Story of The Beast

The Beast is my 4th black cab, a 1997 Fairway Driver bought on a whim on 1st December 2013 via eBay.co.uk. It was priced so cheap at £600 when it turned out on eBay that I made a compulsive bid. As the days passed, I realized that nobody else was bidding. At the end of the auction, I was the winner, for lack of other contenders! I had to go and fetch my prize in London!

On Saturday November 30, I took the train from La Roche-sur-Yon to Nantes, the shuttle bus to Nantes airport and an early morning flight from Nantes to London City Airport. Then the DLR to the heart of London where I exchanged my Euros into Pounds. I spent the night at a hotel on Queens garden, close to Paddington Station.

Early morning on Sunday December 1st 2013, I took the tube to London Sisters station and met my seller at a garage located in a small alley street nearby. When I arrived, the cab's engine was already turning, not a good sign! My seller was probably trying to cover a mechanical problem, but what? He was a young and friendly guy, said he was from South Africa and was an engine specialist. We covered the paperwork, I paid my £ 600 cash. Then, seeing I was not very familiar with London, he took me in tow with his own car to the entrance of the M25, after a refuelling stop at a gas station.

Finally I was on my own amid the dense traffic. On cornering at roundabouts I felt the cab's steering was not quite OK: I wasn't getting an immediate response from the power steering, or just that little too much! Otherwise, the cab was pulling along at a measured pace and the auto box was changing gears smoothly. The lights, wipers, indicators, gauges were all working fine. The odometer and electric windows were temperamental. I paid my £2 at the Dartford toll crossing, and after quite a long drive I stopped at a food court conveniently placed before the junction to the A3, the "Portsmouth Road". The place was huge, plenty of car parking space, plenty of people, plenty of eating places and a few shops. After a hearty meal I took to the road again and arrived early at Portsmouth terminal, which felt like home to me! I chose the night ferry crossing to Caen/Ouistreham, which was more expensive but more comfortable and closer to Caen.

On coming down to pick up my cab in the ferry's garage the following morning, I found a rivulet of smelly fluid coming from under its front: the ferry's roll and pitch had shaken the cab and my steering box was leaking for good! Luckily there was some steering left, and I could make it to Caen, but I decided against the long haul to La Roche sur Yon: on the way things could only get worse, not better.

I met my brother in Caen and we toured the different garages around, including Rover and Nissan. But none of them would dare touch a London cab: terra incognita! Rover accepted to take a look at the hailing steering box and gave us an address in UK where I could order a replacement, but that was all they would do. At least that was something!

With my precious cab safely parked at my brother's I took a train (3 successive trains) to La Roche sur Yon. After 2 weeks a reconditioned box arrived in Caen, I found a garage that accepted to tackle the job, and left my cab there for another week. On my third journey to Caen, my cab was repaired, and I finally took the road to La Roche sur Yon. But I was not at the end of my troubles: My cab started overheating, the temperature needle coming almost into the red: I had to stop 2 or 2 times on my way to refill the expansion vase. I finally reached home safely!

The Beast's positive and negative points

Let's start with the positive:
The overall appearance is good, little rust on the front wings, good windshield rubber, velour seats at the back, all major electrical systems work, including the fuel gauge. The battery is good, the inside is clean, floor mats in the front and rear. The engine and transmission are good. Air conditioning system, intercom, alarm, electric antenna (disconnected). Tyres are OK and need not an immediate replacement.

Now to the bad points:
In addition to the defective steering box above mentioned, the engine tended to overheat;
I found the bottom radiator hose made of two pieces, slightly leaking, which explains why I had to refill on the way;
The air conditioning interior unit was blowing, but on closer inspection there was not belt over the compressor's pulley, therefore no cold air; There were two gaping holes in the front door panels where speakers have been removed;
The front electric windows and the intercom system were temperamental;
Two small "bullet holes" on the boot lid.

Immediate work carried out:
I replaced my RHD headlights by LHD headlights;
I replaced the offside front quarter light window, bought two second hand speakers to fill the gaps in the front door panels, found two second hand Clarion speakers with grilles for the dashboard and replaced the inside weather strips on the front windows;
Later I put new chrome trims along the roof gutters;
My alternator was not charging properly and I took the cab to a garage to replace it. I took that opportunity to remove the whole air-conditioning system and replace the leaking bottom hose with a new one;
I put clear indicator lenses with amber bulbs at front;
Finally I replaced my front quarter light windows with old FX4 opening quarter lights that lend a retro-look to the cab!

What the cab cost me:

• Cab purchase: £ 600 or 720 €
• Trip to fetch cab in UK (including train, ferries, hotel, food, diesel, etc..): 400 €
• reconditioned steering box including P&P: £312 or 375 €
• work carried out at a garage: 375 €
• front geometry: 80 €
• Crystal LHD headlamps,: £44 or 52 €
• Various sundry spare parts, repairs and improvements: 964 €
• second hand opening quarter light windows: 140 €
• MOT certificate valid for 2 years: 65 €
• Certificate of Conformity delivered by Octobus: 1100 €
• French certificate of registration: 223 €
• French plates: 46 €
• Historic vehicle insurance: 65 €

Total cost of the cab so far, including the trip to England, spare parts, repairs, insurance, MOT and French registration: 4400 € (£3,400) - well, quite a far cry from the 720 € (£600) initial price, but less than the 6000 € (£4,600) I would have paid at one of the two dealers sharing the market of imported London cabs in France! I'm quite contented to have saved 1600 € by giving myself the trouble to fetch my own cab in UK...

What's in a cab's name:
I first called my new cab "Big Black Baby" or "BBB" because it was big, it was black and I loved it, then after a few months I decided on "Black Beauty" or "BB" because "BBB" was too long to pronounce. But when it finally got its French registration number it became obvious that this cab was "the Beast"!

Further improvements:
I replaced the 2 bonnet hinges;
I found two opening quarter light windows and 2 chrome bumpers from an old Austin FX4 and fixed them on the Beast;
I replaced my amber wing signal repeaters with clear ones;
I removed the worn rubber bumper overriders and replaced them with 2 pairs of chrome bumpers acquired on Ebay;
I found a front plastic grille on eBay motors and sprayed it chrome before fixing it on the bonnet;
I removed the old metal roof taxi sign and replaced it with a new fiberglass one found on eBay motors.

Outings with the Beast:

Black cabs always attract a lot of curiosity in France!

Car exhibition in Ouistreham, Normandie, Oct 2014

Taxi Cabs & Co, Normandie, May 2016