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End of the road for the Black Cab? They're a British icon - but now the factory that makes London taxis has run out of cash. And without a rescue, it's doomed

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The entire production line has stopped mid-flow as if someone has pressed a giant ‘pause’ button. Time stands still — literally. The clock above the factory floor has conked out, too.

Scattered tools and wrenches bear witness to half-finished jobs which simply stopped on the afternoon of October 30. For that was the sorry moment when the company that makes one of the most famous vehicles in the world went into administration.

‘It feels a bit like the Marie Celeste,’ sighs Stephen Fitter, production manager for the London Taxi Company, surveying his dormant domain.

‘But I only need to press one button and it could all get going again in an instant.’

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Classic: A row of Black Cabs sits in in the Coventry factory of London Taxi Company. The company went into administration on October 30

The company has shed half of the 300-strong workforce since going into administration following a series of financial and technical problems. I have come to meet the core team who are now on standby to resume production. But if no new owner can be found, then what?

At one end of the dimly-lit production line, a pristine new vehicle is virtually ready to hit the streets. At the other, basic bits of bodywork are waiting to be assembled. But even the bare shells are unmistakeable.

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For this Coventry factory is where they make — or used to make — an automotive legend. Show anyone, from Mali to Manchuria, a picture of one of these cars and they will be able to say two things about it — that it is a taxi and that it comes from London.

No matter that the TX4 (to give it its proper name) hails from the West Midlands and is to be found in cities all over Britain and, indeed, the world. It is inextricably associated with one metropolis.

Along with the Routemaster bus (deceased), Big Ben and the Guardsman in his bearskin, it is a much-loved icon which shrieks ‘London!’ Pick any guidebook to the capital, whatever the language, and you can bet it will carry a prominent picture of a black cab, as surely as the Paris edition will sport the Eiffel Tower and the Venetian a gondola.

Production line: Since going into administration the company has shed half of the 300-strong workforce following a series of financial and technical problems

Back to basics: Bits of bodywork wait to be assembled to form the recognisable Black Cab. But even the bare shells are unmistakable

The modern Black Cab dates back to something called the FX3 which came trundling off the Austin production line just after the war (with just three doors and an open-air luggage well where one might have expected to find a front passenger seat).

It was succeeded by the four-door FX4 in 1958, the classic design which lives on to this day.

The manufacturer may have changed hands several times and the vehicle has gone through numerous redesigns and new editions. But today’s TX4 has that same sturdy posture and those same jaunty curves as its ancestor, albeit with better heating and a smoother ride.

Just as they have a timeless quality, so black cabs are entirely classless, too. Anyone and everyone uses them.

The King of Tonga has a personalised model with leather seats, a drinks cabinet and a set of engraved Brierley Hill Crystal (his predecessor found that a London cab was the easiest mode of car transport when travelling with a sword).

The security firm, Serco, commissioned a customised fleet of blacked-out cabs for ferrying suspects and prisoners to and from court as unobtrusively as possible.

Until recently a London cab has served as the official limo of the Governor of the Falkland Islands. Celebrity owners, including actor Stephen Fry and the late Sir Laurence Olivier, came to love the anonymity and practicality of having one’s own cab.

Popular: A Black Cab sits in the paint shop. The cab hails from the West Midlands but is to be found in cities all over Britain and the world

Abandoned: A man mops the floor next to the production line which is now still

A dying brand: Robert Hardman leans out of what may be the very last cab to come off the production line

During the Sixties, oil magnate  Nubar Gulbenkian, ordered a London taxi with a Rolls-Royce engine and Victorian carriagework. When asked why, he explained: ‘Because it turns on a sixpence — whatever that is.’

The Black Cab appeared in this summer’s Olympic opening ceremony and was there again in the closing one, too. It has acquired its own mythology. Some stories are utter rubbish, like a fabled law requiring every cab driver to keep a bale of hay in the back.

Some, though, are firmly rooted in fact. To this day, the basic dimensions of the London taxi date back to a set of 1906 Conditions of Fitness which stipulated that every cab should be tall enough to accommodate a man in a top hat and long enough to seat two people opposite each other without their knees touching.

Looking at a bare chassis awaiting its bodywork, I realise just how big the Black Cab really is. In its skeletal form, it could be a small truck. Back in 1906, it also had to be capable of circumnavigating the tiny roundabout outside London’s Savoy Hotel at one go. Today, a London taxi must still have a turning circle of 28 ft.

Not that it was called a ‘taxi’ back then. As taxi historian Bill Munro points out, it was only after the introduction of the ‘taximeter’ — which calculates your fare — to the ‘motor cab’ in 1907 that the word evolved.

Hard at work: A man works on a Black Cab. Several car makers have tried to establish a foothold in the Black Cab market but have failed

Much-loved icon: Along with the Routemaster bus, Big Ben and the Guardsman in his bearskin, the Black Cab screams London!

Still the same: The vehicle has gone though numerous redesigns and new editions, but today's Black Cab has the same sturdy posture and same jaunty curves

Those early rules also decreed there had to be a partition separating driver and passengers, mainly to stop drunks from grabbing the wheel.

‘Public carriages are frequently used by persons who are more hilarious than wise, getting beside the driver and interfering with the mechanism,’ noted the police chief in charge of the Public Carriage Office.

Over the years, meddlers and modernisers have tried to tinker with these arcane rules, but they remain in place for the simple reason that they work.

Several car makers have tried to establish a foothold in the black cab market. Some failed to crack the 28ft turning circle. Others produced designs which might politely be described as hideous  or which failed to meet new emissions standards.

Most challenging of all are the sums: how do you develop a design which a) complies with all these regulations and b) sells enough models to recoup your investment in such a tiny market? And that is the problem that has brought the London Taxi Company to its knees.

LTC enjoys an enormous market share, accounting for some 80 per cent of London’s 22,000 Black Cabs. The other licensed models are the Vito, a newish converted Mercedes van with sliding doors, and the Metrocab, a boxy old thing which is no longer in production (the Duke of Edinburgh still uses one — in ‘Edinburgh green’ — for travelling around London). Nissan also plans to introduce a new minivan-style taxi with sliding doors and a sun roof in the next year or so.

Classless: Anyone and everyone uses Black Cabs. The King of Tonga has a personalised model while security firm, Serco, commissioned a fleet for ferrying suspects and prisoners to and from court

Inconspicuous: Pictured are the blacked-out cabs which are used to transport prisoners

In 1906, the Black Cab had to be capable of circumnavigating the tiny roundabout outside London's Savoy Hotel at one go. Today, a London taxi must still have a turning circle of 25ft

But the vast majority of cabbies prefer LTC’s classic creation.

At about £35,000, it is marginally cheaper than the Vito and, while it is less efficient, it can easily clock up half a million miles. As Stephen Fitter points out: ‘Other taxis are just adapted vans. This one was designed for the job.’

Just six years ago, LTC’s future looked rosy as its parent company, Manganese Bronze, was announcing grand plans and a joint partnership with a Chinese supplier.

But things did not go according to plan. In 2008, a technical fault affecting thousands of cabs was coupled with the credit crunch. More recently, a new IT system mislaid several million pounds of company money. And finally, in October, a fault appeared in a new Chinese-built steering component. More than 500 new cabs  had to be impounded while another 455, already in service, had to be recalled.

Had Manganese Bronze been a giant like Jaguar or Ford, it might have weathered the storm. But in the automotive world, it is a pixie.

Variation: Half of 'Black' cabs are no longer black. Some drivers like blue or bronze

The modern Black Cab dates back to the FX3 which came off the Austin production line just after the war

Overcoming difficulties: LTC has had to face a number of challenges since 2008 when a technical fault affected thousands of cabs

Unlike the average car plant, LTC does not have a single robotic machine. All its vehicles are assembled manually by a team of highly-trained technicians. So when the money ran out in October, administrators PwC were called in to salvage what they could.

In due course, they hope to find a new buyer. But their priority has been to find a swift solution to the steering problem, secure new funding and then repair every cab with the faulty part. That process, now well under way, will be finished by mid-December.

In the meantime, owners of faulty cabs have either had to scrabble around for a rented vehicle or twiddle their thumbs. But the problem is much wider. New rules mean that no cab is allowed to work in London for more than 15 years (hence you will often find elderly ex-London cabs in the regions).

So, day after day, cabs are coming up for retirement and drivers are having to ask themselves a simple question: do they buy a Mercedes or wait in the hope that someone will start making traditional cabs again?

‘It’s a huge problem because the overwhelming number of drivers do like the traditional cab,’ says Bob Oddy, deputy general secretary of the London Taxi Drivers Association. ‘Within two days of the news, you couldn’t borrow or hire a new cab anywhere. And it’s been like that ever since. We need this sorted urgently.’

It was only after the introduction of the 'taximeter' - which which calculates your fare - to the 'motorcab' in 1907 that the word 'taxi' evolved

End of an era: London Taxi Company has been brought to its knees. It accounts for some 80 per cent of London's 22,000 Black Cabs

There are other licensed models on the market but the vast majority of cabbies prefer LTC's classic creation

He points out that half of ‘Black’ Cabs are no longer black. Some drivers like a tasteful shade of blue or bronze — or any one of the 21 shades on offer at LTC, including Sherwood Green (mandatory for Nottingham cabs) and pink.

Many drivers, too, enjoy the revenue from an all-over advertisement, known as a ‘livery’. But whatever the colour, there is no question which shape the public prefers.

The administrators insist they are confident of finding a buyer.

‘This a dominant market leader with an iconic brand and a huge level of international goodwill,’ says Matthew Hammond, 42, the PwC partner in charge of turning things round. He claims to have some clients ready to order up to 500 new cabs each and says that production will resume once the latest glitch is sorted.

Unlike other car plants, LTC does not have a single robotic machine. All its vehicles are assembled by team of trained technicians

The future: Administrators at LTC (pictured) say they are confident of finding a buyer. Meanwhile, London would be a drearier place without its classic cab

I do hope so. London is the poorer without the old hop-on/hop-off Routemaster bus (although a new prototype is on trial) and would be drearier still without its classic cab.

The West Midlands can ill afford to lose yet another car maker. And I think it is safe to assume that no King of Tonga will ever want to be driven around in a Mercedes van.

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