26/06/08 - here is a birds eye view of the cab with all our sponsors logos. Assuming the bird was flying towards rather than over the top of us.
06/05/08 - Well things have come along way since then. Below is what we are now calling Taxi Mark 1. This has been upgraded to Taxi Mark 2 - which comes with faster stripes, a working On Hire light and the all important MOT. More details and pics to follow. In the meantime, why not read all about Taxi 1.....
17/01/08 - After tense negotiations, several laughable attempts at bribery and some very shameless pleading Team Do You Do Airports? has acquired their vehicle for this year's Mongol Rally.
It was the first and only cab we went to see and we fell in love with it immediately. Ladies and Gentlemen, we present to you, our very own 1990 Fairway Carbodies Taxi Cab.
Presenting Gael with £450 in crisp £20 notes in exchange for the keys to a dream:
And this is what our 450 hard earned pounds have bought us:
Gael has written in:
Nick,
Thanks for the transaction.
We spend the evening looking on your web site. All the family are already proud of our loved CAB, it was very difficult for my daughters to let it go.
If you want you can add those pictures and please by sure that we will try to make circulate web address to peoples who working with me and to relations.
All the best
Regards
Gael and family.
And here she is in happier times, ferrying Family Beaufort to and from the Continent:
Fascinating Taxi Facts
Taxis were banned from driving through Hyde Park in 1685. This was due to the unruly behaviour of some ladies in a hackney coach. The ban was lifted in 1687, only to be reinstated in 1711 due to 'several disorders' being commited. That time the ban lasted until 1924.
Taxi drivers are not legally obliged to give change. If a large note is offered the driver is entitled to take the cash, and offer to post the change to the passenger's home address.
The 'Knowledge of London' was introduced in 1851 by Sir Richard Mayne after complaints that cab drivers did not know where they were going. Passing the Knowledge involves detailed recall of 25,000 streets within a six-mile radius of Charing Cross station. The locations of clubs, hospitals, hotels, railway stations, parks, theatres, courts, restaurants, colleges, government buildings and places of worship are also required. It can take three years to pass the test, including the six months it takes to be tested.
Only one percent of London's taxi drivers are women.
The original 'stage coaches' were certain hackney carriages whose drivers travelled in stages, ie, they would drive short distances, along a fixed route, picking up fares at defintite stopping points. As this part of the trade grew, they eventually became omnibuses, and then the bus transport system we have today.
The London Taxi Drivers' Fund for Underprivileged Children was started in 1928 when 12 London taxi drivers took children from a local orphanage to London Zoo. Now the charity takes the children to Disney Land, Paris, France for a few days. This Researcher's father David was the first non-London hackney carriage to take part.
(source: BBC website)