Taxi’s trimmings

London-based luxury car specialist Clive Sutton Ltd has been added to the list of authorised convertors of the LEVC taxi.

Sutton will take a TX taxi (the hybrid range extender taxi that is now a common sight in London, Manchester and other cities) and convert it into a luxury machine, complete with 20in media screen, real wood veneer door cappings, on-board wi-fi and loads more.

Stephen Fry once owned a London taxi, and in the 1960s oil millionaire Nubar Gulbenkian was chauffered around town in a gold-plated version. Gulbenkian famously said, “I like London taxis because they can turn on a sixpence. Whatever that is.”

While it hasn’t exactly propelled the car into my personal top 10, Vauxhall’s facelift on its Grandland SUV has pulled it out of the bland category. What’s done it is the adoption of Vauxhall’s Vizor styling.

Intended to reference the visor on a crash helmet, this front-end flat black strip was introduced on the Mokka and is also used on the Astra.

The Grandland is a popular car anyway and I reckon this visual revamp will gain it a few more sales.

We’ve driven a regular Grandland but this week we’re passing the magnifying glass over the plug-in hybrid version. Before we get into the technical details it’s important to note Vauxhall has dramatically cut the price of the Grandland PHEV to make it a more attractive proposition.

We’re testing the GS Line version, which sits in the middle between the entry-level Design and flagship Ultimate. Price is £33,820.

There’s no longer a grant for PHEVs of course, but this car falls into the 11% tax band for BIK which makes it a financially attractive company car.

The car is well equipped in GS Line trim but a move up to Ultimate does