London Fairway Taxis - Am I mental?
Discussion
I've got an S2000 which is all well and good, but what about when you want to drive 5 or 6 passengers around?
I need a second car and much prefer something fun (maybe a bit quirky), cheap to insure (due to various S2000 and motorcycle-related historical events...) and a bit practical so as to be a good counter-foil to the S.
Step forward a 1997 London Fairway taxi which has just cropped up for sale near to me. 1997, apparently good motor and ok body work. 350,000 miles and just retired from active service. Only £1,250 asking.
Am I totally mental? This seems to me like a brilliant idea for a year or two but I appreciate that there could be issues like notorious rusting chassis, unobtainable spark plugs and the driving characteristics of a three-wheel shopping trolley which would ultimately make it a much less brilliant idea than it at first appears.
I live in Jersey so journeys are invariably short and the speed limit is 40mph - there are no motorways!
Any experience or thoughts from the massive?
jm
I need a second car and much prefer something fun (maybe a bit quirky), cheap to insure (due to various S2000 and motorcycle-related historical events...) and a bit practical so as to be a good counter-foil to the S.
Step forward a 1997 London Fairway taxi which has just cropped up for sale near to me. 1997, apparently good motor and ok body work. 350,000 miles and just retired from active service. Only £1,250 asking.
Am I totally mental? This seems to me like a brilliant idea for a year or two but I appreciate that there could be issues like notorious rusting chassis, unobtainable spark plugs and the driving characteristics of a three-wheel shopping trolley which would ultimately make it a much less brilliant idea than it at first appears.
I live in Jersey so journeys are invariably short and the speed limit is 40mph - there are no motorways!
Any experience or thoughts from the massive?
jm
A bit of research suggests a Nissan 2.7l diesel engine (hence why the spark plugs are unobtainable I suppose!). 350,000 miles is apparently not at all excessive. I will have a look but I suspect I could jam two Hayabusa engines in the bay. Not sure what that will do to my insurance - I probably should declare something like that...
Just remembered that we have the jubilee weekend coming up - I wonder whether I could get the roof painted up in a Union Flag in time for that?
jm
Just remembered that we have the jubilee weekend coming up - I wonder whether I could get the roof painted up in a Union Flag in time for that?
jm
Edited by JMRGV on Monday 28th May 15:26
The chassis is like something from the 1930's, the kinematics are seriously wonky and by all accounts the ride and handling is somewhere between rubbish and dangerous. I'm referring to the new model...
Anyone who's been carted around London knows how lumpy the ride is and how noisy and crude they are.
It could well be an entertaining purchase for tooling around at low speed in, but make no mistake, they are horrid and make the engineering of a Land Rover Defender look like cutting edge technology.
Anyone who's been carted around London knows how lumpy the ride is and how noisy and crude they are.
It could well be an entertaining purchase for tooling around at low speed in, but make no mistake, they are horrid and make the engineering of a Land Rover Defender look like cutting edge technology.
OzzyR1 said:
23K/year doesn't seem a lot for a taxi to me but I suppose those could all be central London miles.
Jersey miles (the Island's only 12 miles long), although you're right - still fairly low mileage. The old boy who has it perhaps wasn't working full-time cabbie hours twoards the end of his driving career.JMRGV said:
Snowboy said:
I think your more mental for owning an S2000 in Jersey.
You can only legally use Vtec in 1st gear!!!
My big motorbike does just over twice the speed limit in first gear - happily French roads are only 45mins away...You can only legally use Vtec in 1st gear!!!
Caulkhead said:
Should be able to drop an LS7 in there, go for it! 
Been done already!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhNKG9TizXY
Some friends and I bought one of these some years back to take to Le Mans (the website's still up if you're interested - www.LeMans-or-Bust.com).
It was slow and uncomfortable and the steering turned out to not be properly connected to the subframe - we did however have a cracking time pretending to be a taxi in various bus lanes etc. as well as going to France in it.
Very easy to work on too!
Cheers,
Tom
It was slow and uncomfortable and the steering turned out to not be properly connected to the subframe - we did however have a cracking time pretending to be a taxi in various bus lanes etc. as well as going to France in it.
Very easy to work on too!
Cheers,
Tom
Took it for a spin tonight - so much fun. The missus sat in the back as there is no passenger seat. Only a few spots of rust around the body and the motor seemed fine. Owner seems a genuine old chap.
Subject to checking that my insurance company will cover me on it I am buying it tomorrow. Already planning a Union Flag roof for Sunday and wondering where the best place to buy a bowler hat is around here...
Photos to follow.
jm
Subject to checking that my insurance company will cover me on it I am buying it tomorrow. Already planning a Union Flag roof for Sunday and wondering where the best place to buy a bowler hat is around here...
Photos to follow.
jm
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