 | |
| Founded | 1987 |
|---|---|
| Defunct | 2021 |
| Headquarters | United Kingdom |
| Website | metrocab |
Metrocab was a British brand of taxicabs, started by Metro Cammell Weymann in 1987 and from 2001 owned by Kamkorp.
Ecotive Ltd. filed on 29 November 2021 for voluntary liquidation. [1]
The MCW Metrocab existed in two main variants, the original with a direct-injection diesel engine from the Ford Transit and, from 2000, the Metrocab TTT powered by a Toyota turbodiesel.
Metro Cammell Weymann introduced the MCW Metrocab in 1987. In 1989 MCW’s owner, Laird plc, divested itself of the Metrocab. The rights passed to Reliant and production was moved to Tamworth. [2] When Reliant collapsed in 1991, the receiver sold rights to Hooper, which kept the vehicle in production until December 2000, when Hooper itself suspended trading.[ citation needed ] Current owner Kamkorp purchased rights from Hooper’s administrator Leonard Curtis [3] in June 2001 and restarted production under a new holding company Metrocab (UK). [4] [5] The vehicle remained in production until April 2006 (apart from a 14-month suspension which ended April 2005). [6]
In 2014 a completely new Metrocab was presented to the press, electrically powered with a 1.0-litre range-extender petrol engine. It is the first authorised electric-powered London black cab. [7] It is a hybrid petrol-electric vehicle capable of zero emission operation and designed to comply with London Taxi Private Hire (LTPH) regulations.
The Kamkorp Group was a privately held holding company, encompassing a wide range of businesses but operates mainly as Frazer-Nash Research Ltd. It was owned by UK-based Indian businessman Kamal Siddiqi. Over the past 25 years, the Kamkorp Group has developed proprietary digital electric and hybrid electric powertrains and products for the transportation and industrial markets. The company has produced various automobile prototypes under the brands Frazer-Nash and Metrocab. Until 2020 it owned Bristol Cars, under which brand the Bristol Bullet sports car was being developed. The Bullet was unveiled on 26 July 2016 and production was to have started in 2017.
Reliant Motor Company was a British car manufacturer based in Tamworth, Staffordshire, England. It was founded in 1935 and ended car production in 2002, the company had been known as "Reliant Motor Company" until the 1990s when it became "Reliant Motors" and then finally became "Reliant Cars LTD" after production had ended of the Robin as the company was restructured to be a car import business. It is now a dormant company and the only entity left is a separate parts company created called "Reliant Partsworld" which produces parts for Reliant vehicles.
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 the UK. The hackney carriages carry a roof sign TAXI that can be illuminated to indicate their availability for passengers.
Metro Cammell Weymann Ltd. (MCW) was a British bus manufacturer and bus body builder based at Washwood Heath in Birmingham, England. MCW was established in 1932 by Metro-Cammell's bus bodybuilding division and Weymann Motor Bodies to produce bus bodies.
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 continued production until 1984, when London Taxis International took over rights and continued producing it until 1997. In all, more than 75,000 FX4s were built.
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.
The Toyota Comfort and the long-wheelbase Toyota Crown Comfort are a line of mid-size sedans produced by Toyota between 1995 and 2018. A platform derivative of the Toyota Mark II (X80), the Comfort was aimed at fleet buyers with a primary focus on taxicab operators. A third model was released in 2001 as the 11th generation Crown Sedan for the Japanese market only. The Crown Sedan was also aimed at fleet buyers, as a high end taxi or for corporate use.
The Optare MetroRider was a midibus manufactured by Optare between 1989 and 2000.
The MCW Metrorider was an integral midibus designed and built by Metro Cammell Weymann (MCW) between 1986 and 1989.
Taxicabs are regulated throughout the United Kingdom, but the regulation of taxicabs in London is especially rigorous with regard to mechanical integrity and driver knowledge. An official report observed that: "Little however is known about the regulation by anyone outside the trade. The Public Carriage Office (PCO), which regulates and licenses taxis and private hire was transferred from the Metropolitan Police to become part of Transport for London in 2000." In 2015, there were around 298,000 licensed drivers in England, of which 164,000 were private hire licences, 62,000 were taxi licences and 72,000 were dual licences.
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.
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.
Hybrid taxi or hybrid electric taxi is a taxicab service provided with a hybrid electric car (HEV), which combines a conventional internal combustion engine propulsion system with an electric propulsion system.
The Leyland-MCW Olympic was an underfloor-engined single-deck bus manufactured for at least eighteen countries from 1949 to 1971. 3,564 Olympics were built at four factories from 1949 to 1971, with 1,299 Olympics (36%) built as right hand drive and 2,265 (64%) as left hand drive. It was a very durable heavy-duty bus which ran in arduous conditions for longer periods than ever envisaged by its designers.
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.
The LEVC TX 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-built hackney carriages produced by LEVC and various predecessor entities. The LEVC TX is a plug-in hybrid range-extender electric vehicle.
London EV Company Limited is a British automotive electric vehicle manufacturer with its headquarters at Ansty Park near Coventry, England, and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chinese automaker Geely. The company is responsible for the electrical conversion of London’s famous black taxicabs.
The Ecotive Metrocab, first presented in December 2013, is a purpose-built electrically powered hackney carriage manufactured by Ecotive, a subsidiary of Kamkorp. The vehicle is designed to comply with Transport for London’s taxi regulations, which, from 1 January 2018, ban new diesel-powered taxis and require zero-emissions capability.