BEING taken recently from a press conference to an airport, I was

shown into a car driven by a well-groomed and impeccably turned out man.

He was very much at ease, slightly condescending, chatted knowledgeably

about this and that, and I had him marked down as a company executive I

had somehow missed at the meeting. He turned out to be the managing

director's chauffeur.

Company chairmen, top directors, politicians, diplomats, and heads of

state need the very best of drivers: skilled, unobtrusive, knowing their

place but resourceful, and able to keep to schedules while maintaining a

smooth progress on motorways or through heavy traffic.

The Blue Riband among drivers is a certificate from Rolls-Royce Motor

Cars' chauffeurs' school in Crewe. But this is a tough course. It is run

a maximum of 14 times per year, with six students on each occasion. Some

are already chauffeurs, sent by their employers. Others would like to be

chauffeurs, this group including Service personnel about to come back

into civilian life, whose fees are paid as part of a re-training scheme.

And occasionally a private owner will enrol.

Pupils come from the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, the United

States, the Far and Middle East, Australia, and New Zealand. Nobody with

a suspect driving record is admitted. Instruction is always in English

but, with typical Rolls-Royce thoroughness, interpreters are provided as

necessary.

Each course lasts four-and-a-half days. The first two are taken up

with lessons to familiarise the pupils with Rolls-Royce cars, basic

checks, and maintenance, and certain points of chauffeur etiquette.

There are many problems here, because what would be considered polite in

one part of the world might lead to instant dismissal elsewhere.

It is important to know, for instance, where the action of helping a

female passenger alight would be appreciated, and where it would be

considered an insult.

The third day is on Rolls-Royce's own skidpan. On this safe area

instruction is given on manoeuvring, slaloms, and reversing into tight

''garages''. Day Four sees instructors and pupils out on the road. They

use latest-model cars, a Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit and a Bentley Turbo

R, which must be the most valuable two-car driving school fleet in the

world.

Driving skill is closely marked, and so are the written tests with

multi-choice answers. There are no short cuts in the system. No pass, no

certificate. At the end of it all, pupils who have achieved the pass

mark are graded. Many make it to Grade One, and a select few -- perhaps

only eight or so in a whole year -- are given a Distinction.

You can rest assured that they will be absolutely expert drivers, well

up in the etiquette of the business, and able to get a top driving job

anywhere in the world. One American who passed took a more mercenary

view: ''Now I can go back home and double my salary!''

In the context of a Rolls-Royce owning company or diplomatic service,

the cost of the course is modest: #775 plus VAT, or #1136 including

hotel accommodation in Crewe and all meals.

It seems a small investment considering that it produces some of the

finest and most reliable road drivers in the world.