A TX-series London taxi, in Kansas City

This is a genuine London black cab — a TX-series, built for the streets of London and licensed to carry the public there before it ever saw Missouri. It's right-hand drive, because that's how they're built, and no amount of explaining makes that fact less fun for first-time passengers.

The glass partition behind the driver isn't decoration. On the London taxi it's original equipment, built in for privacy between driver and passenger — which is exactly what makes a case like Wide Open Town work. Whitey can talk to you the whole ride and never once look back.

Every TX-series cab is built with a wide, step-free rear door and a fold-out ramp — factory equipment, not an aftermarket retrofit. It's one of the only wheelchair-accessible vehicles of its kind operating in Kansas City.

It didn't come here to be a taxi. It came here to be the thing you remember about the night.