COPYRIGHT 2006 Las Vegas Review-Journal

Byline: Hubble Smith

Sep. 28--Tourists, newlyweds and corporate executives can cruise Las Vegas in style these days, riding in a rare 1962 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II that's been added to AWG Charter Services' luxury limousine fleet.

The Rolls Silver Cloud will be available for $125 an hour with a two-hour minimum, AWG owner Alan Waxler said. It's been rented a couple times since becoming available two weeks ago.

"This vintage vehicle needs a lot of love and attention," Waxler said. "Every time it goes out and comes back in, our mechanic goes through it completely."

The car joins AWG's existing fleet of 35 premium vehicles, including the S550 Mercedes Benz, 750 BMW, LS430 Lexus, Cadillac Escalade, H2 Hummer and Lincoln Navigator. Rental rates start at $55 an hour.
"Somebody's got to be in the low end and somebody's got to be in the high end," Waxler said.

He bought the Silver Cloud about a year ago after surfing the Internet for wedding transportation and noticing that several European companies were using older Rolls-Royces and Bentleys.

The vehicles generally sell for around $50,000, but he declined to specify the actual purchase price.

"I've always had an attraction for it," he said about the car. "I've always thought it was an attractive vehicle. And who does more weddings on planet Earth than Las Vegas? Even if it's just for picture opportunities ... it's different."

Waxler kept the Rolls in his garage while it was being restored. He said the taxicab authority was excited about putting the car on the streets when it came up for approval.

"The goal is both the journey and the destination," he said. "The Rolls-Royce is indisputably the finest car in the world. I wanted something that said 'uncommon' for those that choose an extraordinary experience. I like doing first things and nobody is doing these."

AWG introduced the first German-made Krystal limousine coach to Las Vegas in 1997. Impressive in sheer size and comfort, the $100,000 coach offers an opulent limousine experience in the ultimate form of group transportation, Waxler said.

The company was also the first to bring on the Mercedes Benz S-series, the 750 BMW and the Cadillac Escalade.

Waxler founded his Las Vegas-based destination management business in 1990 and branched off into transportation in 1997 with AWG Charter Services.

"We saw the need for transportation management. What corporate people want is not to deal with 10 different people. They want one person to put it all together," he told the Review-Journal in 2001. "I got a lot of requests for what we could do differently to move our people from the airport to the hotel. Well, we can't get covered wagons. I bought the first coach with the thought it would be a novelty."

Travis Morris, director of transportation operations for AWG, said the company's repeat business is based both on the caliber of vehicles in the fleet and attention to customer service. All drivers at AWG are company employees, he said.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Las Vegas Review-Journal

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