British Motor Corporation does not build many cars like the Austin FX4: a 4-door saloon, built from 1958 to 1997 at the height of the post-war boom. Its designer of record is Eric Bailey.
The story
The Austin FX4 is a hackney carriage that was produced from 1958 until 1997. It was sold by Austin from 1958 until 1982, when Carbodies, who had been producing the FX4 for Austin, took over the intellectual rights to the car.
Carbodies only produced the FX4 for two years, until 1984, when London Taxis International took over rights and continued producing it until 1997. In all, more than 75,000 FX4s were built. Over its lifetime, the FX4 increasingly became regarded as a design classic, and a visual icon of London recognised throughout the world, to the point where its eventual successors - the TX-series and the current LEVC TX - continue the FX4's basic styling cues and overall aesthetic.
Under the skin
The record carries the shape — a 4-door saloon. The engine, output and weight have not yet reached the open record, and MotorJury does not guess at them.
Its place in the line
Where it sits in British Motor Corporation's history is not in doubt: the Austin FX3 came before it; the LTI TX1 followed it; it was built at Coventry, England, United Kingdom. On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Fiat 500, the Dodge Challenger, the Mini Mini. Nearby in the British Motor Corporation catalogue sit the Austin 10 and the Austin 12.
The money
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Austin FX4 has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.