motor vehicle dealers business previously known as Mann & Overton's and established 14 May 1901 which came to specialise in the supply and financing of Hackney carriage, London taxicabs, first Unic then A ...

and

to make bodies for the

Austin FX3 The Austin FX3 is a Hackney carriage, taxicab that was sold in the United Kingdom by Austin Motor Company, Austin from 1948 to 1958. It was designed to comply with the Metropolitan Police Conditions of Fitness for London taxicabs, but was also u ...

taxi, introduced in 1948, as well as finishing and delivering the complete vehicles. More than 7,000 FX3s, mainly destined for London, were produced over 10 years. They also developed a system for turning modern all-steel saloon cars into convertibles. This work was carried out on the early unit construction

Hillman Minx The Hillman Minx was a mid-sized family car that British car maker Hillman produced from 1931 to 1970. There were many versions of the Minx over that period, as well as badge engineered variants sold by Humber, Singer, and Sunbeam. From the ...

, the

Austin Somerset :''See Austin A40 for other A40 models.'' The Austin A40 Somerset is a motor car which was produced by the Austin Motor Company from 1952 until 1954. The Somerset replaced the Austin A40 Devon and, as a body-on-frame car, it was comparable i ...

and

Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...

, the Ford Mk1 Consul and

Zephyr In European tradition, a zephyr is a light wind or a west wind, named after Zephyrus, the Greek god or personification of the west wind. Zephyr may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional characters * Zephyr (comics), in the Marvel Comics univers ...

and, later the Mk2 Ford Consul, Zephyr and

Zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north and south celestial latitude of the ecliptic – the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. Within this zodiac ...

BSA ownership (1954–1973)

In 1954, Bobby Jones sold Carbodies to the BSA Group, who put it under the control of its prestige car company,

Daimler Daimler is a German surname. It may refer to: People * Gottlieb Daimler (1834–1900), German inventor, industrialist and namesake of a series of automobile companies * Adolf Daimler (1871–1913), engineer and son of Gottlieb Daimler * Paul Da ...

. Although it was intended for Carbodies to become the manufacturing plant for Daimler steel bodies, this was never fulfilled. It did, however convert the

Conquest Conquest involves the annexation or control of another entity's territory through war or Coercion (international relations), coercion. Historically, conquests occurred frequently in the international system, and there were limited normative or ...

saloon into a

drophead A convertible or cabriolet () is a passenger car that can be driven with or without a roof in place. The methods of retracting and storing the roof vary across eras and manufacturers. A convertible car's design allows an open-air driving exp ...

, using the same methods they used on Fords and Austin and also made a drophead coupe body for the Daimler Conquest Roadster and made bodies for the

Daimler Majestic The Daimler Majestic DF316/7 and DF318/9 luxury saloon was launched by the Daimler Company of Coventry in July 1958 and was in production until 1962. Edward Turner had been appointed Chief Executive of BSA Automotive in 1957 and promised new p ...

and Majestic Major saloons. Under BSA, manufacturing facilities were extended and more plant installed. In 1958, Carbodies began manufacturing the body and carrying out the assembly, finishing and delivery of the most important vehicle in their history, the Austin FX4 taxi. Carbodies also supplied prototype bodies and tooling, projects including the

Jaguar E-type The Jaguar E-Type, or the Jaguar XK-E for the North American market, is a British FMR layout, front mid-engined sports car that was manufactured by Jaguar Cars, Jaguar Cars Ltd from 1961 to 1974. Its sleek appearance, advanced technologies, ...

bonnet and panels for

Triumph The Roman triumph (Latin triumphus) was a celebration for a victorious military commander in ancient Rome. For later imitations, in life or in art, see Trionfo. Numerous later uses of the term, up to the present, are derived directly or indirectl ...

Ariel Ariel may refer to: Film and television *Ariel Award, a Mexican Academy of Film award * ''Ariel'' (film), a 1988 Finnish film by Aki Kaurismäki *, a Russian film directed by Yevgeni Kotov * ''ARIEL Visual'' and ''ARIEL Deluxe'', a 1989 and 1991 ...

and BSA motorcycles and scooters. Further contracts undertaken during the 1960s and early 1970s were the conversion of

Humber Hawk The Humber Hawk is a four-cylinder automobile manufactured by British-based maunufacturer Humber Limited from 1945 to 1967. Humber Hawk Mk I & II The Hawk, a re-badged Hillman 14#All new car, Hillman 14 (1938–1940) was the first Humber ca ...

and Super Snipe,

Singer Vogue The Singer Vogue name has been applied to two generations of motor cars from the British manufacturer Singer. Vogue Series I/II/III/IV The first generation Singer Vogue I/II/III/IV models of 1961 to 1966, was a badge engineered version of the ...

and

Triumph 2000 The Triumph 2000 is a mid-sized, rear wheel drive automobile which was produced in Coventry by the Triumph Motor Company between 1963 and 1977. It was introduced on 15 October 1963. It was styled by Giovanni Michelotti. It competed with the co ...

saloons into estate cars, but gradually, as contract work on private cars and commercial vehicles fell away, the FX4 taxi would become more important for the company. In 1971 Carbodies bought the FX4 chassis assembly line from

British Leyland British Leyland was a British automotive engineering and manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate formed in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It wa ...

Adderley Park Adderley Park is an area in the east of Birmingham, England. Charles Adderley MP donated of land to create the park, which he managed privately from 1855 to 1864. The park was opened to the public on 30 August 1856. At the park's entrance were ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

factory and moved it to Coventry, making them complete manufacturers of the FX4, in actuality if not in name.

Manganese Bronze ownership (1973–2013)

In 1973, Carbodies was included in the sale of BSA to

. In the 1970s, Carbodies tried to make a new taxi of their own, the FX5, but it was abandoned in 1979 because the development costs were too high. In 1982 Carbodies took responsibility for the complete manufacture of the FX4 taxicab, after British Leyland lost interest in it. By this time, the FX4 was the company's only product, despite attempts to introduce new lines, such as a Ford Cortina MkV convertible and the

Range Rover The Land Rover Range Rover, generally shortened to Range Rover, is a Sport utility vehicle, 4x4 Luxury car, luxury SUV produced by Land Rover, a marque and sub-brand of Jaguar Land Rover, owned by Tata Motors. The Range Rover line was launched ...

Unitruck. A new model of taxi, the CR6, based on a

bodyshell was abandoned after almost five years of development. In 1984, the London taxicab dealer Mann & Overton was bought by Manganese Bronze Holdings. Pending the development of a new model, the FX4 was further developed and became the LTI Fairway.

Rebranded as London Taxis International

In 1992 the company was rebranded London Taxis International with three divisions: LTI Carbodies, LTI Mann & Overton and London Taxi Finance. In 1997, a new model of taxicab, the TX1 was introduced as a successor to the FX4. Further development resulted in the launch in 2002 of the

TXII The LTI TXII is a hackney carriage (London hail taxi) manufactured by LTI from 2002 to 2006. It is the second model following the modernisation and redesign of the London taxi that began with the TX1. The vehicle has a handful of differences ...

, powered by a Ford Dura Torq 2.4-litre diesel engine and featuring an integral fold-down ramp for

wheelchair A wheelchair is a mobilized form of chair using two or more wheels, a footrest, and an armrest usually cushioned. It is used when walking is difficult or impossible to do due to illnesses, injury, disabilities, or age-related health conditio ...

users. It also has an intermediate step and swivel-out seat for passengers with moderate walking difficulties. For people with hearing problems it has an induction loop incorporated in the intercom system. In 2007 the TXII was replaced by the

TX4 The TX4 is a purpose-built taxicab (hackney carriage) manufactured by The London Taxi Corporation, The London Taxi Company, a subsidiary of Geely Automobile of China. From 2007 until their liquidation in 2013 it was manufactured by LTI Limited, ...

. This series established LTI Vehicles as a worldwide supplier of London-type taxis. In October 2010 the London Taxis International was rebranded as The London Taxi Company. A

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

with Chinese car maker

, who already held a 20% interest in the company through its Manganese Bronze shareholding, was formed to build a factory in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

to manufacture London taxis for the export market and to supply components to the home factory in Coventry. In 2010 the Mann & Overton trading name was dropped.

Administration

In October 2012, following a suspension of sales due to the discovery of a serious flaw with vehicle steering components and having failed in an attempt to obtain new financing, the company was placed in voluntary administration. The quite recently specified faulty steering components had been sourced from Geely supplier, Gang Yang in China. In February 2013, certain assets of The London Taxi Company were purchased from administrator

PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers, also known as PwC, is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, alon ...

by Geely. It continued to trade as The London Taxi Company until rebranded as the

in September 2017 developing electric commercial vehicles at a new plant near Coventry, the first into production being an electric taxicab - the

LEVC TX The LEVC TX (previously known as the TX5) is a purpose-built hackney carriage manufactured by the British commercial vehicle maker London EV Company (LEVC), a subsidiary of the Chinese carmaker Geely. It is the latest in a succession of purpose-b ...

Gallery

Carbodies' MGs

They provided most bodies for the separate chassis cars MHV MG 14-28 sports 1924.jpg,

MG 14/28 The MG 14/28 Super Sports is a sports car that was launched in 1924. It was the second line of cars produced by W R Morris's MG company. The first line of cars were 1548cc Morris Oxfords fitted with a two-seater body supplied by Charles Raworth ...

MHV MG 14-40 saloon 1927.jpg, MG 14/40 MHV MG 18-80 Mark II coupe 1930.jpg,

MG 18/80 The MG 18/80 is a car which was produced by MG Cars from 1928 to 1931 as a successor to the types MG 14/28, 14/28 and MG 14/40, 14/40. Description While its predecessors were very closely based on the Morris Oxford bullnose, "Bullnose" Morris ...

Mark II Coupé MG M-type 1929.jpg,

MG M-type The MG M-type (also known as the MG Midget) is a sports car that was produced by MG Cars from April 1929 until 1932. It was sometimes referred to as the 8/33. Launched at the 1928 London Motor Show when sales of larger MG saloons was faltering ...

MG C type front left.jpg,

MG C-type The MG C-type is a sports car that was produced by MG from 1931 to 1932. It was designed for competition use and based on the M-Type Midget. A special car, EX120 had been developed from the M-Type for George Eyston to make an attempt on the 7 ...

MG D-Type 1932.jpg,

MG D-type The MG D-type "Midget" is a sports car that was produced by MG (car), MG in 1931 and 1932. It used the engine from the MG M-type in the chassis from the MG C-type and was only available as a four-seater. Of the 250 cars produced, 208 were op ...

MG F2, Bj. 1932, Heck (2008-06-28) ret.jpg, MG F2 MHV MG J2 1933.jpg,

MG J2 The MG J-type is a sports car that was produced by MG from 1932 to 1934. This 2-door sports car used an updated version of the overhead camshaft, crossflow engine, used in the 1928 Morris Minor and Wolseley 10 and previously fitted in the MG ...

MG K1.jpg, MG K1 MHV MG L2 1933.jpg, MG L2 MG NB Magnette Airline Coupe.jpg,

MG Magnette The MG Magnette is a car that was produced by MG between 1953 and 1968. The Magnette was manufactured in two build series, the ZA and ZB of 1953 through to 1958 and the Mark III and Mark IV of 1959 through to 1968, both using a modified Wolsel ...

'Airline' Coupé 110 ans de l'automobile au Grand Palais - MG Midget TA 'Airline' Coupé - 1936 - 010.jpg, MG Midget TA
'Airline' Coupé File:MGA (5140646534).jpg, 1956 MG AB.M.C. Claim 53 Per Cent. Ignore Strike. ''The Times'', Tuesday, Jul 24, 1956; pg. 8; Issue 53591

Carbodies' prewar sports bodies

Alvis 12-50 Sportsman's saloon 9715429970.jpg,

Alvis Alvis is a given name and a surname (close to the uncommon Scottish surname Alves). Alvis may also refer to: *Alvi, a Muslim community in South Asia, who claims descent from the fourth Rashidun caliph, Ali ibn Abi Talib *Alvis Car and Engineering ...

12/50 Sportsman's Saloon 1931 Low Chassis Invicta 2-seat sports.jpg, Invicta low chassis 2-seat sports 1931 Alvis 1260.jpg, Alvis 12/60 2-seat sports

Carbodies' postwar drophead coupés and estate cars

1954 Ford Zephyr Mk I conv front.jpg,

Ford Zephyr The Ford Zephyr is an executive car manufactured by Ford of Britain from 1950 until 1972. The Zephyr and its luxury variants, the Ford Zodiac and Ford Executive, were the largest passenger cars in the British Ford range from 1950 until their r ...

convertible Ford_Consul_MkI_convertible_rear.jpg,

Ford Consul The Ford Consul is a car that was manufactured by Ford of Britain from 1951 until 1962. The name was later revived for a model produced by Ford in both the UK and in Germany from 1972 until 1975. Between 1951 and 1962, the Consul was the four-c ...

convertible Ford_Consul_204E_Convertible_rear.jpg,

MkII convertible Ford_Zephyr_206E_Convertible_front.jpg,

MkII convertible Alvis TA14 Carbodies DHC 1947 front.jpg,

Alvis TA 14 The Alvis TA 14, also called the Alvis Fourteen, was the first car that the car maker and defence contractor Alvis produced after World War II. The entire car factory had been destroyed on the night of Thursday 14 November 1940. Announced in Nov ...

drophead coupé Austin A40 Somerset convertible ca 1954.jpg,

drophead coupé Triumph 2000 Estate.jpg,

Estate Singer Vogue Estate License plate 1965.jpg,

Estate Humber Hawk Series I Estate rear.jpg,

Estate Humber Super Snipe Series V Estate front.jpg,

Humber Super Snipe The Humber Super Snipe is a car which was produced from 1938 to 1967 by British-based manufacturer Humber Limited. Pre-war Super Snipe The Super Snipe was introduced in October 1938, derived by combining the four-litre inline six-cylinder eng ...

Estate

Carbodies' Daimlers

Daimler 1954.jpg,

Daimler Conquest The Daimler Conquest is an automobile which was produced by The Daimler Company Limited in the United Kingdom from 1953 to 1958. Based on the Lanchester Fourteen, the Conquest replaced the Daimler Consort. Sales were affected by increasing pric ...

drophead coupé 1957 Daimler Conquest (Mark II) Century drophead coupe (2011-03-23) 01.jpg, Daimler Conquest Century Roadster Drophead Coupé 1955-1957 Daimler.JPG,

Daimler_7181HP_020510_CPS.jpg,

Daimler Majestic Major The Daimler Majestic Major DQ450 is a large luxury saloon produced by Daimler Company, Daimler in Coventry, England, between November 1960 and 1968. It was fitted with a Daimler V8 engines, 4,561 cc V8 engine and was offered as a much more ...

Daimler Conquest Century Drophead Coupe.jpg, Daimler Conquest Century Drophead Coupé

Carbodies' taxis, hire cars and commercial vehicles

Austin_K8_Three-Way_front.jpg, Austin K8 1957 Austin FX3.JPG, Austin taxicab FX3 London_Taxi_4.jpg, Carbodies taxicab FX4 1962 Austin FX4 London taxi.jpg,

Austin FX4 The Austin FX4 is a hackney carriage that was produced from 1958 until 1997. It was sold by Austin Motor Company, Austin from 1958 until 1982, when Carbodies, who had been producing the FX4 for Austin, took over the intellectual rights to the ...

1962 1965 Austin FL2 Hire Car.jpg, 1965 Austin FL2 Hire Car

LTI taxis

1985 Austin FX4Q London taxi.jpg, 1985 Austin FX4Q taxi Carbodies Fairway in Guinness livery.jpg, 1990 Fairway in Guinness livery 1995 Carbodies Fairway 95.jpg, 1995 Fairway 95 London taxi Wetzikon - Bahnhofstrasse - Wildbach 2010-07-01 12-24-20 ShiftN savagely cropped.jpg,

in Switzerland 2005 LTI TXII Silver Automatic 2.4 Front.jpg, TXII in United Kingdom SHB786K - London Cab TX4 in Singapore, SMRT owned front view.jpg,

in Singapore

References

* Bill Munro, ''Carbodies: The Complete Story'', Crowood, UK 1998, * London Taxi Company press releases

External links

London Vintage Taxi AssociationOwners Club and Forum.
{{Automotive industry in the United Kingdom Coachbuilders of the United Kingdom Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Coventry Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United Kingdom Taxi companies Taxis of the United Kingdom Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1919 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 2013 1919 establishments in England 2013 disestablishments in England British companies established in 1919 British companies disestablished in 2013