The Way We Were

May 1960, Buckingham Palace, London

‘The FX/4’s driver would be shocked to hear that it would still be earning fares in the 21st century’

LONDON TAXI’S LONGEVITY

The pavements are still packed with cheering crowds two days after a Royal Wedding – that of the Queen’s sister, Princess Margaret, to Antony ArmstrongJones, soon to become Lord Snowdon. The decorations and general street-party atmosphere seem to have created quite a bit of congestion, with police officers directing traffic and doing their best to keep pedestrians off the road. It looks as though that police Wolseley 6/90 (probably a Series 2) has stopped to provide reinforcements.

Over to the left is a young chap in his dashing dark blue MG TC, adorned with what looks like a sizeable bonnet mascot. In front of him is a Sunbeam Rapier MkII with colourful fins and to the right of that is one of those ‘new’ Austin taxis. The FX/4’s shape became synonymous with ‘the London Taxi’, but the driver of this one would be shocked to hear that the same model would still be earning fares well into the 21st century. This early example will have had a 2178cc Austin diesel engine and Borg-Warner automatic transmission.

Coming towards us on the right of the shot are a couple of its FX/3 predecessors, which would have been trundling through the streets of the capital since 1948.

Going left to right, further back in the view, we’ll start with the grey-green Austin A30 5cwt van and what looks like a pea soup-coloured Standard Vanguard II in front of it. To the right is an ivory Ford Prefect following a black Rover P2, and coming towards us we can see a pale TR2 behind the FX/3 taxi, and behind the TR is a black Standard Ten, then a beige Alvis 12/70 saloon followed by a gloriously custard-coloured Ford Consul.

Colin Neale’s design for the Consul MkII was modified from February 1959 with a 1.5-in roof chop, creating the Low Line models. It helps to have two Consuls next to each other to spot the difference, but we reckon that this is an earlier High Line.

There’s another Consul MkII to the right, being followed by a black Morris Ten (we think) and a white Austin A30. Right at the front, full of people and partly obscured by the crowd, is a jazzy Hillman Minx of about Series II vintage, painted an exciting two-tone white over peach.

Sadly, the marriage between Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon didn’t last – the pair divorced in 1978 and she was the subject of intense media speculation throughout her life. As such, partners that it is claimed she was romantically attached to are as varied as Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger and comic Peter Sellers.

It’s at least reassuring to know that uncomfortably close scrutiny of the Royals isn’t something new…

DOES IT LOOK FAMILIAR? Anyone enjoying the party who’d travelled across from America might find this Rapier has a striking resemblance to a Studebaker Hawk – they were both designed by Raymond Loewy. IT’S ALL ON THE METER... Between 2011 and 2012 an expedition drove an FX4 43,319.5 miles around the world, through more than 50 countries, and set a new world record for the longest journey ever by taxi.

OUT WITH THE OLD Austin A35 saloons, such as this one, were discontinued the year before the Royal Wedding in 1959, in readiness for the arrival of the Mini. The A35 Van would endure until 1968, however. DOWN THE PECKING ORDER The Wolseley 6/90’s body debuted a year earlier on the highly-regarded Riley Pathfinder. The Riley had its own engine, while the 6/90 shared the same C-series ‘six’ as the Austin Westminster.