The new London Taxi Company (LTC) TX5, which was presented outside Lancaster House during the four-day UK state visit by China’s President Xi Jinping, is a refreshingly traditional-looking new black cab. It has been developed by parent company Geely, and is an all-new design.
It was styled at Geely’s design studio in Barcelona by Peter Horbury, David Ancona and their team, and uses composite body panels over an aluminium structure. It is an efficient design, with low kerb weight being a priority in order to keep down running costs. It will go head-to-head with the latest Metrocab tested by AROnline in 2014, and will be powered by a similar battery electric powertrain with a range-extending internal-combustion engine – although details of the new TX5’s drivetrain are yet to be revealed.
The rear doors are rear-hinged, and six passengers can be carried in the rear. Fare payers will be treated to 21st-Century conveniences, such as on-board Wi-Fi, USB charge points and an all-glass panoramic roof. The driver’s compartment is improved as well: it’s bigger, brighter and blessed with improved ergonomics – often overlooked in the pursuit of the maximum passenger space.
The TX5 will go on sale in 2017, and further details will be announced nearer the time.
Is the Editor of the Parkers website and price guide, formerly editor of Classic Car Weekly, and launch editor/creator of Modern Classics magazine. Has contributed to various motoring titles including Octane, Practical Classics, Evo, Honest John, CAR magazine, Autocar, Pistonheads, Diesel Car, Practical Performance Car, Performance French Car, Car Mechanics, Jaguar World Monthly, MG Enthusiast, Modern MINI, Practical Classics, Fifth Gear Website, Radio 4, and the the Motoring Independent...
Likes 'conditionally challenged' motors and taking them on unfeasible adventures all across Europe.
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Looks great. A world away from those dreadful Peugeot van derived monstrosities.
Agreed and the Merc and Nissan van monstrosities as well.
Having driven the new XC90 from their sister company Volvo Cars, I hope they have had the good sense to utilise Volvo Cars new platform that the XC90 and the rest of the next generation of Volvos will utilise, because not only does it match the drivability of the Ford platform based Volvos but also has that feel of being “something special” in terms of quality that (Swedish not Dutch) Volvo used to have.
Less attractive than the current TX4, but at least it looks like a proper taxi! The first all new LTI model since the FX4?
The mechanicals will be the interesting bit, I assume the platform will be largely bespoke but the drivetrain Volvo derived?
Good god that’s ugly. It looks like something off bangla bangers after a really heavy sesh on the Khat (and I don’t mean miaow).
It looks like they blew up a Renault 5 front end with helium, nicked a pane out of a horticultural greenhouse for the windshield, nicked two angel eye headlights from a burnt out BMW somewhere in clapham and then topped it off with passat foglights.
I hate to imagine what they’ve done to the back. To paraphrase Verity Stob on Torchwood – Come back MetroCab, all is forgiven!
Honestly this makes even the most clapped out Allegro estate into a thing of beauty.
That’s windscreen not “windshield” in English….
… but it’s still ugly. Although it may look better in the tin than in a photo.
Everyone seems to have great difficulty following up the FX4 – in trying to make the new design indentifiable as a black cab they lose sight of aesthetic criteria. We’ve had the ‘Cottage Bun’ taxi, now we are faced with the Hippotamus Taxi!
I think the best way to go is to start afresh as Volvo did for this design exercise to build a compact modern Urban Taxi with access for wheel chairs etc.
You can see it in the Volvo Museum in Gothenburg and is no bigger than a Focus.
http://www.motorstown.com/35553-volvo-taxi.html#gal_35553_volvo-taxi-01.jpg
Too short to be a 5/6 seater like London Taxis, and that does have a hint of the original Metrocab about it too!
As it dates from 1976, the Metro Cab has the style of the Volvo Cab about it.
Its a solution to a different problem, ie a smaller more compact 3 seater cab to replace New York Yellow Cabs.
Starting now you would end up somewhere else than Volvo did 40 years ago ie with modern composites, kneeling suspension, 4 wheel steering etc if you did as Volvo did and start with a clean sheet of paper and a problem.
It looks like a conveyance for the lumpen proletariat . The only snag is that the lumpen proletariat can’t afford to take London taxis … and I’d love to see how long it would be practical in service with only a range extender rather than a full hybrid setup . These things are meant to be used 24 hours a day
Good to see the Bentley Bentayga being revealed.
I have just seen the sad news that we lost Peter Horbury earlier this month. 73 is not an age, and to lose a man who had a huge influence on car design in the 90s and 00s with Volvo, Ford/Lincoln and Geely. RIP