The client who decided to drive himself
We’re a chauffeuring company – so we do the driving for you. On one recent occasion, however, the client took one look at the car and insisted on getting behind the wheel himself.
He is one of our regular customers, and it was his wedding day. In the past he’d mentioned that he was interested in a Rolls Royce Ghost. So, keen to surprise him, and with the help of a friend, we asked the company about the possibility of borrowing one and they obliged - for five whole days!
They had loaded it with ‘toys’ so we spent the two days before the wedding just playing with them. Some are for the driver’s benefit – like the ‘head-up’ display that projects information, such as your speed and Sat Nav directions, as if onto an invisible screen at the end of the bonnet. You can see straight through it for normal driving, but if you just refocus your eyes slightly, you can clearly read the figures. It has the latest form of adaptive cruise control – you don’t just set the desired speed but also the distance from the car in front.
It has cameras everywhere. There’s a feature that synchronises the images from all the different cameras to give you an aerial view. You can look down on yourself, as if you were in a helicopter, and see the car in relation to the people and objects around it – totally amazing and excellent for parking! It has a large footprint and is a tall vehicle but cameras on all four corners make sure you don’t get near anything. This is especially useful at junctions as the bonnet is long – you can see what traffic is coming in both directions before pulling out. A night vision camera was included on our car and you can clearly see people and objects in the dark. Great when you are in the countryside and it is pitch black!
There were plenty of features for the passengers, including rear seats that recline, retractable tables, TV and DVD that connects to whatever you want by Bluetooth. The rear doors open forwards, which makes it easier to get in and out of, plus the passengers in the back don’t have to lean forward to shut the door – they just sit back and press a button (if your chauffeur doesn’t get there first!). There was lots of legroom, white leather seats and lambs’ wool rugs an inch deep – you just wanted to take your shoes off and let your feet sink into the softness!
When we picked up our client on his wedding day he just couldn’t resist getting behind the wheel himself - the temptation to say ‘I’ll take that, thanks very much’ was too great! He discovered, as we had, that this is not just a wonderful car to be chauffeured in, but the kind of car you want to drive yourself. Everything is very quiet and smooth – it just glides through the gears and is a thoroughly capable car. However, if you want to press on, you are in for some thrills. It has a 6 litre V12 twin turbo engine and it will do 0-60 in about 5 seconds! There is no rev counter (that would be vulgar) but a power reserve indicator that dips as you accelerate. That’s what it’s all about – refined elegance, without being too brutish.
The Ghost is more discreet than the Phantom, much less ostentatious and aggressive. It obviously turns heads but we found that the looks were appreciative and respectful rather than antagonistic – quite unlike the effect that some other expensive car can have on people.
This particular model cost around £250,000. Not surprisingly we’d love one. It’s the ultimate car, for the chauffeur, the passenger and for the owner that wants to drive themselves. Will we, or will he, get one? Watch this space!