Tuesday, September 22, 2015

a rare Model A, a Taxi Cab bodied by Briggs


Ford Taxicab bodies were produced by the Briggs Manufacturing Company in the Ford Highland Park plant, which Briggs leased after a disastrous fire to their own facilities.

The body differed from the regular 4-dr sedan including: a divider between the driver and passengers, a small baggage compartment that extending into what was normally the front passenger seat area, and folding jump seats.

The Model A Ford taxicab had to compete with the Kalamazoo-built six-cylinder Checker cab which debuted in 1922. In three years, Ford produced fewer than 5,000 taxicabs, while Checker’s production sometimes reached that in one year alone.

Also, the passenger area of the Ford taxi was limited and this undoubtedly hurt sales to fleet owners that wanted the capability to handle larger groups.


Found on https://www.facebook.com/GilmoreCarMuseum

2 comments:

  1. Jesse, what's really interesting is the cowl appears to be from a tudor sedan. I have a 29 Briggs town sedan and it has a smooth faired cowl and a hood reveal just like the 30's and 31's. I've never seen another four door 1929 Briggs with that cowl.

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    1. well you know your stuff! I just work here... seriously though, if you want to talk to some experts about it, that taxi is at the Gilmore

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