Hello Rich, we were about to send a search and rescue team to sweep the channel for your lifeless remains but here you are, still alive & well.. Phew!
Yes, I seem to recall that you did indeed post a link to a Pajero-based taxi "replica" and I've since seen another like it, again on eBay. Call me a stick-in-the-mud if you will, but I find the Pajero mini's original (Pininfarina-styled) form satisfying, even quite pretty from some angles and I believe that the taxi thing might be better suited to those who like Mitsuoka Viewts and the Subaru vans which have been made to resemble VWs or Citroen vans of the 1950s.
As one who has a weakness for shiny stuff, my search for such things never stops, rather it is occasionally interrupted when I find something like my tiny 4x4; incredibly low mileage, unrestored condition and not in need of any work apart from dosing with rust preventative substances and of course, big enough in all of the right directions for me to drive it without becoming so sore that the fire brigade need to come out and take the roof off to get me out.
The Mitsubishi ticked these boxes, plus its mad little engine makes a noise similar to a room full of chainsaws or a very large moped, which appeals to the inner child.
However, there's always a compromise. In this case, although long, deep and tall enough, the interior is narrower than that of a Reliant kitten, not an issue to me as one thing I'm not is
especially large around the middle.
The sis-in-law beast, however, cannot sit in the car and close the door as her, erm, "shapely" proportions cause a good three inches of her to overflow the seat, meaning that she can never a) borrow it, b) travel in it or c) break it, which a or b would ultimately have resulted in since she's as kind to cars as I am to wasps and people who try to sell religion to me on the doorstep, two of the 21st century's most prolific pests.
Some lucky soul had a nice touch with that Elswick thing, they can make far more but are of no interest to me as a far better solution, especially when one doesn't need the chair every single day, is a car whose ride height allows easy transferring from chair to car seat and which has (just) enough space inside to carry a chair at times when it's required. The Elswick is an interesting piece of social history and possibly all the more interesting as electric vehicles become commonplace.
Thunderbird, just nasty, IMHO. Star Wars themed Jag, hmm, I'd sooner have a Batmobile. Can I be alone in holding the view that the hearse is better proportioned than the already perfectly fine car upon which it's based? I quite like the idea of the rough & ready taxi, but that's almost certainly been listed with the decimal point in the wrong place. The fifties Yank tank is a pleasant looking old barge I suppose, the Lancia is the third from the Beta family to appear on eBay in recent weeks, the other two being low mileage, well kept original shape Betas so maybe they're about to become the next big thing?
Finally, I like Honda's S2000 and respect it as an alternative to either the good old MX5 or the slightly larger BMW Z something or other, but cleverer than many replicas though the Aston looky-likey may well be, when I look at that, all I'm seeing is a ruined, up & coming classic Honda. Apologies to its creators and I accept that its quality of finish would appear good, but why does it exist?