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View Full Version : Archived: Alpha Taxis, Walsall, April '09



boxfrenzy
15-04-2009, 07:33 PM
Somewhere, in Walsall, three cars are rusting away, forgotten and unloved. I've done my best to identify what they are, but sadly I don't know why they are there.
A first view.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3537/3444925198_1f7da3c8c2.jpg

The Austin FL1 was made after the war, and built for 10 years between 1948 and 1958.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3344/3444925204_9472f8cc54.jpg

As this one has it's passenger door, and no For Hire sign, it could be an Austin FL1.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3647/3444925230_fd936b8e07.jpg

They are very rare. One website I saw said there were only eight left in the world. However, my eagle eyes spotted a factual error on another part of the site, so I remain sceptical.
The Austin FL1 was a limousine version (with a bench seat in the front) of the more popular Austin FX3.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3576/3444925222_d652cc594b.jpg

The end of the road,
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3324/3444954410_ef685f0974.jpg

Two more motors lie silently rusting in the tiny compound.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3628/3444925216_951d8c7095.jpg

On the left is a Vauxhall 10, a particularly rare car. They were initially made between 1937 and 1940, before Vauxhall's Luton factory switched over to making tanks. It reappeared briefly in 1946 but disappeared forever the following year.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3309/3444128523_b49199e424.jpg

Only 42,245 were of these Vauxhall 10's were produced. This is the only half decent view I have of an interior. (I was so annoyed that all of thie interior shots of the cars were massively out of focus. :( To add insult to injury I didn't even get any shots from the front of the cars, due to the circumstances.) Like the other cars, this was missing seats.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3632/3444925240_1db2030e0a.jpg

The remaining car was an Austin FX3, built between 1948 and 1948. It had no passenger door, and had a small covered wooden box used to hold tools. Most of them were used as London Taxi's but a few were used around the country. How cool is this?
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3638/3444128515_6aefc855a0.jpg


All in all, I took about 40 pictures in 5 minutes here, and wish I had taken another 40. I love these lost cars, and a part of me loves them in this state, rather than a polished, shiny show car. Yet I guess if they aren't rescued, then one day it will be too late.
The Austin FL1.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3565/3444128507_6b6b832161.jpg