For a brief six months or so, starting near the end of 1993, you could travel Nottingham in taxis almost exclusively crewed by women. Despite the service's popularity, and making the news on account of the mean-spirited pranks it fell victim to, it vanished almost without a trace a few months later.
It was called Lady Cars, the brainchild of Kate Bowles and Patricia Davidson. Based in Radford, the message was "women drivers for women", giving ladies the option of a female driver at all hours of the day.
They weren't the first to come up with the idea - there was even a firm by the same name operating in Newark at the time. But the events of Lady Cars' life might remind you of a toned-down version of Carry On Cabby.
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That film saw a "ladies-only" firm challenge an established male-dominated player, following the typical Carry On hijinks as they one-upped each other. It being a Carry On film, the lady drivers were just eye candy for their male passengers, whereas Lady Cars in Nottingham had a serious mission.
"When you have had a few drinks, the last thing you want is for a taxi driver to come on heavy", said Bowles in 1993. "Now women can actually feel safe".
Bowles and Davidson hit an early snag when advertising rules wouldn't allow them to pitch their service as exclusively "ladies-only", but they eventually hit the road in October 1993. The first couple of cars did good work, picking up a couple of friends who had been mugged at the time, and helping a new mother get a rare night out.
Then the pranks began. Just one day in, Kate Bowles told the Post about someone requesting a driver "in stockings". "We'll just ignore them or put the phone down", she said.
When we caught up with them again in December 1993, they'd picked up a rival, just like the Carry On film. "One taxi company keeps ringing us up and giving us hoax calls - and it is no fun having women drivers alone in Radford in the middle of the night".
"One hoax call even had the cheek to tell our driver not to get out of the car", said Lady Cars at the time. "I think someone is having a bit of fun with us but it shows that we are a real threat".
The dirty tricks and taxi firm success continued into 1994, until Bowles, now the sole owner after Davidson left, announced that she was shutting down. What was the cause? A final prank call so bad it ended the firm? Every car breaking down at the same time?
None of the above - it was paperwork. The licence was in Davidson's name despite her and Bowles applying for it together, and after she left she inadvertently took the licence with her.
They decided to work elsewhere instead of going through the pain of getting a new licence, and Lady Cars came to an end. "All the drivers cried about it - it's such a stupid way for the firm to close", Bowles said at the time.
In Carry On Cabby from 1963, the warring sides are brought together over a robbery and a baby. No such happy ending here, and the grinch was good old-fashioned bureaucracy.
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