Country houses and estates
Unmade drives, gravel, farm tracks and the last half-mile that no saloon should be asked to do. The only car in the fleet that treats the approach as part of the journey rather than a problem at the end of it.
SUV · L460 · LONG WHEELBASE
Range Rover, with a chauffeur, in London and beyond
The long-wheelbase L460 Autobiography: the car for the journey that stops being a road at the far end of it.
PASSENGERS4
LUGGAGE4
DRIVEPermanent four-wheel drive
SUSPENSIONAir (lowers ~50 mm for entry)
GROUND CLEARANCE295 mm at full height
REAR SEATIndividual, reclining, heated
HEIGHT1,870 mm (check basement car parks)
Every other car in this fleet is built on the assumption that the destination has a paved approach. The Range Rover is the one booked when it does not, a house at the end of three-quarters of a mile of unmade drive, a shoot in February, an estate road that a saloon on winter tyres would still be reversing out of. Permanent four-wheel drive and 295mm of ground clearance at full height are not London specifications, and that is the whole point of having one car in the fleet that carries them.
What makes it work as a chauffeur car rather than merely as a good SUV is the air suspension. It drops the body by about 50mm when the car comes to rest, which turns the single most awkward thing about a tall vehicle, getting into it, into the easiest entry of any car here. A passenger who has to lower themselves into an S-Class steps across into this one. That is a genuine reason accounts ask for it that has nothing to do with weather, and it is the reason we keep it on the London roster rather than only on the country one.
The rear cabin is a saloon's: individual reclining seats, acoustic laminated glazing and active noise cancellation, so the raised eye line does not come with the noise or the roll a large SUV usually implies. The compromises are honest ones. It is 1,870mm tall, which is over the barrier at many central London basements. And it is by a wide margin the most expensive car here to run, carrying both the highest per-mile rate and the highest minimum fare in the fleet, so for a flat run between two London addresses it is the wrong booking and the control room will say so.
Winter and weather
Snow, standing water and the days when London stops. Permanent four-wheel drive, and a chauffeur who has been trained on the surface rather than hoping.
Passengers who find a low car hard
The suspension lowers for entry and the seat is at standing height, so getting in is a step across rather than a lowering down. Frequently the whole reason this car is requested.
BY THE HOUR, FROM, EX VAT£85Three-hour minimum, 20 miles included per hour
HEATHROW → MAYFAIR, EX VAT£163The reference journey, 17.4 miles, meet and greet included
ANY MOVEMENT, FROM, EX VAT£100However short the journey
Fares are quoted on the route, not off a table. Price your own journey and the figure you are shown is the figure you pay.
Fares shown are the Heathrow → Mayfair reference journey of 17.4 miles, and the hourly rate is a from-rate with a three-hour minimum. Both are quoted before VAT. Your own route is priced on its measured distance before you confirm.
What every booking includes
- A fixed fare quoted on your actual route before you confirm, with the congestion charge already inside it
- An SIA-vetted chauffeur, named to you the evening before with his photograph and registration
- Flights tracked from take-off, with 60 minutes of complimentary waiting at the airport
- Meet and greet inside the terminal, at the arrivals name board
- Free cancellation up to four hours before the pick-up
How it works
I
Price the route
Put the two addresses into the booking form. The fare comes back on the measured distance, not off a table, and it is the fare you pay.
II
Confirm the car
Choose the vehicle and the booking type, give us the flight number if there is one, and pay or put it on the account.
III
Meet your chauffeur
His name, photograph and registration reach you the evening before. His live position reaches you on the morning.
IV
The name board in arrivals
On an airport pick-up he is inside the terminal at the barrier, not in a car park. Delays are absorbed by us, not billed to you.
It is useful about six days a year in London and most days on a country booking. It is permanent rather than switchable, and what it changes is the set of destinations we will accept in bad weather: an unmade drive in heavy rain, a shoot in frost, an estate road under snow. For a dry run between two postcodes inside the M25 it buys you nothing, and the fare will reflect a car that costs more to run.
Because it costs materially more to buy, insure, tyre and fuel, and it covers fewer miles a year doing it. Both its per-mile rate and its minimum fare are the highest in the fleet, and the gap against the S-Class is a wide one, the figures printed above are the current ones for each. If the journey is a normal London or airport movement, the S-Class is the better booking and we would rather tell you that than take the larger fare.
Less than you would expect, and the reason is the air suspension rather than anything about the seats. It is noticeably better over poor surfaces than the V-Class and slightly less settled than the S-Class at motorway speed. Passengers who dislike a high driving position will still dislike this one: the eye line is the point of the car, and it cannot be turned off.
At 1,870mm, often not. It is the same problem the V-Class has. It clears a 2.0m barrier and does not clear a 1.8m one, and the air suspension's lowest setting does not bring it under. Give the control room the address when you book if either end is below ground.
Only if your account specifies a marque, and some do. It is the one non-Mercedes car on the roster and it is here because nothing in the Mercedes range does this job as well. If your booking policy names Mercedes, say so and we will hold to it. The V-Class is the nearest thing in the fleet for poor weather, though it is front-biased rather than four-wheel drive.
SALOON · W223 · LONG WHEELBASE
Mercedes S-Class
The standing choice for airport and executive work. Rear seats recline, the cabin is quiet at speed, and the partition glass is available on request.
3 PASSENGERS · 3 BAGS · FROM, EX VAT £55/HR
SALOON · W214 · BUSINESS
Mercedes E-Class
A shorter, faster car for city movements and single-passenger runs where the S-Class would be more than the journey needs.
3 PASSENGERS · 2 BAGS · FROM, EX VAT £45/HR
PEOPLE CARRIER · W447 · EXTRA LONG
Mercedes V-Class
Conference seating, a folding table and full standing luggage capacity. The car we send when a party travels together and wants to keep talking.
7 PASSENGERS · 7 BAGS · FROM, EX VAT £55/HR