1992 tootles the taxi

[ejenner]

I'm the proud owner of a lovely LTI Fairway.

I love these old taxis. I spent lots of time in the back in various states of disrepair so I have an emotional bond with these vehicles I depended on so many times to get me home after a good night out.

I've had one before but it wasn't as nice as this, it had a lot of rust underneath but this one is alright. There is a small rust patch which I'll fix but other than that it's great.

It's wrapped black, it was originally a blue taxi but even if I had to take off the vinyl and paint it they never had a great finish so even a very cheap respray would be up to standard.

I had to wrestle it out of London, it didn't want to leave, the automatic gearbox lost all drive but it has a replacement now and all is fine.

[ejenner]

Incidentally, can I just point out how apt the icon in the top left corner is for this particular vehicle.

[grizz]

Nice.

Another of those cars I have zero clue on really, what it would be like to own, and live with.

But they seem to be a lot more interesting than an econobox, and probbly as capab;e.


Do show us more.

Inside, engine, drivetrain etc.

There are bound to be more guys/girls on here, interested.

[brachunky]

I'm one of those who would love what you have but as silly as it sounds, not being able to fit decent looking wheels is what has kept me away from clicking the buy now button! A modest suspension drop and wheels is all I would want

[ejenner]

Personally I'm not that much in favour of modifications. I do have a heavily modified Saab but even with working on that I've adopted an ethos of remaining true to the original restrictions of the car as it was. For instance, rather than increasing the rev limit I'm instead concentrating on getting more out if it lower down, as the Saab turbo was supposed to be a car with midrange punch rather than a screamer.

For the taxi I can't see any reason to make it anything other than totally standard. Modifying it would be total sacrilege.

[ejenner]

An update. It seems I bought this taxi thinking it was ready to go and it would fit nicely with one or two posts in 'showcase' but actually I am doing work on it now.

When I tried to get the MOT the tester thought it was basically ok bit had a couple of things he wouldn't allow. Most significantly the boots on the front lower ball joints had torn so were susceptible to dirt ingress. Done those. He advised on rust so I did that even though I didn't have to.

He also failed it on the rear fog light not working. But that's because he turned on the front fog lights at the time he was trying to check the rear fog light. Didn't realise there were two switches for fog lights.

The fuel gauge was a bit touch-n-go and got to the point where it wasn't working most of the time. So I've had the sender out. Joined the wires together and the dashboard needle went up to full... i.e. the gauge and wiring is fine.

It turned out to be more difficult than expected to find a replacement fuel level sender. But I have one from MG Midget / AH Sprite off eBay and it is close enough by the looks of things. I pulled the sender off the mounting disc so I could put the disc back onto the top of the fuel tank to keep it sealed.

[Bracey]

I've always wanted one of those to cruise around in and even scoured the classifieds to see what's available, but never bitten the bullet.

Is it a 2.7 Nissan motor in that?

[peterpatch1]

My dad and my brother drove these for years. My brother gave me a shot of his not long after I passed my driving test. Felt as though I was 40 feet in the air driving it. Drum brakes all round and no servo assistance made me realise how agricultural these things were. But I do miss seeing them on the road.

[edwardbear]

I had one of these for a while. The only reason it didn’t really work out was the lack of passenger seat. My wife had to sit in the back, which she hated. Other than that it was interesting, practically and all round good fun. Spares seemed to be an issue though

[ejenner]

Jul 22, 2021 20:49:40 GMT peterpatch1 said:

My dad and my brother drove these for years. My brother gave me a shot of his not long after I passed my driving test. Felt as though I was 40 feet in the air driving it. Drum brakes all round and no servo assistance made me realise how agricultural these things were. But I do miss seeing them on the road.

Later ones like mine have 4-pot calliper disk brakes up front. Considering the lineage I'd be willing to bet they're the 'Austin Princess' callipers. Also has servo assist as well. Not sure when all that changed but the later ones drive very reasonably.

[ejenner]

Aug 14, 2021 8:27:41 GMT edwardbear said:

I had one of these for a while. The only reason it didn’t really work out was the lack of passenger seat. My wife had to sit in the back, which she hated. Other than that it was interesting, practically and all round good fun. Spares seemed to be an issue though

Some of them do have a passenger seat although mine doesn't. They add one of the flip-down seats in the front.

RE the wife, mine has no issue sitting in the back and I quite like that.

[ejenner]

Did a MPG check on it today after a trip to and from London and over one tank it came out at 31mpg. I don't think that's too bad given the weight of it and zero attention to aerodynamics. Pic of the mileage to work out what distance I'd covered.

[ejenner]

BTW if anybody fancies owning one of these I'm open to sensible offers on it. Not actively selling it but if ever the thought crossed anybody's mind (as it did twice for me!) then get in touch.

[glenanderson]

I’ve always quite fancied one. For something that was such a feature of the British road scene for so long, they’ve all but disappeared now.

[retrotony]

i love the early ones with small back lights and pig ears indercaters on the roof

[lightyearman]

Ive always had a passive interest in these, the boxy square 80's looking version too with the mk2 Granada front end?

If one turned up with a manual box and passenger seat it could be fun.

I'm guessing its on leaf suspenders and a solid back axle; is it a straight axle and leaves on the front like an old Sherpa van?

[misterm]

The one with the Granada lights was the Metrocab. Fibreglass body on a chassis using Transit Di running gear.

[ejenner]

Jan 19, 2022 10:07:00 GMT lightyearman said:

Ive always had a passive interest in these, the boxy square 80's looking version too with the mk2 Granada front end?

If one turned up with a manual box and passenger seat it could be fun.

I'm guessing its on leaf suspenders and a solid back axle; is it a straight axle and leaves on the front like an old Sherpa van?

Front end is double wishbones, coil-over shock, 4 pot callipers... I kid you not. You wouldn't notice the sporting prowess whilst driving. The rear end is more predictable, leaf springs with solid rear axle.