Taxi To The Stars To Shine At Auction

CLASSIC car auctioneer, Historics at Brooklands, will be selling a very special London taxi at the end of November. This particular example of a 1935 12/4 Austin Taxi is no ordinary cab though, having transported the rich and famous as part of its role as gust transport for boutique hotel, Blakes, in London’s South Kensington.

Plucked from its more humble street life in the 70’s by the hotel’s creator - film star and actress turned hotelier and interior designer - Anouska Hempel (now Lady Weinberg) - the 1935 Austin Taxi Low Loading became the exclusive hotel transport soon after the hotel’s opening, for Blakes’s many famous guests including Ali McGraw, Neil Diamond, Robert Redford, Bob Dylan and Jane Russell.

Lady Weinberg - who has retained ownership of the taxi since it was retired from its celebrity transport role - has revealed that Blakes’ guests were welcomed to have use of it all day to take them anywhere within and around London whilst staying at the hotel.

Unlike the blue/black livery of the standard 12/4 Austin Taxi of the day, this example is resplendent in dark green coachwork, reflecting the colour of Blakes Hotel. A further nod to its heritage comes by way of an orange illuminated ‘BLAKES’ sign on the roof-mounted taxi lamp in place of the normal ‘TAXI’ symbol.

For more than a decade, the taxi has rested in the elegant surroundings of a coach house on Lady Weinberg's estate. Requiring only gentle re-commissioning, the vehicle is expected by Historics to attract vigorous bidding in view of its unique appeal and the fact that it is offered at no reserve.

The 12/4 Austin Taxicab will be auctioned alongside some 100 other classic motor cars and an array of automobilia at Historics at Brooklands winter auction venue, Mercedes-Benz World, near Weybridge, Surrey on Saturday 30th November, from 10.00am, with viewing on the previous day.

By By Press Association reporters