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 London taxicabs, first Unic then Austin Taxicabs, eventually holding the concession for the Austin taxicab chassis for the whole of the Metropolitan Police Area of London. [1]
Their base was at 177, Battersea Bridge Road, London, SW11 and their distribution area included the provinces. [2] A major part of their operation was funding cars for drivers carried out from 1907 by Mann & Overton Finance Limited [note 1] ultimately M&O's major asset, bought by the Lloyds Bowmaker finance group in 1977.
Their non-finance vehicle retail and service operations were bought in 1984 and added to the group owning Carbodies, later known as London Taxis International, which since 2013 is in liquidation following unsustainable warranty claims.
The most popular London taxicabs continue to be built to the essential Mann & Overton design and provided by their firm's successors.
Directors included: John Thomas Overton, William Overton and Robert Clifton Hills Overton. [2]
Mann & Overton's were very active motorcar importers and dealers from their beginning, participating in all significant motor shows in England and Ireland and providing entries in major car trials.
The provision of hire purchase terms to owner-drivers and taxicab investors was an important part of the business [3] — and the reason the business was bought by a banking group in 1977.
One of London's original brands of taxicab it was supplied by Mann & Overton Limited who were concessionaires and British distributors of Unic cabs on behalf of the principals in Paris, France. The appearance of these sturdy vehicles changed very little in two decades. In 1924 Mann & Overton supplied nearly 80% of the new cabs licensed in London. [3]
In 1915 a new tax had been introduced of 33.33% on luxury imports to help fund the war. Relaxed when peace returned these duties were reintroduced in July 1925 and with effect from 1 May 1926 McKenna duties were for the first time imposed on commercial vehicles to protect UK manufacturers from imports. Finally Unic Motors (1928) Limited was established in Cricklewood in North London to assemble French made components to try to reduce the incidence of import duty but the locally assembled taxicabs remained expensive and proved less reliable than the model they replaced. [3]
The Public Carriage Office—then under the Metropolitan Police at Scotland Yard but now part of Transport for London (as Taxis and Private Hire)—regulates the design of London's taxicabs. The reason for the lofty appearance was a police regulation stating there must be adequate room for a gentleman wearing a top hat but no-one stipulated what length a gentleman must be from topper to bottom.
Responding to pressure from the London public as well as the industry, in 1927 various design requirements were relaxed. The changes took effect in 1928. Minimum ground clearance went from 10 to 7 inches, four-wheel braking was permitted, the petrol tank no longer need be under the driver's seat and the turning circle was relaxed. [3]
The increased import duties obliged Mann & Overton to find an alternative to supplies from Unic. In the light of the new design requirements they managed to persuade Austin to re-enter the taxi market [3] —in spite of Sir Herbert's published opinion: [note 2]
Sir Herbert Austin then spoke of taxicab design. "For many practical reasons," he said, "the engine should be put at the rear for a taxicab operating in congested areas, and this would give a sensible and convenient means of entry and exit and better riding qualities. I look for early development in this direction." [4]
Although representative makes of new taxicabs exhibited at the 1929 London Motor Transport Show were: Morris Commercial, Beardmore, Austin and Citroen [5] only Beardmore supplied complete taxicabs.
Up to that time Austin [note 2] and others supplied only a hire car chassis intended to accept specialist bodies and their hire car chassis didn't comply with the London taxicab regulations. Austin's exhibit at this 1929 show was their new chassis on which they had amended their Heavy Twelve chassis's steering to provide a tighter turning circle and switched their cable-operated for rod-operated brakes to comply with the regulations. After that Mann & Overton's designer and coachbuilders had only to replace Austin's usual V-shaped windscreen with a flat upright screen and amend the offside front door opening of a hire car to make a luggage platform.
Most buyers chose landaulette bodywork because the very back section of the roof could be lowered in summer.
The first new generation Mann & Overton Austin entered service in April–May 1930. [3] [note 3]
The new taxicab was considerably taller than any others and was dubbed the Upright Grand but top hat wearers could use the extra space and the Heavy Twelve's engine had already proved almost indestructible in Austin's saloon cars. Mann & Overton's success was immediate. In 1930 the year of its introduction, 271 of the 540 new cabs were Austins. [3]
The next year, 1931, Mann & Overton sold 400 Austins, the opposition—Morris Commercial, Beardmore, plus a few M&O Unics—could only manage 243 vehicles between them. [3]
Austin further modified the chassis in 1933 adding synchromesh between third and top gears (these cars are called TT or Twin Top) and replacing the joints at the front of the propeller shaft with Hardy Spicer couplings. In addition the transmission brake was removed—the parking brake now operated on the back wheels. [3]
The new cab was once again designed by William Overton of Mann & Overton Limited in collaboration with Austin. Austin had redesigned the back axle relocating the propeller shaft and together with height saved by the new dropped cross-braced frame something like 7 inches was able to be removed from the car's overall height. [3]
Again the standard body was made by Strachan of Acton. For the same price Mann & Overton would supply another by Vincent's of Reading [6] (famous for building the royal horse boxes) or for £5 more a better finished body by Jones Brothers of Bayswater. Other suppliers included Goodland Cooper and Elkington of Chiswick. [3]
Mann & Overton's Austins dominated the market between 1930 and 1938 selling 5,850 cabs representing 75% of the market. [3]
There was one more variant before the outbreak of war, both grille and windscreen were raked, the grille and the wings (mudguards) were flared and matched those of the Austin Twelve saloon introduced in 1934. Few were made before the outbreak of war ended manufacture. These taxicabs proved to be the last with a landaulette body which was forbidden by new regulations issued soon after the war.
Designed by Austin in collaboration with Robert Overton of Mann & Overton, its coachwork made by Carbodies, Austin's new Metropolitan taxicab was first exhibited in London in June 1948. Full production was to commence in August. Notable features included:
In view of the continuing restrictions a proportion of the output was to be reserved for owner-drivers to whom deliveries would be made by ballot. [7]
This design arrived on the market a year after Morris's Nuffield Organization had begun to produce their postwar taxicab but Austin's FX3 was much more up to date. When in 1952 Morris and Austin were put together as BMC the Austin was not only more modern it was outselling the Nuffield contribution by more than two to one. Nuffield's taxi was phased out in 1954. Anticipating this move Beardmore brought out its own new design but it was not strong competition for the Austin and the Beardmore taxi business finally closed in 1969. [3]
In July 1958 the prototype of a new taxi designed by Mann & Overton was displayed to the London Press. Its new body had four conventional doors and the luggage beside the driver was now fully enclosed. The occasional seats had been made more comfortable with a sloping backrest and switches provided for a heater and an extra bright light. [8]
The new body was again fitted to an Austin chassis but now the chassis was equipped with independent front suspension and a Borg-Warner automatic gearbox. The power unit remained the previous BMC 2.2-litre diesel engine. [8]
At the opening of the Commercial Motor Show in September 1958 Austin announced that an order had been received from Mann & Overton for 2,000 of the new design fitted with automatic transmission. [9]
This design remained in production until 1997, long after Mann & Overton had been swallowed by Lloyds & Scottish then Manganese Bronze.
The Company which owned the business was listed on the London Stock Exchange in July 1935 in anticipation of the constant market arising after 1 January 1936 when the age limit for taxi-cabs in the London Metropolitan Police Area was to be reduced to ten years. In 1934 the business disposed of 1,111 taxi-cabs. [2]
Lloyds and Scottish Finance purchased Mann & Overton in mid-1977. [10] This was done to buy Mann & Overton's continuing lending activity and substantial lending portfolio to cab drivers.
Manganese Bronze Holdings purchased Mann & Overton from Lloyds & Scottish in 1984. [11] Carbodies had built Mann & Overton's Austin taxis since 1948. Manganese Bronze Holdings had absorbed Carbodies Limited with portions of the former Birmingham Small Arms Company in 1973. Taxis became Manganese Bronze's core business carried out under the name The London Taxi Company.
The London Taxi Company continued the business of Mann & Overton and Carbodies until 2013 when production problems and consequent financial difficulties brought a halt to production.
There are plans to revive the business under the ownership of Geely UK Limited.
A hackney or hackney carriage is a carriage or car for hire. A hackney of a more expensive or high class was called a remise. A symbol of London and Britain, the black taxi is a common sight on the streets of London. The hackney carriages carry a roof sign TAXI that can be illuminated to indicate their availability for passengers.
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.
Checker Motors Corporation was a vehicle manufacturer, and later an automotive subcontractor, based in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The company was established by Morris Markin in 1922, created by a merger of the firms Commonwealth Motors and Markin Automobile Body, and was initially named the Checker Cab Manufacturing Company. The manufacturer was originally based in Chicago, before moving to Kalamazoo in 1923. The company was renamed Checker Motors in 1958.
Nuffield Organization was the unincorporated umbrella-name or promotional name used for the charitable and commercial interests of owner and donor, William Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield. The name was assumed following Nuffield's gift made to form his Nuffield Foundation in 1943, it linked his business interests to his existing very generous philanthropy. The same enterprises had previously been referred to as the Morris Organizations and at first described itself as The Nuffield Organization, A Cornerstone of Britain's Industrial Structure.
In New York City, taxicabs come in two varieties: yellow and green; they are widely recognizable symbols of the city. Taxis painted yellow are able to pick up passengers anywhere in the five boroughs. Those painted apple green, which began to appear in August 2013, are allowed to pick up passengers in Upper Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. Both types have the same fare structure. Taxicabs are operated by private companies and licensed by the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC). It also oversees over 40,000 other for-hire vehicles, including "black cars", commuter vans, and ambulettes.
The Austin FX4 is a hackney carriage that was produced from 1958 until 1997. It was sold by Austin from 1958 until 1982, when Carbodies, who had been producing the FX4 for Austin, took over the intellectual rights to the car. Carbodies only produced the FX4 for two years, until 1984, when London Taxis International took over rights and continued producing it until 1997. In all, more than 75,000 FX4s were built.. Over its lifetime, the FX4 increasingly became regarded as a design classic, and a visual icon of London recognised throughout the world, to the point where its eventual successors - the TX-series and the current LEVC TX - continue the FX4's basic styling cues and overall aesthetic.
William Beardmore and Company was a British engineering and shipbuilding conglomerate based in Glasgow and the surrounding Clydeside area. It was active from 1886 to the mid-1930s and at its peak employed about 40,000 people. It was founded and owned by William Beardmore, later Lord Invernairn, after whom the Beardmore Glacier was named.
Carbodies was a taxi design and manufacturing company based in Coventry, England. In its latter years it also traded as London Taxis International and The London Taxi Company.
Taxicabs within a country often share common properties, but there is a wide variation from country to country in the vehicles used, the circumstances under which they may be hired and the regulatory regime to which these are subject.
The Nuffield Oxford Taxi, initially produced as the Wolseley Oxford Taxicab was the first new taxicab designed to comply with the Metropolitan Police Conditions of Fitness for London taxicabs to be launched on the British market after the end of the Second World War.
Morris Commercial Cars Limited is a British manufacturer of commercial vehicles formed by William Morris, founder of Morris Motors Limited, to continue the business of E G Wrigley and Company which he purchased as of 1 January 1924.
The taxicabs of the United States make up a mature system; most U.S. cities have a licensing scheme which restricts the number of taxicabs allowed. As of 2012 the total number of taxi cab drivers in the United States is 233,900; the average annual salary of a taxi cab driver is $22,820 and the expected percent job increase over the next 10 years is 16%.
The MCW Metrocab is a taxicab that was manufactured between 1987 and 2000 and as the Metrocab TTT from 2000 to 2006. It was designed and originally produced by the British vehicle manufacturing company Metro Cammell Weymann (MCW), with ownership passing to Reliant in 1989, Hooper in 1991 and finally Kamkorp in 2000.
The TX4 is a purpose-built taxicab manufactured by The London Taxi Company, a subsidiary of Geely Automobile of China. From 2007 until their liquidation in 2013 it was manufactured by LTI. It is the latest in a long line of purpose-built taxis produced by The London Taxi Company and various predecessor entities. The design has evolved via several mutations from the Austin FX3 of the 1950s. TX4's immediate predecessor is the TXII.
The Austin FX3 is a taxicab that was sold in the United Kingdom by Austin from 1948 to 1958. It was designed to comply with the Metropolitan Police Conditions of Fitness for London taxicabs, but was also used in other towns and cities in the UK. It was commissioned from Austin by taxi dealers Mann & Overton and built by Carbodies of Coventry on a chassis supplied by Austin.
A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice. This differs from public transport where the pick-up and drop-off locations are decided by the service provider, not by the customers, although demand responsive transport and share taxis provide a hybrid bus/taxi mode.
Checker Taxi was a dominant taxicab company and national franchisor that was based in Chicago, Illinois. Checker Motors was an American vehicle manufacturer based in Kalamazoo, Michigan that built the iconic Checker Taxicab, sold commercially as the Checker Marathon until 1982. Both companies were owned by Morris Markin by the 1930s.
The Austin London Taxicab used a modified Austin Heavy Twelve-Four chassis clothed with new bodies designed by London's largest taxicab retailer and dealer Mann & Overton, and made for them by London coachbuilders.
W & G Du Cros Limited also well-known as W & G was a business established in 1901 as a motor importers and dealership by Harvey Du Cros, founder of the pneumatic tyre industry also founder and head of the Dunlop Rubber Company and a major investor in businesses connected to the automobile. It grew into a major taxicab business and car and commercial motor-body builder which manufactured it own brand lorries and passenger vehicles.
London EV Company Limited (LEVC), formerly The London Taxi Corporation Limited, is a British automotive manufacturer with its headquarters at Ansty Park near Coventry, England. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chinese automaker Geely. The company produces London’s famous black taxicabs.