A 1935 Austin 12/4 taxi with a fascinating history and major celebrity connections is coming up for sale.
The 78-year-old car, still klitted out with all its cab accoutrements, started life like any cab, but then became the guest transport exclusively for guests at luxury boutique hotel Blakes in London's South Kensington when it was already nearly 40 years old.
The Austin was picked by the hotel's creator Anouska Hempel and is likely to have driven many of the hotels celebrity guests such as Neil Diamond, Robert Redford, Bob Dylan and Jane Russell.
Hempel, now Lady Weinberg, kept the taxi after it was retired from active duty and it still boasts some great touches such as a woven silk passenger hand-hold, and an orange illuminated Blakes sign in place of the normal taxi symbol.
The taxi, which is being sold with no reserve, will by auction by Historics at Brooklands on 30 November. Click here for more info.
James Elliott is a former Editor of Classic & Sports Car