And are they available in the US?
its the famous london black cab produced by the LTI Ltd.
for the record a basic model would set you back £29,000 - that’s what, $51,802.44 in your funny money 
They do sell internationally, but you’d have to email them directly.
Thanks for the quick answer! I had no idea they are so expensive. Maybe I could find a used one (with the steering wheel on the left, of course).
There’s apparently quite a glut of secondhand ones - in the past few years, all black cabs have had to become wheelchair-accessible, and in many cases it proved cheaper for the drivers to sell the old ones and upgrade rather than make expensive adaptions.
At some stage Stephen Fry drove an old black cab, possibly still does. They are very tall, to see over traffic I imagine, and they have a wickedly small turning circle. However this is offset by the negative side, which is that every time you stop at traffic lights someone’ll jump into the back of your car, bark “King’s Cross” and settle back to read a paper. Probably not going to be such a problem in the US though.
That one their is a fairly new design (it’s registration plates menas it fell in 1999-2000) , but still heavily based on the traditonal design.
Hackney carriages can be very expensive.
Rumor has it American cab companies are importing the cool-looking cabs. People really like them a lot, and I believe New York is going to get a bunch of them.
Its because they aren’t standard cars - they are specifically designed to be damn good cabs - both in terms of engine performance, stupidly small turning circle and passenger facilities/comfort.
Cheeky chappie driver not included.
“Had that Cecil Adams in the back of the cab once. Do you know 'e couldn’t tell me the three words ending in -gry! Bloody celebs! Hanging’s too good for them! Hang about–I know a short cut, Guv.”
Had this one a few weeks ago:
Absolutely Priceless 
If you buy one though, be careful of people tapping the cab roof.
“Awite Guv’nor? where to? dant ga sarf o’ the river tho” etc
My friend had a black cab as his car while he was at Uni, picked it up for £3000 if I remember correctly. He decked it out with fake zebra interior and we used it to get to parties because it could hold tons of people. The problem of people hailing it became apparent when we would drive at night - even though the ‘hire’ sign was off, was rammed full of people and had no cab licence plenty of people would try and hail us. I remember a news story around the time about a girl who was abducted, raped and murdered after getting into an unlicensed cab and realised just how easy it would be to do. They are really cool cars to have as they rarely break down, can spin on a sixpence and hold a lot of people, it would be especially cool to have one in the States where I imagine it would be a bit of a curiosity just like having a New York cab in London would.
Hmmm, there’s an idea, setup a website that imports cool cars to countries where they would be even cooler. I heard that the old Mini Coopers are rare in the U.S. Is this true?
You can pick up an old shape model (classic shape) for a few grand - they last for ever. There are a few showrooms in Gants Hill.
Incidentally the firm that makes them is Britain’s biggest British-owned car manufacturer.
Prince Phillip drives one around london as they are so anonymous (this is true). The IRA used to use them for similar reasons.
I would love to have one of those. What’s the highway mileage like?
Never mind; I’ve spotted the “Fuel consumption” link now.
29 city, 42.3 highway (excuse me, “extra-urban”) – not bad at all.
Specifically, it’s a Fairlane FX4. Powered by a 90 bhp Ford diesel.
Followed one of those for a few blocks on the way home last week. One of the local taxi companies has imported several, and city council is debating whether to make them mandatory for new taxi licences or otherwise encourage cab drivers/owners to buy more.
My old UNC-Chapel Hill psychology prof had one and I got to ride in it once. Great car. When I went to London and saw one in its proper setting, I fell in love. They are very stylish.
They’re not just in London, either; when I visited Manchester we got a cab like that from the airport. Holy Legroom, Batman! I believe they are actually bigger on the inside than the outside, which would explain their price; tampering with the laws of physics doesn’t come cheap.