Think about the iconic British cars and your mind might immediately head to the Rolls-Royces and Bentleys parked in front of five-star hotels in the UAE. But there is a British car that has left an even greater impression on the world without ever really leaving its homeland, until now. That’s because the all-new London Hackney Carriage could be finally on its way here, this time in electric form.
It should have happened sooner, in truth, and it sort of did. The Metrocab, as it’s now known, is one of the world’s most recognisable cars.
It was largely confined to the streets of Britain, apart from a bizarre mini sale of 250 TXII taxis to the United States, which operate largely in isolation, and a surprising number in Singapore and Azerbaijan. For many, it is an oddity to be enjoyed on a summer holiday to London.
But the new car that is under development right now is a global car, which should cash in on the nostalgia and love of all things British with a wave of sales around the world. It won’t compete for official status – it doesn’t need to.
Instead, enterprising private hire firms can order a fleet of them, and one Dubai firm has registered its interest in bringing them here. It’s not hard to imagine they’ll do brisk business on the novelty factor alone.
That’s what the new owner, Frazer-Nash Research, hopes for anyway.
Sadly there is no relation to the iconic British sportscar manufacturer of the roaring 1920s; instead, it’s a group of companies founded in 1971 which has focused its efforts on electric drivetrains for the past two decades.
In partnership with Multimatic, it will produce the cab in Coventry in England.
We were invited to take a spin in one of just three prototypes that is currently taking actual fares, in the hands of real cabbies, to iron out the kinks.
Born-and-bred Londoner John, a cabbie all his life, joins me for the day and explains just how good the new Metrocab really is.
We scoot straight to Westminster, through Kensington and Chelsea, and virtually tour the city as it’s seen by Arab visitors in the summer months.
On the way John explains just how much of a leap forward this car is over the old cab. More refined, more sophisticated and simply more comfortable, it also comes with a new power plant that should make it the darling of taxi drivers everywhere, as every penny, dirham, dinar and dollar spent on fuel comes off the bottom line.
As for the looks, well, it isn’t particularly pretty. Admittedly there’s a hint of Rolls-Royce about the front end if you squint, but then iconic cars don’t have to be pretty.
This is a functional, utilitarian machine and its awkward looks and function are all part of the charm.
It won’t break any speed records either; the Metrocab is limited to 130 kilometres per hour, despite the fact the two 50kW motors combine to provide a simply epic 1,032lb/ft of torque that could smoke the rear tyres to destruction if the electronics allowed it.
It seemed inappropriate to ask the 0-100kph time: it simply does not matter. Performance is adequate, it is borderline silent and the Tardis-style interior will win it a lot of fans.
I can relax and stretch out in the back as John takes care of the driving. It’s eerily quiet inside as the taxi operates under full electric power, which gives John the chance to engage in traditional, salty taxi driver banter through the intercom system.
The seats aren’t the last word in luxury, it’s clearly functional in the back, and the ride quality is not a patch on the top-end Lexuses that are often used by private taxi firms in Dubai.
But the traditional slab-sided look of the taxi means it’s as big as a van in the back – in fact, the vehicle is the same length as a Mercedes Vito van – and the full-length panoramic roof means it’s much lighter than the old-school taxi, too.
The glass is tinted, giving extra privacy and protection from the full glare of the Dubai sun. Of course it will come with ice-cold air conditioning, too, and there’s space for any number of modifications to the passenger compartment.
The driver’s compartment, annexed from the passengers for safety reasons as much as privacy, will be a luxury world away from London’s black cabs of old in the production version, and John and many more cannot wait for a more comfortable office, complete with a full touchscreen system that should help with navigation, point-of-sale charging systems and booking software.
You could easily fit the whole family and shopping in the back – there are six seats – and it’s not inconceivable that eccentric billionaires or even hotels will commission their own luxury versions to stand out from the anonymous sea of luxury limousines that hang around five-star hotels. It has to be said that even with air suspension the ride quality is nothing on the high-end alternatives, but then there’s a business case to be made for the operators themselves.
There’s just one issue: there isn’t a price yet. Metrocab insists it will be comparable with the competition, which inevitably means mid-range Lexus or Mercedes money, but as it has just signed a production deal and wants to trial the car in cities around the world before finalising the specification, the price is officially up in the air – as is the delivery date.
Although production will start in earnest in 2017, we suspect Multimatic will struggle to cope with British demand, let alone the global enquiries.
Whatever the price, it’s hard to see a fleet of iconic London taxis as anything other than a smart investment for the enterprising cab firm that has registered its interest.
The anticipation is high for this microcosm of British culture if it does become a part of the landscape in the UAE; it will make a change from all the Rolls-Royces and Bentleys in any case.
But just don’t take our word for it that the black cab would be popular with residents and visitors looking to traverse the streets of Dubai.
“I’m not even English – I’m Dutch –and I would go out of my way to ride in a black cab,” says Jelle Hartkamp, a former resident and regular visitor to the UAE.
“It’s just an icon and it has so much more charm than the standard, soulless fare. It just has the X factor. It’s cool.”
weekend@thenational.ae
