Aah, bless.
I must have bought, resold and destroyed at least four vehicles since this thread first appeared at the behest of the voices that tell me to buy stuff, so I couldn't in fact recall whether my taxi fetish had progressed beyond a daft idea when I last posted here....
No pictures yet, but I now own a black taxi!
Guesses as to its make and model welcomed, but I will provide some clues:
The vehicle is slightly under 16 feet in length, is of all steel construction, has a 280bhp (its acceleration is incredible for a car that can also manage between 48 and 61 mpg when driven considerately) inline 6 cylinder engine and a crude form of early hybrid technology that uses deep cycle lead acid batteries, one at 12 volts for the conventional starter that engages in the equally conventional ring gear on the flex plate and the other a 36 volt lead acid one that charges from the same (front mounted) starter/generator/electric motor which starts the engine after periods of running in heavy traffic using only the electric motor. A large, water cooled inverter is fitted in the engine bay and looks like something removed from a Dalek during an autopsy.
Turning circle is slightly larger than that of a Metrocab or older London style taxi, but for a large car it is incredibly easy to turn in the width of the road through the village.
Suspension is by Macpherson struts up front and at the rear, a live axle mounted by means of a 5 link arrangement with coil springs is fitted. This axle contains a most effective limited slip differential which equates to massive smiles when negotiating roundabouts, whether road surface is wet, oily or dry for that matter. I put this beast on the road on May the 9th and have only now developed the sensitivity needed to prevent the car from leaving parallel black lines on the road even when the transmission is going from 2nd to top gear which, for peaceful long distance work, has an overdrive that can be switched manually or left to make its own mind up.
The capacity of that IL6 is a mere 1980cc and is naturally aspirated but some of the total power output comes from the electric motor which, when selected for this rôle, kicks in instead of using the kickdown facility of the transmission.
All of this gadgetry is housed in a bodyshell that first saw daylight in the early 1990s, mine is a 2006 example and was in fact owned by a private owner who had nothing to do with the taxi trade. I'm second keeper from new and the odometer reads a mere 102000km (63400ish in miles) from new, backed up by the most comprehensive history I've ever seen with a used vehicle.
Oh, and its amazingly straight body is in totally original order including its very, very deeply shiny black paint, currently covered in fine dust from the fields and the building site at the other end of the village. Nobody told me that black cars were filth magnets!
So go on then people, tell me what I've gone and bought now and no, it's not a very early Prius, one of those would almost fit in the boot. It's not American, but looks as though it might fit right in over there, though it does have the steering wheel in the correct place.
Piccies will be posted, maybe in a series of tiny sections of the car. Prize for anyone who guesses the identity of the thing is a reversible dashboard octopus for use when attending events. One last clue: the car was factory fitted from new with antimacassars on all of the seats, just like very much older folk used to have on their armchairs to prevent Brylcreme stains.
. I suppose colour and appearance is a matter of taste; a subjective thing, where nobody is right and nobody is wrong. Alas many people seem to have no knowledge of things, beyond whether they like the look of it or whether it gives them the right image 
. If Reliant still made cars and if they did an SUV version of the Robin, especially if some WAG drove one, they'd sell like hot cakes.
with that, in order to get something else (I said I would look after it). I saw an M Type Midget, for £23000, in the MG car Club magazine (Safety Fast) this month and if I had the extra room and nothing more pressing, to spend money on, I could be tempted (It would be VSCC eligible). Even if I had £millions, I'd still be interested in that M Type.
