# Design question aboot British cabs. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 9, 2017, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/design-question-aboot-british-cabs/795870 "2017-09-09T05:15:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2017, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/design-question-aboot-british-cabs/795870/1 "2017-09-09T05:15:33Z")
Not really a movie question, just a general query. I was watching the delightful “Carry on CabbY” which I had never seen before. All of the cabs had no door or seat on the left front, just a platform that stuck out a bit. What was that for? Can they close up in cold weather? Dennis ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2017, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/design-question-aboot-british-cabs/795870/2 "2017-09-09T05:30:03Z")
It was for transporting luggage. They stopped requiring it in the 1950s. [This one](http://www.hitch-a-lift.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/CAR6-DSCF1822.jpg) looks like it has a partition with a sliding window for the driver, although I don’t know if it’s been modified since it was built. (I can’t find any pictures of the luggage platform with luggage on it to see if it was strapped down somehow.) ---
**Author:** ![Kedikat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed655f/32.png) [@Kedikat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kedikat)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2017, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/design-question-aboot-british-cabs/795870/3 "2017-09-09T05:30:34Z")
Early on all of them had to have that as a luggage area. Not these days. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2017, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/design-question-aboot-british-cabs/795870/4 "2017-09-09T05:31:53Z")
Wikipedia has this to say about them: > [@](#): > > Until the late 1950s, vehicles licensed as London taxis were required to be provided with an open-access luggage platform in place of the front passenger seat found on other passenger cars > **[Hackney carriage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackney_carriage)** > > A hackney or hackney carriage (also called a cab, black cab, hack or London taxi) is a carriage or car for hire. A hackney of a more expensive or high class was called a remise. A symbol of London and Britain, the black taxi is a common sight on the streets of London. The hackney carriages carry a roof sign TAXI that can be illuminated to indicate their availability for passengers. > In the UK, the name hackney carriage today refers to a taxicab licensed by the Public Carriage Office, local auth... Picture showing the cab with suitcases on the luggage platform: > **[File:1937BeardmoreTaxi.jpg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1937BeardmoreTaxi.jpg)** > > Original file ‎(3,888 × 2,592 pixels, file size: 4.92 MB, MIME type: image/jpeg) > Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. > You cannot overwrite this file. There are no pages that use this file. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2017, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/design-question-aboot-british-cabs/795870/5 "2017-09-09T06:17:51Z")
Aboot? ABOOT!? Are asking about filthy canajun cabs? ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2017, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/design-question-aboot-british-cabs/795870/6 "2017-09-09T08:27:13Z")
London taxis went through many different designs until WW2 and the iconic TX4 (which did not have the luggage step) was introduced in the 1950s. The main reason why there were so few changes, is that the limited market meant that there was little investment in design and the restrictive rules: > [@](#): > > Amongst the main requirements are the need for separate passenger and driver compartments, high internal headroom, a ramp for wheelchair user access and the ability to turn through 180° on either lock between two walls 8.535 m (28 ft) apart to minimise the impact of the many taxis operating in the city on other road users The reason that most were black was purely because the owners wouldn’t pay extra for other colours.