Carbodies

The origins of The London Taxi Company can be traced to 1919, when Robert 'Bobby' Jones, a former general manager at coachbuilder Hollick & Pratt took over the coachbuilding operations of his then employer, timber merchants Gooderhams and set up in business in premises acquired from Thomas Pass in West Orchard, Coventry.

In the 1930s, they supplied bodies for Rover, Invicta and Railton, but by far their biggest and most important customer in that decade was the Rootes Group.

In 1954, Bobby Jones sold Carbodies to the BSA Group, who put it under the control of its prestige car company, Daimler.

In 1958, Carbodies began manufacturing the body and carrying out the assembly, finishing and delivery of the most important vehicle in their history, the Austin FX4 taxi.

Carbodies also supplied prototype bodies and tooling, projects including the Jaguar E-type bonnet and panels for Triumph, Ariel and BSA motorcycles and scooters.

In 1971 Carbodies bought the FX4 chassis assembly line from British Leyland's Adderley Park, Birmingham factory and moved it to Coventry, making them complete manufacturers of the FX4, in actuality if not in name.

[5] By this time, the FX4 was the company's only product, despite attempts to introduce new lines, such as a Ford Cortina MkV convertible and the Range Rover Unitruck.

Further development resulted in the launch in 2002 of the TXII, powered by a Ford Dura Torq 2.4-litre diesel engine and featuring an integral fold-down ramp for wheelchair users.

[citation needed] In October 2012, following a suspension of sales due to the discovery of a serious flaw with vehicle steering components and having failed in an attempt to obtain new financing, the company was placed in voluntary administration.