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London taxis are in demand
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By MartinW at 2007-12-13 21:46
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London taxis are in demand
An evergreen star of TV and film has made a resurgent start to 2006 by starring in a host of adverts and shows.
Curved lines, classic styling and admired the world over, the classic London taxi has always been a favourite for directors wanting to convey a sense of quality and all that is British.
And it seems that in 2006 this is more relevant than ever with the black cabs – recently hailed as the greatest British automotive design icon in an Auto Trader survey – rarely off our screens or absent from billboards and magazines.
Kate Moss is finding that there is plenty of room in the back of a cab for a change of clothes and a make-up make-over in the latest Rimmel London campaign, while London Fashion week would not be the same without the comings and goings of specially-liveried vehicles.
Losers on hit TV show The Apprentice were seen bundling into a black cab each week after falling foul of acid-tongued entrepreneur Alan Sugar.
If you have been staying at BBC’s Hotel Babylon with Tamsin Outhwaite and Max Beesley, the only form of transport you are likely to take on your departure is a London taxi.
TV’s Cash Cab recently saw contestants asked questions to win cash prizes while bring driven around in the back of a London taxi, and dramatic comings and goings to and from Albert Square in Eastenders are done in a classic cab, more often than not.
Even Supernanny Jo Frost is using a London taxi to pay visits to families with naughty children on both sides of the Atlantic, while Vauxhall are using the taxis in teasers in the run-up to the launch of the new Corsa.
David Crundwell, Business Affairs Manager for Vauxhall parent company GM UK and Ireland, said: "The world premier of the new Corsa is in London and we needed something that was inextricably linked with the city. The London taxi is it."
A unqiuely-style taxi has also featured on MTV’s Pimp My Ride. Bez, dancer with 1990s band Happy Mondays, saw his 1988 Fairway cab transformed into a deep purple pearl and red snakeskin creation, complete with dancer graphics.
Matthew Cheyne, Sales and Marketing Director for Coventry-based LTI Vehicles, which makes the unmistakeable cabs, said their taxis were popular choices because they immediately conveyed a sense of classic style while being quintessentially British.
"The London taxi is a shape everyone is a familiar with, everyone has been in one and they immediately convey a sense of being in England," he said.
"It says quality and it says Great Britain. The black cab has been a popular choice in advertising, on television and in films for as long as I can remember, but they really do seem to be in everything at the moment.
"It may have been Kate Moss setting the trend or just a coincidence but it is nice to see that such a classic vehicle in its latest incarnation, the TXII, is that much in demand and a popular choice for so many productions.
"And being voted number one automtive icon in the Auto Trader poll makes us an obvious choice for many people. "
Gary Zylberszac, of The London Cab Company Limited, which supplies taxis for television, film and advertising work, added: "The London taxi has always been because it is such an icon. If you are shooting something that says England or London, you want Tower Bridge, a bobby and a London cab.
"We are as busy now as we have ever been with requests for the cabs."
For more about LTI Vehicles, visit www.lti.co.uk
Picture caption: Two TXII’s pictured outside Eastenders famous Queen Victoria pub.
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