From the archives of Bob Montgomery, motoring historian
The Great Taxi Race!: In 1909 a celebrated event took place at the home of British motor racing, Brooklands. That event was a race with a difference for it was a race for taxis complete with fares. Indeed, one wag suggested that these were the only fares that ever got away without payment! Hard as it may be to conceive of such an event nowadays, this particular race was the feature at this Brooklands meeting.
The idea was simple: each taxi would be driven by a prominent figure from the world of motoring. The drivers wore taxi drivers' costume and each cab had to carry a passenger or "fare". All of the competing taxis were identical Fiat cabs. JW Stocks and Charles Jarrott, both of whom had driven in the Irish Gordon Bennett Race, were among the distinguished field that lined up to take the starter's flag. Quite a few of the drivers were old racing cyclists and this showed up in the way the race developed, for a bunch stayed within close company of each other waiting for the opportunity to "sprint" to the finish line. In the final sprint to the line it was Irishman Harvey DuCros Jnr. who pulled out the slenderest of leads over Charles Jarrott and George DuCros to take the win by only a few inches.
The event was enjoyed enormously by drivers and spectators alike, and the motoring press commented that "it was clear that, if the worst came to the worst, they might be able, as cabmen, to get a fair living coaxing the taximeter to jump another tuppence before the 'fare' got out."
A & B Taxis: Taxis were first on the streets of Dublin around 1905 and by the end of the first decade of the 20th century were an established and common sight on the streets of the city. Several taxi companies flourished, most particularly the firm of A & B Taxis, which was founded by Albert and Ben Waytes.
The Waytes had first set up as motor engineers in Lemon Street, Dublin, in the first few years of the 1900s. Their business prospered and grew and the premises were added to several times until by 1914 it had become necessary to find a new site for their operations. A plot of land was purchased beside the canal at Portobello Bridge and a garage was built there, the Lemon Street premises being retained for their cycle business.
Waytes operated a taxi service from these premises as well as a repair shop. Their taxi business, A & B Taxis, advertised "reasonable rates, speaking tubes and careful drivers in uniform", all of which, no doubt, contributed to their success.
In later years this building became the home of Messrs Brittains, the Morris agents in Ireland and the assembly of a wide variety of Morris vehicles was carried out there.
The First Taxi Cabs: The first taxi cabs were two Benz-Kraftdroschkes which began operations in the city of Stuttgart in spring 1896. So successful did they prove that a second taxi company started up so that Stuttgart had the distinction of having two taxi companies operating cabs before most cities even had one. The cabs averaged around 70 km per day and were also the first to be fitted with a taximeter. Paris was the first city to follow the example of Stuttgart but the first taxi service started there in November 1896 lasted only a few months. Taxis came to London in August 1897 when the London Electric Cab Company began operations. Early London cab drivers acquired a bad reputation, not helped by a well-publicised accident at Hackney which resulted in the death of a child. As a result the London Electric Cab Company sold off its cabs in 1900 and it was not until 1903 that a new taxi company began operations on the streets of the city.
Incidentally, all taxis were initially called "cabs" and the term "taxi" or "taxi cab" which is short for "taximeter cabriolet" came into use only after 1907.