# Peugeot Rifter Black Cab Interior

Turn a Peugeot Rifter family car into a London black cab, seeing how seats, a partition, a ramp and a taxi lamp change it\.

By merih kunur

Topic: Home & DIY

[Open the interactive Jig](https://ask.jig.com/j/gvHKjRTKCae0)

## Transcript

### 1. A family car with a new job

This is a Peugeot Rifter, a tall, boxy family car about 4\.4 metres long\. London's black cabs are built for one job: carrying passengers\. Let's turn the inside of this Rifter into a cab\. Drag anywhere to look around\.

This is the standard\-length Rifter\. Real London cabs are built as taxis from the start, so this conversion is a design idea\.

### 2. Lift the lid

Let's lift the roof off, like the lid of a dolls' house\. Inside is an ordinary family layout: two seats in the front and three separate seats in the back\. It is set up for a family, not for strangers paying a fare\.

The Rifter's three back seats are the same width, and each one folds flat\.

### 3. Clear the back

First the family seats come out\. What is left is a tall box with a flat floor\. That height is exactly what a cab needs, so passengers can climb in without bending double\.

A purpose\-built London cab, the LEVC TX, is about 1\.89 metres tall\. This Rifter is about 1\.82 metres\.

### 4. Build the partition

A cab keeps the driver and the passengers apart\. A partition, a wall with a window in it, goes up behind the front seats, and a bench for three goes in at the back\. A small sliding hatch lets you pay and chat\.

Real cabs also have an intercom and a hearing loop, which sends speech straight into hearing aids\.

### 5. Fold\-down jump seats

On the back of the partition are two jump seats: small seats that fold down from a wall\. They face backwards, towards the bench\. With them down, the cab carries five passengers\.

Newer London cabs squeeze in a sixth folding seat, so six people can ride\.

### 6. Room for a wheelchair

Every new London cab since 1989 must be able to carry a wheelchair user\. The sliding door opens wide and a ramp slides out to the pavement\. Bright yellow handles and edges help people with poor eyesight find their way\.

The Rifter's door slides back\. A real London cab has doors on hinges instead\.

### 7. Black paint and a taxi lamp

The roof goes back on, the paint turns black, and a lamp goes on the roof\. When the lamp is lit, the cab is free to hire\. Not every London cab is black, though: they come in many colours\.

### 8. How it compares

A real London cab is about 4\.86 metres long, roughly 45 centimetres longer than this Rifter\. It can turn in a circle of about 8\.5 metres, so it can U\-turn in narrow streets\. London's cab rules began in 1906 and still shape every cab today\.

A popular story says the tight turning rule came from a hotel's tiny entrance road\. It may just be a legend\.