Page 31
Call Sign November 2011
Peter Bond (L67) got his first Call Sign men-
Who do you think drives the cab in...
tion in 2001, when at that year's AGM his
name was pulled out of the hat as one of three
Who do you
Dial-a-Cab drivers who had become winners
of a new Rover 25 Advantage in a Christmas
incentive scheme. We were still several years
away from a recession and coverage over the
think you are???
Christmas season run-up was a huge problem!
Then fast forward to November 2006 when
drivers phoned this magazine to say that they
had seen several different DaC drivers taking
Nigella Lawson around town in the program
Who Do You Think You Are with every fare
seeming to be £10 and apparently in a 50 zil-
lion to one chance, the same banknote was
always used! Our readers miss very little...
It turned out that all the taxis were really the
same one all driven by Peter Bond and yes,
the tenner was indeed the same one as well
a BBC prop with a valuation of... err £10!
And then, just a few weeks back, more
phone calls to Call Sign giving us the same
message a DaC taxi in Who Do You Think
You Are, this time ferrying around Strictly
Come Dancing judge, Len Goodman. So was
this an amazing coincidence or does Peter
have friends in high places! Well it's sort of the
second option.
Peter's cab as seen on Who Do You Think You Are...
"Yes, it was me with Nigella Lawson and
Len Goodman," Peter told us, "but it is also me
most of the times when just the cab is seen
streets, Peter would never let them down.
You Think You Are subject sitting in the back
without my face showing above the steering
"I love doing it," Peter added. "I certainly
of the cab talking and we almost become
wheel. In fact I have done seven of this latest
don't do it for the money because I don't get
friends! In fact Larry Lamb asked me to babysit
batch of ten shows."
much more than I could earn on a reasonably
his two daughters because his wife had to go
It turned out that the production company
busy Friday evening, but it is such an enjoy-
out! So I went to his home, picked them up
phone Peter whenever they need him to do
able show to be on and I have had such inter-
and they just sat in the cab while dad contin-
the program because they found it easier to
esting times chatting with stars such as Bruce
ued filming the show!"
use the same driver. It meant they didn't have
Forsyth, who really is so funny when he's not
So there is now no need for anyone to
to waste time looking for a cab it had to
following a script, Larry Lamb, Nigella and
phone Call Sign to tell us they've seen a DaC
have aircon and then explaining what he
many others. There are occasions between
taxi on Who Do You Think You Are... it's
had to do and even when it was busy on the
shooting when it's just me and the Who Do
bound to be Peter Bond!
Last month it was the cab that could only pass if it failed! This month it's the...
Taxi that failed because of new tyres!
"I was speechless," Raymond Fussell (K64) said when Call Sign met up with
him recently. "I had two new rear tyres fitted to my MB Vito taxi about a week
before it was due to go up for its' annual re-licensing procedure. On the appoint-
ed day, I presented the cab at SGS myself and while the cab itself was mechani-
cally ok, to my amazement they failed the two new tyres! That meant that the
cab as a whole failed!"
Explaining further, Raymond told us that the examiner at SGS had been very
apologetic because the rest of the vehicle was fine. However, he explained that
he had no option but to issue a `fail' notice because the rear tyres were - in the
official jargon unapproved! And so, as Raymond put it... "that was that!"
Knowing that it sounded rather confusing, Raymond carefully
explained to Call Sign so that we could pass the info on to our readers.
"It's all about the `Speed Rating' as indicated on the sidewall of the tyre and
whether the tyre is the wrong rating. In this case it was confusion over the
commercial van model, the taxi and yes, the TX range as well. Then it will fail
its re-licensing until the tyres are of the `approved' type - that is with the cor-
rect speed rating for that particular model.
"I went to `Jetyres' and they fitted the approved Vito tyre, the ones with a
Raymond wi
`T' suffix speed rating on the sidewall of the tyre, took it back to SGS the
th his pass a
nd fail slips.
same day and bingo, the cab passed!" Raymond was now grinning happily.
new tyres!
It failed for h
aving
"I then took the two tyres previously fitted back to the supplier, who gave
me a full refund without further question. So it all turned out ok in the end other than the time I spent
going to and fro, but that's life I guess," he added resignedly.
Finishing, Raymond added a personal point. "Living in leafy south London, I took my Vito to the Mercedes Benz main dealership on Purley Way in Croydon for
some work to be done and found them to be very good indeed. I got the impression they were looking to extend their taxi servicing facility, so it may be worth
mentioning it to Call Sign readers."
Tyre manufacturers have their own rating systems, for example Dunlop taxi tyres are `Q' rated while Michelin speed -rate their taxi products with
a `T' suffix. So the moral of the story is clear - always check you have the correct type/speed-rated tyre fitted to your taxi to ensure legal compli-
ance and for complete peace of mind.
© Call Sign Magazine MMX1
