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91-545: Packard reintroduced a line of six-cylinder cars in 1937 after a ten-year absence as a response to the economic depression and ongoing recovery cycle in the United States. As an independent automaker, Packard could not look to other internal divisions to support its luxury models, so the inclusion of the Six, and the later One-Ten, was necessary to aid in supporting the firm's bottom line until better times returned. Critics of

182-475: A Model T chassis with an exposed wood body, most often found around railroad stations, was the predecessor of the station wagon body style in the United States. These early models with exposed wooden bodies became known as woodies . By the 1920s the status of the station wagon description changed to consider them as vehicles for passengers. In Germany, the term "Kombi" is used, which is short for Kombinationskraftwagen ("combination motor vehicle"). "Kombi"

273-459: A cab , black cab , hack or 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

364-457: A platform shared with other body styles, resulting in many shared components (such as chassis, engine, transmission, bodywork forward of the A-pillar, interior features, and optional features) being used for the wagon, sedan, and hatchback variants of the model range . Many modern station wagons have an upward-swinging, full-width, full-height rear door supported on gas springs —often where

455-504: A sixpence whatever that is." Gulbenkian had two such taxis built, the second of which was built on an FX4 chassis and was sold at auction by Bonhams for $ 39,600 in 2015. Other celebrities are known to have used hackney carriages both for their anonymity and their ruggedness and manoeuvrability in London traffic. Users included Prince Philip , whose cab was converted to run on liquefied petroleum gas , author and actor Stephen Fry , and

546-597: A taxicab licensed by the Public Carriage Office , local authority ( non-metropolitan district councils, unitary authorities ) or the Department of the Environment depending on region of the country. Some hackney carriages have also been exported for use in other countries. The origins of the word hackney in connection with horses and carriages are uncertain. The origin is often attributed to

637-555: A two-box design configuration, a shared interior volume for passengers and cargo as well as a hatch or rear door (often called a tailgate in the case of a station wagon) that is hinged at roof level. Folding rear seats designed to provide a larger space for cargo in place of passenger capacity, are also typical features for station wagons and hatchbacks. Distinguishing features between hatchbacks and station wagons include: Other differences are more variable and can potentially include: It has become common for station wagons to use

728-528: A 1662 act of Parliament , the London and Westminster Streets Act 1662 ( 14 Cha. 2 . c. 2) establishing the Commissioners of Scotland Yard to regulate them. Licences applied literally to horse-drawn carriages, later modernised as hansom cabs (1834), that operated as vehicles for hire . The 1662 act limited the licences to 400; when it expired in 1679, extra licences were created until a 1694 act imposed

819-551: A car underpinning and a wagon body. Imported station wagons, despite remaining popular in other countries, struggled in the United States. European car manufacturers such as Audi, Volvo, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz continued to offer station wagons in their North American product ranges (marketed using the labels "Avant", "Touring", and "Estate" respectively). However, these vehicles had fewer trim and power train levels than their sedan counterparts. The Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG in Estate trim

910-433: A classic pre-war automobile produced between 1930 and 1945 is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Station wagon A station wagon ( US , also wagon ) or estate car ( UK , also estate ) is an automotive body-style variant of a sedan with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door (the liftgate , or tailgate ), instead of

1001-425: A forward-facing third-row seat and the clamshell tailgate, was less popular with consumers and was described as the "least convenient of all wagon arrangements" with difficult passenger egress and problematic tailgate operation in comparison to the 1974 AMC Ambassador , Dodge Monaco , and Mercury Colony Park , full-size station wagons conducted by Popular Science magazine. Subsequent GM full-size wagons reverted to

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1092-456: A front passenger seat next to the driver, while others reserve this space solely for luggage. London taxis must have a turning circle not greater than 8.535 m (28 ft). One reason for this is the configuration of the famed Savoy Hotel : the hotel entrance's small roundabout meant that vehicles needed the small turning circle in order to navigate it. That requirement became the legally required turning circles for all London cabs, while

1183-445: A hackney carriage as a taxicab allowed to ply the streets looking for passengers to pick up, as opposed to private hire vehicles (sometimes called minicabs ), which may pick up only passengers who have previously booked or who visit the taxi operator's office. In 1999, the first of a series of fuel cell powered taxis were tried out in London. The "Millennium Cab" built by ZeTek gained television coverage and great interest when driven in

1274-738: A limit of 700. The limit was increased to 800 in 1715, 1,000 in 1770 and 1,100 in 1802, before being abolished in 1832. The 1694 Act established the Hackney Coach Commissioners to oversee the regulation of fares, licences and other matters; in 1831 their work was taken over by the Stamp Office and in 1869 responsibility for licensing was passed on to the Metropolitan Police . In the 18th and 19th centuries, private carriages were commonly sold off for use as hackney carriages, often displaying painted-over traces of

1365-509: A lower tailgate counterbalanced by a torque rod similar to the torque rods used in holding a trunk lid open. It required a 35-pound (16 kg) push to lower the gate. Raising it required a 35-pound (16 kg) pull on a handhold integral to the top edge of the retractable gate. Power-assisted operation of both the upper glass and lower tailgate became standard equipment in later model years. Station wagons with this design were available with an optional third row of forward-facing seats accessed by

1456-411: A retractable rear roof section and a conventional rear tailgate with a window that rolled down and the gate opened down. The sliding roof section allowed the carrying of tall objects in the rear cargo area. This configuration appeared on the 1963–1966 Studebaker Wagonaire station wagon and the 1998-2009 GMC Envoy XUV SUV model. In the United States, Ford's full-size station wagons for 1966 introduced

1547-543: A station wagon counterpart, the 2010 CTS Sportwagon, which defied the trend by offering almost as many trim levels as its sedan counterpart. The CTS wagon, particularly in the performance CTS-V trim, received positive reviews until it was discontinued in 2014. In 2011, the Toyota Prius V introduced hybrid power to the compact wagon market, but was discontinued in 2017 to streamline the Toyota hybrid lineup and focus on

1638-436: A system marketed as "Magic Doorgate"—a conventional tailgate with retracting rear glass, where the tailgate could either fold down or pivot open on a side hinge—with the rear window retracted in either case. Competitors marketed their versions as a Drop and Swing or Dual Action Tailgate. For 1969, Ford incorporated a design that allowed the rear glass to remain up or down when the door pivoted open on its side hinge, marketing

1729-553: A third of London's taxi fleet. In October 2019 the first fully electric cab since the Bersey in 1897, the Dynamo Taxi, was launched with a 187-mile range and with the bodywork based on Nissan's NV200 platform. In London, hackney-carriage drivers have to pass a test called The Knowledge to demonstrate that they have an intimate knowledge of the geography of London streets, important buildings, etc. Learning The Knowledge allows

1820-432: A trunk/boot lid. The body style transforms a standard three-box design into a two-box design—to include an A, B, and C-pillar , as well as a D-pillar. Station wagons can flexibly reconfigure their interior volume via fold-down rear seats to prioritize either passenger or cargo volume. The American Heritage Dictionary defines a station wagon as "an automobile with one or more rows of folding or removable seats behind

1911-411: A two-door body style. Several manufacturers produced steel and wooden-bodied station wagons concurrently for several years. For example, Plymouth continued the production of wooden-bodied station wagons until 1950. The final wooden-bodied station built in the United States was the 1953 Buick Super Estate . By 1951, most station wagons were being produced with all-steel bodies. Station wagons experienced

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2002-405: A waterproofing dressing. The framing of the wooden bodies was sheathed in steel and coated with tinted lacquer for protection. These wooden bodies required constant maintenance: varnishes required re-coating, and expansion/contraction of the wood meant that bolts and screws needed periodic re-tightening. Manufacture of the wooden bodies was initially outsourced to custom coachbuilders , because

2093-696: A wooden wagon body shipped in from an outside supplier). One of the first builders of wagon bodies was the Stoughton Wagon Company from Wisconsin, which began putting custom wagon bodies on the Ford Model T chassis in 1919 and by 1929 the Ford Motor Company was the biggest producer of chassis' for station wagons. Since Ford owned its own hardwood forest and mills (at the Ford Iron Mountain Plant in what

2184-644: A £16 million agreement between the London Taxi Company and Baku Taxi Company. Although the LEVC TX is more expensive and exceeds the Japanese size classifications to gain the tax advantages Japanese livery drivers enjoy with the similarly designed but smaller Toyota JPN Taxi, Geely has attempted to break into the Japanese market. Alternatively, while the Toyota JPN Taxi doesn't meet

2275-533: Is a performance station wagon offered in the U.S. market. The station wagon variants of the smaller Mercedes-Benz C-Class line-up were dropped in 2007, and the BMW 5 Series Touring models were discontinued in 2010 due to slow sales in the United States, with only 400 wagons sold in 2009. In 2012, the Volvo V50 compact station wagon was withdrawn from the U.S. market due to poor sales. The Cadillac CTS gave rise to

2366-495: Is also the term used in Poland . In Russia and some Post-Soviet countries, this type of car is called "universal". Manufacturers may designate station wagons across various model lines with a proprietary nameplate for marketing and advertising differentiation. Examples include "Avant", "Break", "Caravan", "Kombi", "Sports Tourer", "Sports Wagon", "Tourer", "Touring", and "Variant". Station wagons and hatchbacks have in common

2457-632: Is in Wilmington, owned by The British Taxi Company. There are London cabs in Saudi Arabia, Romania, South Africa, Lebanon, Egypt, Bahrain and Cyprus, and in Israel, where a Chinese-made version of LTI's model TX4 built by Geely Automobile is available. In February 2010, a number of TX4s started operating in Pristina , Kosovo and Metohija , and are known as London Taxi. In the United States,

2548-592: Is today Kingsford, Michigan in Michigan's Upper Peninsula) it began supplying the wood components for the Model A station wagon. Also in 1929, J.T. Cantrell began supplying woodie bodies for Chrysler vehicles, which continued until 1931. By the 1930s, station wagons had become expensive and well-equipped vehicles. When it was introduced in 1941, the Chrysler Town & Country was the most expensive car in

2639-524: The Buick Estate models) featured a 'clam shell' design marketed as the Glide-away tailgate, also called a "disappearing" tailgate because when open, the tailgate was entirely out of view. On the clamshell design, the rear power-operated glass slid up into the roof and the lower tailgate (with either manual or optional power operation), lowered below the load floor. Manually operated types included

2730-634: The Ford Country Squire station wagon models from the lower trim versions. The "Squire" trim level was an available option in a few different Ford model ranges, including the Falcon Squire , Fairlane Squire , and the 1970s the Pinto Squire . The Squire was the highest trim level of any Ford Wagon and included additional exterior and better interior trims. Hackney carriage A hackney or hackney carriage (also called

2821-551: The London borough of Hackney , whose name likely originated in Old English meaning 'Haka's Island'. There is some doubt whether the word hack for a horse was derived from this place-name, as the area was historically marshy and not well-suited for keeping horses. The American Hackney Horse Society favours an alternative etymology stemming from the French word haquenée —a horse of medium size recommended for lady riders—which

Packard One-Ten - Misplaced Pages Continue

2912-590: The Master of the Horse ). "An Ordinance for the Regulation of Hackney-Coachmen in London and the places adjacent" was approved by Parliament in 1654, to remedy what it described as the "many Inconveniences [that] do daily arise by reason of the late increase and great irregularity of Hackney Coaches and Hackney Coachmen in London, Westminster and the places thereabouts". The first hackney-carriage licences date from

3003-583: The Mercedes-AMG C63 , Mercedes-AMG E63 , BMW M5 (E60/E61) , Volkswagen Golf R and Volkswagen Passat R36 wagons. The Cadillac CTS-V Wagon introduced for the 2011 model year was considered the most potent production station wagon offered with a manual transmission, and the Corvette-engined version continued until 2014. The first station wagons were built in around 1910 by independent manufacturers producing wooden custom bodies for

3094-690: The Plymouth Reliant and Dodge Aries ), the minivan would soon eclipse them in popularity. The CAFE standards provided an advantage to minivans (and later SUVs) over station wagons because the minivans and SUVs were classified as trucks in the United States and, therefore subject to less stringent fuel economy and emissions regulations. Station wagons remained popular in Europe and in locations where emissions and efficiency regulations did not distinguish between cars and light trucks. The emergence and popularity of SUVs , which closely approximate

3185-641: The Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations in 2002. In Edwardian times, Renault and Unic , but also smaller players like Charron and Darracq were to be found. Fiat was also a presence, with their importer d'Arcy Baker running a fleet of 400 cars of the brand. In the 1920s, Beardmore cabs were introduced and became for a while the most popular. They were nicknamed 'the Rolls-Royce of cabs' for their comfort and robustness. Maxwell Monson introduced Citroën cabs, which were cheaper, but crude in comparison to

3276-698: The Sheriffs of the City of London . A black cab was used in the band Oasis's video for the song " Don't Look Back in Anger ." Black cabs were used as recording studios for indie band performances and other performances in the Black Cab Sessions internet project. Ghosthunting With... featured a black cab owned by host of the show, Yvette Fielding . Bez of the Happy Mondays owns one, shown on

3367-547: The hansom cab was patented by Joseph Hansom : a jaunty single-horse, two-wheel carriage with a distinctive appearance, designed to carry passengers safely in an urban environment. The hansom cab quickly established itself as the standard two-wheel hackney carriage and remained in use into the 20th century. In 1836 the Clarence was introduced to London's streets: a type of small four-wheel enclosed carriage drawn by one or two horses. These became known as 'growlers' because of

3458-567: The police department of the city of Boston has a Hackney Carriage Unit, analogous to taxicab regulators in other cities, that issues Hackney Carriage medallions to its taxi operators. Singapore has used London-style cabs since 1992; starting with the "Fairway". The flag-down fares for the London Taxis are the same as for other taxis. SMRT Corporation , the sole operator, had by March 2013 replaced its fleet of 15 ageing multi-coloured (gold, pink, etc.) taxis with new white ones. They are

3549-510: The 14,700 fleet is zero emission capable. As part of the Transported by Design programme of activities, on 15 October 2015, after two months of public voting, the black cab was elected by Londoners as their favourite transport design icon. In 2017, the LEVC TX was introduced - a purpose built hackney carriage, built as a plug-in hybrid range-extender electric vehicle . By April 2022, over 5,000 TX's had been sold in London, around

3640-482: The 1580s; within fifty years hackney coaches were regularly to be seen on the streets of London. In the 1620s there was a proliferation of coaches for hire in the metropolis, so much so that they were seen as a danger to pedestrians in the narrow streets of the city, and in 1635 an Order in Council was issued limiting the number allowed. Two years later a system for licensing hackney coachmen was established (overseen by

3731-400: The 1940s. Cargo barriers may be used to prevent unsecured cargo from causing injuries in the event of sudden deceleration, collision, or a rollover . Performance models of station wagons have included the 1970 Ford Falcon (XY) 'Grand Sport' pack, the 1973 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu SS-454 and the 1992 BMW M5 (E34) . The 1994 Audi RS2 , developed with Porsche, has been described as

Packard One-Ten - Misplaced Pages Continue

3822-555: The 1941 One-Ten model range was expanded, and a second trim level, the Deluxe was added. Packard also added a taxi line within the One-Ten model range. Options for the One-Ten included heater, radio, spotlight, and despite its low-line status, air conditioning . For 1942, Packard made a decision to retain numerical designated models within its senior line and the One-Ten reverted to being called Packard Six . This article about

3913-409: The 1960s, long after station wagons became car-based. The first all-steel station wagon was the 1935 Chevrolet Suburban , which was built on the chassis of a panel truck . However, most station wagons were produced with wooden bodies until after World War II. When automobile production resumed after World War II, technological advances made all-steel station wagon bodies more practical, eliminating

4004-648: The Beardmore. In 1930 dealers Mann and Overton struck a deal with the Austin to bring a modified version of the Austin 12/4 car to the London taxi market. This established Austin as dominant until the end of the 1970s and Mann and Overton until 2012. The Austin FX4 , launched in 1958 , which stayed in production until 1997 under successive manufacturers is perhaps the most iconic and recognised of all hackney carriages and set

4095-587: The Business Coupe to US$ 1,200 ($ 26,098 in 2023 dollars ) for the Station Wagon. Built on a shorter wheelbase than the senior Packards, the One-Ten was introduced in August 1939. The One-Ten was available in a broad range of Body styles, including both two and four-door sedans, station wagon and convertible. Total output for the 1940 model year was 62,300 units. Following its successful first year,

4186-472: The Ford Model T chassis. They were initially called "depot hacks" because they worked around train depots as hacks (short for hackney carriage , as taxicabs were then known). They also came to be known as "carryalls" and "suburbans". Station wagons were initially considered commercial vehicles (rather than consumer automobiles) and the framing of the early station wagons was left unfinished, due to

4277-559: The LEVC TX of London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC). London taxis have broad rear doors that open very wide (or slide), and an electrically controlled ramp that is extended for access. Other models of specialist taxis include the Peugeot E7 and rivals from Fiat, Ford, Volkswagen, and Mercedes-Benz. These vehicles normally allow six or seven passengers, although some models can accommodate eight. Some of these minibus taxis include

4368-640: The London taxi model TXII could be purchased in the United States. Today there are approximately 250 TXIIs in the US, operating as taxis in San Francisco , Dallas , Long Beach , Houston , New Orleans , Las Vegas , Newport, Rhode Island , Wilmington, North Carolina and Portland, Oregon . There are also a few operating in Ottawa, Ontario , Canada. The largest London taxi rental fleet in North America

4459-524: The Packard Six and One-Ten have long maintained they hurt Packard's reputation of being America's premier luxury marque. Still, the reintroduction of the Six could not have come at a better time for the automaker, just prior to the nation's 1938 economic depression. By offering the less expensive model, the company was able to attract buyers who would otherwise be unable to purchase more expensive cars. Prices ranged from US$ 867 ($ 18,856 in 2023 dollars ) for

4550-563: The Public Carriage Office. Elsewhere, councils have their own regulations. Some merely require a driver to pass a DBS disclosure and have a reasonably clean driving licence, while others use their own local versions of London's The Knowledge test. Oil millionaire Nubar Gulbenkian owned an Austin FX3 Brougham Sedanca taxi, with custom coachwork by FLM Panelcraft Ltd as he was quoted "because it turns on

4641-627: The RAV4 Hybrid Crossover SUV. The 2015 VW Golf Sportwagen was marketed as a sub-compact station wagon in the North American market. This model was withdrawn from the U.S. market after 2019. In 2016, Volvo reintroduced a large wagon to the U.S. market with the Volvo V90 , but only by special order. As the wooden bodies were replaced by steel from 1945 until 1953, manufacturers applied wooden decorative trim to

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4732-605: The Sheraton Hotel ballroom in New York by Judd Hirsch , the star of the television series Taxi . ZeTek built three cabs but ceased activities in 2001. Horse-drawn hackney services continue to operate in parts of the UK, for example in Cockington , Torquay . The town of Windsor, Berkshire , is the last remaining UK town with a continuous lineage of horse-drawn hackney carriages, operated run by Windsor Carriages,

4823-645: The UK edition of Pimp My Ride . Noel Edmonds used a black cab to commute from his home to the Deal or No Deal studios in Bristol . He placed a dressed mannequin in the back so that he could use special bus/taxi lanes, and so that people would not attempt to hail his cab. The official car of the Governor of the Falkland Islands between 1976 and 2010 was a London taxi. Between 2003 and 1 August 2009

4914-611: The United States. The Ford Taurus wagon was discontinued in 2005, and the Ford Focus station wagon was discontinued in 2008. An exception to this trend was the Subaru Legacy and Subaru Outback station wagon models, which continue to be produced at the Subaru of Indiana plant . With other brands, the niche previously occupied by station wagons is now primarily filled with a similar style of Crossover SUV , which generally has

5005-643: The basic styling parameters of its successors. Morrises cabs were also seen, in small numbers, but after the Second World War, produced the Oxford, made by Wolseleys . Outside of London, the regulations governing the hackney cab trade are different. Four-door saloon cars have been highly popular as hackney carriages, but with disability regulations growing in strength and some councils offering free licensing for disabled-friendly vehicles, many operators are now opting for wheelchair-adapted taxis such as

5096-484: The body pillars of the compact-size Nash Rambler station wagons that went up the roof's drip rail and around on the spit liftgate. The larger-sized Cross Country station wagon was available with bodyside wood trim that went unbroken up the C and D pillars to a thin strip on the roof above the side windows. Ford marketing began using “Country Squire” with the 1950 model year for the station wagon body design. From 1950 through 1991, their simulated wood trim differentiated

5187-457: The body style through the 1964 model year. The popularity of the station wagon—particularly full-size station wagons—in the United States was blunted by increased fuel prices caused by the 1973 oil crisis . Then, in 1983, the market for station wagons was further eroded by the Chrysler minivans , based on the K platform . While the K platform was also used for station wagon models (such as

5278-462: The commercial nature of the vehicles. Early station wagons were fixed-roof vehicles, but lacked the sides and glass that would generally enclose the passenger compartment, and included rudimentary benches for seating passengers. Instead of framed glass, side curtains of canvas could be unrolled. More rigid curtains could be snapped to protect passengers from outside elements. The roofs of "woodie" wagons were usually made of stretched canvas treated with

5369-494: The company's model range. The first all-steel station wagon body style was the 1935 Chevrolet Suburban . As part of the overall trend in the automotive industry, wooden bodies were superseded by all-steel bodies due to their strength, cost, and durability. The commercial vehicle status was also reflected on those vehicles' registrations For example, there were special "Suburban" license plates in Pennsylvania used well into

5460-526: The cost, noise, and maintenance associated with wood bodies. The first mass-produced steel-bodied station wagon was the 1946 Willys Station Wagon , based on the chassis of the Jeep CJ-2A . In 1947, Crosley introduced a steel-bodied station wagon version of the Crosley CC Four . The first postwar station wagon to be based on a passenger car chassis was the 1949 Plymouth Suburban , which used

5551-585: The custom of a passenger's sitting on the right, behind the driver, provided a reason for the right-hand traffic in Savoy Court , allowing hotel patrons to board and alight from the driver's side. The design standards for London taxis are set out in the Conditions of Fitness , which are now published by Transport for London . The first edition was published in May 1906, by the Public Carriage Office, which

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5642-408: The decade, electric power was applied to the tailgate window so it could be operated from the driver's seat and by a key-activated switch in the tailgate. By the early 1970s, this arrangement was available on full-size, intermediate, and compact wagons. The lowered bottom hinged tailgate extended the cargo area floor and could serve as a picnic table for "tailgating." A station wagon design featuring

5733-426: The door/gate system for its full-size wagons. A simplified, one-piece lift-gate on smaller wagons. The AMC Hornet Sportabout was introduced for the 1972 model year and featured a "liftgate-style hatchback instead of swing-out or fold-down tailgate ... would set a precedent for liftgates in modern SUVs." The 1978-1996 GM's mid-size station wagons also returned to the upward-lifting rear window/gate as had been used in

5824-446: The driver and no luggage compartment but an area behind the seats into which suitcases, parcels, etc., can be loaded through a tailgate." When a model range includes multiple body styles, such as sedan, hatchback , and station wagon, the models typically share their platform , drivetrain , and bodywork forward of the A-pillar, and usually the B-pillar. In 1969, Popular Mechanics said, "Station wagon-style ... follows that of

5915-462: The driver to become a member of the Worshipful Company of Hackney Carriage Drivers . There are two types of badge, a yellow one for the suburban areas and a green one for all of London. The latter is considered far more difficult. Drivers who own their cabs as opposed to renting from a garage are known as "mushers" and those who have just passed the "knowledge" are known as "butter boys". There are currently around 21,000 black cabs in London, licensed by

6006-408: The end of the Second World War, sold in a standard colour of black. This, in the 1970s gave rise within the minicab trade to the nickname 'black cab' and it has become common currency. However, before the Second World War, London's cabs were seen in a variety of colours. They are produced in a variety of colours, sometimes in advertising brand liveries (see below). Fifty golden cabs were produced for

6097-504: The gap. When opened as a swinging door, this part of the bumper moved away, allowing the depression in the bumper to provide a "step" to ease entry; when the gate was opened by being lowered or raised to a closed position, the chrome section remained in place making the bumper "whole". Full-size General Motors, from 1971 through 1976 station wagons ( Chevrolet Kingswood, Townsman, Brookwood, Bel Air, Impala, and Caprice Estates ; Pontiac Safari and Grand Safari ; Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser , and

6188-399: The highest production levels in the United States from the 1950s through the 1970s as a result of the American Mid-20th century baby boom . The late 1950s through the mid-1960s was also the period of greatest variation in body styles, with models available without a B-pillar (called hardtop or pillarless models) or with a B-pillar, both in 2-door and 4-door variants. The 1956 Rambler

6279-411: The introduction of the first accessible taxi in 1987. On 14 December 2010, Mayor of London Boris Johnson released an air quality strategy paper encouraging phasing out of the oldest of the LT cabs, and proposing a £1m fund to encourage taxi owners to upgrade to low-emission vehicles. Since 2018, all newly registered taxis in London must be zero emission, and as of December 2023 more than half of

6370-410: The licence having been passed down from driver to driver since the 1830's. The original hackney licence is in place, allowing for passenger travel under the same law that was originally passed in 1662. The city of Bath has an occasional horse-drawn Hackney, principally for tourists, but still carrying hackney plates. Though there has never been law requiring London's taxis to be black, they were, since

6461-443: The licensing of up to 200 hackney chariots was permitted, which carried a maximum of three passengers inside and one servant outside (such was the popularity of these new faster carriages that the number of licences was doubled the following year). Shortly afterwards even lighter carriages began to be licensed: the two-wheel, single-horse cabriolets or 'cabs', which were licensed to carry no more than two passengers. Then, in 1834,

6552-528: The newer and smaller carriages—operated in London in 1621. The New York City colloquial terms "hack" (taxi or taxi-driver), hackstand (taxi stand), and hack license (taxi licence) are probably derived from hackney carriage. Such cabs are now regulated by the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission . The widespread use of private coaches by the English aristocracy began to be seen in

6643-466: The only wheelchair-accessible taxis in Singapore, and were brought back following an outcry after the removal of the service. By 2011 a thousand of a Chinese-made version of LTI's latest model, TX4, had been ordered by Baku Taxi Company. The plan is part of a program originally announced by Azerbaijan's Ministry of Transportation to introduce London cabs to the capital, Baku . The move was part of

6734-548: The original purpose of transporting people and luggage between country estates and train stations , The station wagon body style is called an "estate car" or "estate" in the United Kingdom or a "wagon" in Australia and New Zealand. Either horse-drawn or automotive, the earliest use of the station wagon description would be considered to describe utility vehicles or light trucks. The depot hackney or taxi, often on

6825-561: The passenger capacity or turning radius Conditions of Fitness required by Transport for London , it does meet the emissions and accessibility requirements that may make it an ideal option for cities outside of London without the seating requirements or as a private hire vehicle while still evoking the familiar black cab profile. During the 2008 Olympic Games , there were about 100 Hackney carriages were operating in Beijing . There have been different makes and types of hackney cab through

6916-537: The previous owner's coat of arms on the doors. There was a distinction between a general hackney carriage and a hackney coach , which was specifically a hireable vehicle with four wheels, two horses and six seats: four on the inside for the passengers and two on the outside (one for a servant and the other for the driver, who was popularly termed the Jarvey (also spelled jarvie )). For many years only coaches, to this specification, could be licensed for hire; but in 1814

7007-490: The production of the all-wood bodies was very time-consuming. Eventually, car manufacturers began producing their station wagon designs. In 1922, the Essex Closed Coach became the first mass-produced car to use a steel body (in this case, a fully enclosed sedan body style). In 1923, Star (a division of Durant Motors ) became the first car company to offer a station wagon assembled on its production line (using

7098-440: The production sedan of which it is the counterpart. Most are on the same wheelbase, offer the same transmission and engine options, and the same comfort and convenience options." Station wagons have evolved from their early use as specialized vehicles to carry people and luggage to and from a train station . The demand for station wagon body style has faded since the 2010s in favor of the crossover or SUV designs. Reflecting

7189-413: The rear side doors and a folding second-row seat. They could accommodate 4-by-8-foot (1.2 m × 2.4 m) sheets of plywood or other panels with the rear seats folded. The clamshell design required no increased footprint or operational area to open the cargo area. This enabled access even if the station wagon's rear was parked against a wall. The GM design, as used in a Pontiac Grand Safari, with

7280-425: The rear window can swing up independently. A variety of other designs have been employed in the past. The split gate features an upward-swinging window and a downward-swinging tailgate, both manually operated. This configuration was typical in the 1920s through the 1940s, and remained common on many models into the 1960s. In the early 1950s, tailgates with hand-cranked roll-down rear windows began to appear. Later in

7371-469: The roads in Ireland and Scotland . The French had a small hackney coach called a fiacre . Electric hackney carriages appeared before the introduction of the internal combustion engine to vehicles for hire in 1897. In fact there was even London Electrical Cab Company : the cabs were informally called Berseys after the manager who designed them, Walter Bersey . Another nickname was Hummingbirds from

7462-487: The sound that they made. In August 1897, 25 were introduced, and by 1898, there were 50 more. During the early 20th century, cars generally replaced horse-drawn models. In 1910, the number of motor cabs on London streets outnumbered horse-drawn growlers and hansoms for the first time. At the time of the outbreak of World War I , the ratio was seven to one in favour of motorized cabs. The last horse-drawn hackney carriage ceased service in London in 1947. UK regulations define

7553-415: The sound they made on the cobbled streets. Much slower than a hansom cab, they nevertheless had room for up to four passengers (plus one servant) and space on the roof for luggage. As such they remained in use as the standard form of four-wheeled hackney carriage until replaced by motorised taxi cabs in the early 20th century. A small, usually two-wheeled, one-horse hackney vehicle called a noddy once plied

7644-491: The steel-bodied wagons as a visual link to the previous wooden style. By the late 1950s, the wooden trim was replaced by "simulated wood" in the form of stick-on vinyl coverings. The woodgrain feature is not that the body is wood—or that it could ever be wood—rather, it is "totally honest in its artificiality." The design element was also used on cars that were not station wagons, including sedans, pickup trucks, and convertibles. Unique simulated wood designs included trim on

7735-409: The system, engineered by Donald N. Frey as the "Three-Way Magic Doorgate". Similar configurations became the standard feature on full-size and intermediate station wagons from General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, and American Motors Corporation (AMC). Some full-size GM wagons added a notch in the rear bumper that acted as a step plate; a small portion of the bumper was attached to the tailgate to fill

7826-610: The traditional station wagon body style, was a blow. After low sales, the Chevrolet Caprice and the Buick Roadmaster , the last American full-size wagons, were discontinued in 1996. Smaller station wagons were marketed as lower-priced alternatives to SUVs and minivans. Domestic wagons also remained in the Ford, Mercury, and Saturn lines. However, after 2004, these compact station wagons also began to be phased out in

7917-581: The world's first performance station wagon. This was followed by the Audi RS4 and Audi RS6 . The 2006 through 2008 Dodge Magnum SRT-8 model brought power and performance with station wagon features. The cars featured a 6.1 L Hemi V8 engine rated at 425 hp (317 kW; 431 PS). The Dodge Magnum SRT-8 shared its platform with the Chrysler 300C Touring SRT-8, which was only sold in Europe. Other German manufacturers have produced station wagon versions of their performance models, such as

8008-422: The years, including: In October 2011 the company Eyetease Ltd. introduced digital screens on the roofs of London taxis for dynamically changing location-specific advertising. 2011 saw the launch of many digital hailing applications for hackney carriages that operate through smartphones, including GetTaxi and Hailo . Many of these applications also facilitate payment and tracking of the taxicabs. Laws about

8099-409: Was an all-new design, and the 4-door "Cross Country" featured the industry's first station wagon hardtop. However, the pillarless models could be expensive to produce, added wind noise, and created structural issues with body torque. GM eliminated the pillarless wagon from its lineup in 1959, while AMC and Ford exited the field beginning with their 1960 and 1961 vehicles, leaving Chrysler and Dodge with

8190-654: Was brought to England with the Norman Conquest and became fully assimilated into the English language by the start of the 14th century. The word became associated with an ambling horse, usually for hire. The place-name, through its famous association with horses and horse-drawn carriages, is also the root of the Spanish word jaca , a term used for a small breed of horse and the Sardinian achetta horse. The first documented hackney coach—the name later extended to

8281-529: Was then part of the Metropolitan Police . These regulations set out the conditions under which a taxi may operate and have been updated over the years to keep pace with motor car development and legislation. Changes include regulating the taximeter (made compulsory in 1907), advertisements and the turning circle of 8.535 m (28 ft). Until the beginning of the 1980s, London Taxis were not allowed to carry any advertisements. The London Taxis fleet has been fully accessible since 1 January 2000, following

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