London Calling
When someone mentions the words “London cab,”we typically picture the black Austin FX4 that was so ubiquitous in England’s capital city for decades. It may have been the 500-pound gorilla, but Austin wasn’t alone in the taxi market; from 1919 through 1966, Beardmore built sturdy and stylish cabs that culminated in its final, the Mark 7 Paramount. Fewer than 20 of those genuinely rare people-movers are known to have made their way across the pond, and “Hack,” a 1958 model that enjoyed a thoughtful cosmetic and mechanical systems refresh, is among the very finest.
The Mark 7 represented the ultimate generation of the Beardmore Paramount, a highly regarded line of innovative, quality-built taxicabs. The parent company originated in 1886 in Glasgow, Scotland, as
