It was the second of October, 2010 when we first met Jeeves. Earlier that summer we had been to a festival, and walking around the car park we realised that if we were to get a car, the was no other choice but to get a Black Cab. At first it was just a crazy idea, but the more we looked into it, we realised it was an actual possibility.
We found a really great and useful blog;
www.myblacktaxi.blogspot.com from which we got loads of tips and inspiration on how to go about getting a cab, as well as confirming that this was a good idea and not just a fantasy.
We started looking on Ebay to get a rough idea of price and availability. This was a good starting point, but making such a big purchase without being able to check it first is never a good idea. So we also got in touch with a few Taxi dealers, who wold have provided a great product with everything checked, but out of or price range at around £3500.
We also managed to get hold of a taxi trade magazine, which has a classified section, but in the end it was actually a contact through Ebay that lead us to Jeeves.
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| Joe and Jamie, the previous owners in front of Jeeves |
A couple of guys who had previously owned this cab had just completed a charity drive around Europe. They were reluctantly selling it as it wasn't practical for them to keep it. We made contact with them and agreed to go and see the car before completing the deal. This was a perfect situation as it gave us the possibility to look up insurance, check it out and get some second opinions from friends. We paid £1100 for it, which was a great price considering we were going to have to do a bit of work on it, and we had researched that the average price for a cab like this was around the £1500 mark.
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| Jeeves with his original stickers from the charity drive |
The important thing for us was that, apart from being mechanically sound and a great drive, Jeeves came from a good home, and we know what he was up to before we met him. It was pretty much love at first sight.
We decided to start this blog to document the adventures of Jeeves the black cab, and also to give some helpful information about our experiences, for anyone else considering getting a black cab. We are not mechanics or car experts by any means, but we are learning as we go along.
