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.
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