“Providing the finest taxi service in the world”. This is the bike of any English taxi driver, and for that, typical London Black Cabs help a lot. Toyota's Japanese decided to take the winning formula, add some Rising Sun land-style plots to it, and present a prototype that intends to take over the streets of Tokyo!
In collaboration with the Japanese government to produce more user-friendly buses and taxis, Toyota has developed an improved version of the London taxi. Despite the new design and more futuristic appearance, the essential features remain: a large steering angle, good accessibility thanks to the reduced height to the ground, complemented by the electric opening of the cabin access door, in the case of this concept.
Inside, in good Japanese style, we have a large screen with useful information, such as the path we are taking to our destination and the cost of the trip. As for the engine, the only detail that is known to date is that there will be the option of operating on LPG, a fuel widely used by taxi drivers in those lands.
It should be remembered that London taxis as we know them have been around for around 60 years, they have a turning angle of 7.5 meters and the interior space must necessarily accommodate a gentleman wearing a cortola. As for the taxi driver, it remains to be seen whether, like their English colleagues, the Japanese will also have to know 25,000 streets and 20,000 points of interest in order to pass the test that gives them a license to drive one.
The model will be unveiled at the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show on 20 November.
