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Monday, February 20, 2012

Honk for Hannah: British Taxi to Stop in S.F. for World-Record Roadtrip

Posted By on Mon, Feb 20, 2012 at 7:45 AM

"We bloody did it!" - IT'S ON THE METER FACEBOOK
  • It's on the Meter Facebook
  • "We bloody did it!"
You might notice a smashing black taxi cab traversing the streets of San Francisco this week -- but don't even think about trying to hail it. Three Englishmen will be driving Hannah, a 19-year-old British black taxi, through our fair city as part of their journey to make it in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest taxi ride.

 Paul Archer, Johno Ellison, and Leigh Purnell will drive Hannah more than 300,000 miles of open road and "inhospitable terrain," as they pass through Europe, China, Australia, and the United States.

The taxi is scheduled to make its way through San Francisco on Tuesday and Wednesday, although no word on where the taxi might actually stop. The trio only said "like all taxis, it is where you want it to be, at the appointed time."

That's true, unless of course you are in San Francisco.

Hopefully Hannah will tweet her location so we can spot the world-traveling cab.

The three came up with this crazy cab ride, appropriately enough, while riding in the back of a taxi together. They had been joking about it being the longest cab ride in history -- and then the idea hit them: They decided to actually create the longest taxi ride in history

It started in February 2011, when the trio hopped into the cab in their hometown of London, venturing across 39 countries for more than months, and making minimal stops to change flat tires and pet pandas (?).

As glamorous as a global road-trip sounds, they've had to sacrifice some serious leg room and dine only on to-go meals. But these sacrifices are fueled by a good cause -- to raise more than $30,000 for the British Red Cross.

Check out Hannah here:


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Erin Browner

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