Drivers
Hailing from the northern part of Northumberland in England, Ian has always been taken by timeless British vehicles, great family celebrations, and breathtaking landscapes. After leaving England to pursue a career in banking in his early 20s he was blessed to meet Anne one evening in Toronto and ended up having four (4) wonderful boys, all of whom are now part of the Niagara Classic Family of service. Upon Ian's retirement from the Bank of Montreal in Toronto as an executive he decided to commence a simple, one car 'retirement' wedding company with a 1965 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud. For two years, he was the entire service - from booking, to cleaning, to actually driving the bride and groom on their special day. Upon the return of number three son Matthew from Spain, NCC began a much more complex, FULL TIME operation throughout the entire Niagara Region. Sitting back today, Ian enjoys watching the entire fleet move on Fridays, Saturdays, & Sundays, witnessing up to 15 weddings a day leave our shop. By far, his most memorable wedding experience was serving a massive Croatian wedding late in 2009. Taking place in the Hamilton area, the service itself involved over two thousand people. His Rolls Royce was literally the lead vehicle all throughout the Hamilton area where photographs and the reception took place. Ian's committment to weddings is legendary and truly a British throughback to years gone by.'
After extensive travel and work in the United Kingdom and Spain, Matthew returned to the 'Niagara Classic' family to champion both full time growth and an effective operations discipline. While living in England and Spain Matthew operated a number of successful businesses, including a 'Tavern,' located just outside of London. His committment to customer service has been at the heart of NCC's growth and drive forward. You'll find Matt most days firmly planted in the back shop of NCC HQ in Niagara on the Lake, coordinating all vehicles prepped for service and ensuring that all driver's are prepared for their individual services. One of Matt's most memorable moments was driving a number of Hollywood stars while shooting a film onset in Toronto. NCC's London Cabs have been in numerous feature films and made for TV movies.
Happily married to his loving wife Tara, David joined the 'Niagara Classic Family,' full time after working as a high school Chaplain in St. Catharines in 2003. While studying overseas with Queen's University David's story was selected as a 'Tim Horton's' real life CANADIAN COMMERICAL, entitled 'Missing Home!' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuFLon26nMw).
As a proud advocate of the Niagara Region, David coordinates all reservations and loves nothing more then helping interested clients find the perfect transportation for their needs. With a special interest in the limousine industry, Dave is excited to be always researching new vehicles, service packages, and communications methods for customer satisfaction. By far, his most memorable drive was during the Niagara Wine Auction in 2006 when he was conscripted to be the personal chauffeur of Mr. Taylor Hicks of American Idol fame.
Raised in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Crispin has worked in tourism for over a decade. He is a graduate of Brock University (St.Catharines, ON) with degrees in Political Science and Education. With a background in local history and geography, you will not find a more knowledgeable driver than him. Crispin serves on many historical boards and is a volunteer firefighter for the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Station #4 Queenston.
Crispin was approached by Niagara Classic Cars to develop and run their history and site seeing tours. He learned the company through driving all of the different kinds of services. Today he has taken on the full time role of Office Manager and Community Liaison for NCC. Fitting into a company where his passions and training can serve others while being here in Niagara is a perfect fit.
Licensed for all vehicles in the fleet, Crispin is one of our most versatile drivers. He is usually found leading convoy's of vehicles touring through the beautiful Niagara Region and enjoys delivering brides to the church in a classic Rolls Royce. If you are up early enough you might see him taking a newly married couple off to the airport for their honeymoon too. One of his most memorable moments was knocking on the door of a bride's house announcing that her Rolls Royce (a surprise from her fiancee) was outside waiting to take her to her ceremony.
For Crispin, the secret of providing fist class service is by anticipating the needs of his clients through experience, passion, preparation, execution and follow through. Crispin would also be pleased to offer you any assistance with regards to planning your visit to Niagara, your wedding or other special occasion.
Siety K.
Siety came to Niagara Classic Cars as a part time Community Shuttle and taxi driver planning to earn a little extra money and it turned into a full time job that she loves. She loves the people and loves to drive. She has experience driving on her farm and as a school bus driver. She also has owned a gas station and run a successful B&B in Niagara on the Lake. She really likes driving the Community Shuttle, but also drives the London Cabs, Luxury Shuttle Busses and Navigator Limousines. Her secret to providing first class service is to always treat your passengers as Kings and Queens and to go the extra mile for them. A funny moment she shares with new drivers starting out is that after driving a London Cab all afternoon she switched into the Community Shuttle. After loading her passengers she opened the passenger door of the vehicle. Her clients asked her who was going to drive. She thoroughly enjoys driving and contributing to the enjoyment of her passengers drive/tour/wedding etc... It doesn't seem like a job to her at all and she says that she never has done a drive she didn't enjoy.
Rob's career background includes teaching (sciences), Double Deck Bus Driver, Motorcyclist, and Pilot. He is also a classical pianist (Royal Conservatory), an Astronomer (RASC), a SCUBA Diver and Photographer.
He became a chauffer because he enjoys driving, meeting people, traveling and variable situations. Rob's specialty is driving our Classic London Cabs for wine tours.
One memorable NCC Moment was when a beautiful wedding guest unintentionally removed most of her dress while standing at the side of his cab. This also provided him his best demonstration of wit while on duty.
The keys to providing excellent service for Rob are reliability, congeniality, courtesy and keeping calm under stress. Rob has a great deal of fun and enjoys touring the area with guests of NCC.
"Mr. Brian Andres is a proud Bed & Breakfast owner in Niagara on the Lake and has vast knowledge of wine, music, and having a good time. For further information please visit him @:
Matty B is one of NCC's most accomplished tour guides and wine experts.
With vast travelling experiences around the globe Matty B came to call Tuscany home for 3 years while working as an apprentice shoe maker under the legendary Ennio Balergiano. After a tragic fire ripped through the shoe factory, Mateo decided to continue his travels to France, England, and Siberia, where he worked for a local circus for a short time. Upon returning to the Niagara Region four years ago, he began working with NCC, happily serving wine tours, weddings, and special events. His most memorable moments include touring Robert Pattinson and Kristen Steward of Twilight fame, and having the great opportunity of driving Tiger Woods & entourage on three occasions. Niagara Classic Cars is happy to formally announce that Matty B will be launching a new office in the Beamsville Bench area this season.
Wig recently retired as the head of physical and health education at Niagara District Secondary School, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, having taught for 30 years. In that time, he served on the executive boards of CIRA Ontario, CAHPERD and OPHEA (Ontario Physical and Health Education Association). He has published several resources for CIRA Ontario and OPHEA and is co-editor of CAHPERD's "The Clipboard" series. He is a regular workshop presenter and has done numerous presentations at a variety of provincial and national conferences and has presented Additional Qualification sessions at the University of Toronto and Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario.
Baldauf has been described as a visionary with progressive and innovative ideas and has been recognized with awards from his peers in the teaching profession, including the Ontario Secondary School Teacher's Federation Excellence in Education Award.
Wig is a Rolls Royce specialist for Niagara Classic Cars weddings.
Tim joing our team from the United Kingdom via South Beach Florida where he worked as a scuba instructor and Del El Limousine Chauffeur. With extensive military (Royal Marines ret. 99) and private security training, Tim enjoys being a 'silent server' and offering 'any advice or projection' when required.
His most memorable experience was having to jump into action when an unfortunate fight broke out at a wedding in Fort Erie in 2008. Tim is ready for service, 24/7.
Moe comes to Niagara Classic Cars as a career educator and administrator. He became a chauffeur because he wanted to fill in some time during his retirement. He enjoys meeting a variety of people while having the opportunity to visit some exciting places in the Niagara Peninsula.
Moe's driving specialty is weddings as these occasions are always enjoyable and he welcomes the chance to share in the joy of the day.
For him the secret to providing good service is that he believes the client comes first above all else. His main goal is to ensure that all their needs are met and if I can do anything above and beyond the requirements I will make every effort to achieve this.
Some memorable moments for him include driving a wedding party to McDonalds in a Classic Rolls Royce. This created quite a spectacle at the store and the wedding party had a lot of fun with the clients already in the restaurant. He also has had several sporting events that have been filled with many surprises throughout the drives.
He has enjoyed his time with NCC because it is a very professional organization that truly cares about serving the customer. The main goal is to ensure that the experience is a totally positive and memorable one. He used NCC for his daughter's wedding 4 years ago and was extremely pleased with the service so his decision to drive for this company was an easy one!
Nestor is a legend in the limousine business here in Niagara; he has been driving since retiring from General Motors in St.Catharines. In his free time he enjoys dancing, painting and running. Nestor mainly drives our limousine busses, limos and sedans, often late into the evening or first thing in the morning. He enjoys driving groups to sporting events and concerts. He says his sense of humor has helped him in the business. He looks forward to meeting new people and reconnecting with groups he's driven in the past.
Paul had an extensive career in the publishing world before starting with Niagara Classic Cars. He published both magazines and hard-cover books, for clients like the NHL, The International Olympic Committee, The Northwest Territories Government, The Wine Industry and many corporate clients. He joined NCC because he loved meeting people, public relations, and watching the reactions of people in "Happy Times" i.e. Weddings, Wine Tours etc. He is primarily a limousine driver with a lot of experience with our specialty automobiles as well. He enjoys conducting wine tours, driving weddings and doing tours of the Niagara region.
He is also a mainstay for our airport drives. Some memorable drives for Paul include driving for the Pointer Sisters on Tour in Niagara, Canada A.M Group from CTV, Erin Davies from CHFI and other assorted groups on private tours.
His secret for first class service is keeping cool in stressful situations, Giving the clients what they want, Understanding the clients particular idiosyncrasies, knowing your own product ie: the cars, the wines of the region, the history of the region, feeling comfortable with both his own and his clients expectations. He likes to have fun and communicating with his clients and trying to understand the particular needs of the client on any given day.
Billy comes to NCC with a background in the automotive industry as well as being a locomotive engineer and painter. He became a chauffer because he likes to meet new people. Billy's quite versatile when it comes to driving. He drives for weddings, wine tours, airport and nights on the town.
Billy notes that he has had some colourful characters, standing as one of his favourite drives was the beer drinking husband who loved his wife so much he went on a wine tour with her.
He claims his secret to a successful drive is that he loves to talk to his groups and keeping them happy. He says that he really enjoys driving for the Mole family. "They want you and the customer to have a good time. They take very good care of all the cars and the drivers also."
Bruce comes to NCC as a specialist in corporate wine tours, weddings, and yoga therapies from the middle east. He enjoys meeting new people, serving larger charter groups, and showing off the best Niagara has to offer!'
Greg is an avid flutist and recreational kite-maker from Nova Scotia. He has also been known to play a mean fiddle. With a vast military background in special operations, Greg came to call Niagara on the Lake home after visiting one fall day during the grape harvest. He was immediately taken by the rolling hills, delicious fresh fruit and perfect wind currents close to Niagara Falls. As a pilot he also enjoys welcoming all private jets at the St. Catharines district airport. By far, Greg's most memorable experience was his first limousine bus drive last summer. His group of 22 grade twelve students was a change of pace from military operations; however, his training came to use when all of his passengers were subsequently ejected from their motel in Niagara Falls after an altercation with a rival school.
Greg spent the time to drive each and every student home and received over ten personal letters of thanks from some very happy parents.
Kevin became a chauffer after working in the hotel industry in Niagara on the Lake in various roles. He really loves to drive and says that the elite fleet of vehicles drew him to Niagara Classic Cars. Everyday you could drive a different car almost from a 1958 Rolls Royce to the limousines or the classic London cabs. Being a former concierge becoming a chauffer gave him the ability to be a great tour guide and he can make suggestions for dining, golfing, wine tours and general tourist attractions in Niagara on the Lake and beyond. He mainly enjoys driving wine tours, weddings and airport runs and is often seen driving the Community Shuttle as well.
Kevin's most memorable moment came when a couple went on a wine tour together. The wife had booked a Rolls Royce Silver Cloud as a surprise for her husband (a car enthusiast.) The look on the gentleman's face when he pulled up was worth a million words. He was in fact speechless and had the time of his life. He enjoyed the wine tour as much as Kevin did driving it.
His secret to providing first class service is an overall love for Niagara on the Lake and its historical value. He is constantly keeping up to date on restaurants, golf and current events throughout the region so he can pass it along to our guests. Let him do the driving and he promises to make your experience one that lasts a lifetime.
Tom has lived in Niagara on the Lake his entire life. A local figure skating champ, 9 years in a row, Tom has now turned his complete focus to wine making and competitive mustache growing. One of NCCs most colourful and knowledgeable tour guides, Tom loves showing off the best sides of Niagara and will go out of his way to welcome novice or experienced wine enthusiasts to just about any winery in town - WHERE HE IS VERY WELL KNOWN. One of Tom's more memorable stories stems from his great humour. This fall Tom hosted a very special wine maker from an extremely prestigious winery in Bordeaux. Afther a private tour of Hillebrand Estate Winery, Tom joked that the last winery would be HIS own cellar where the wine expert could sample his 2007 vintage. Alost 5 hours and 11 wineries after, Tom hosted this legendary wine maker at his house to get an HONEST opinion of his new craft. After only 1 sip, the guest said: 'I can taste the passion!'
Gord grew up in the Niagara region and graduated from Waterloo, major in Political Science and History. He has also studies at Purdue University. Gord has had an extensive career as a supervisor and manager in industrial sectors. Now retired, he is an avid golfer and enjoys working for Niagara classic cars as if allows him to interact with people in an enjoyable setting. He enjoys driving for weddings, wine tours, airport and other car services. He tries to give people what he would expect if he were the passenger, and more. He has strong ties to the Niagara region having United Empire Loyalist heritage. He has been happily married 33 years with two grown daughters, and enjoy spending time at his cottage and traveling. He has been just about everywhere in North America except the Territories, and Newfoundland. Gord is also active in the local sports community both playing, organizing and officiating.
After several years of driving part-time for NCC, Richard is now on full time and loving it. Whether you need to get to Buffalo, Toronto, or Hamilton airports, Richard's your man. He also enjoys weddings and night on the town services. But don't forget his specialty, WINE TOURS! Drawing from his own experiences of growing grapes and making wine, he is able to educate, entertain, and amuse the novice or the experienced wine connoisseur. Everyone will come away with a new love and appreciation for the wine culture here in Niagara.
Buxton has excellent driving experience having served in the Canadian Armed Forces Reserves as MSE-Op (Mobile Support Equipment Operator) He became a chauffer because he truly enjoys driving, and, meeting people from different countries and background. He's willing to go the distance, across Canada or just around the corner. I also do weddings, wine tours, late nights and or special events.
Two memorable NCC Moments: for Buxton are 1) "I was assigned to drive for a former high ranking military official. Upon arrival at the pickup location, I noticed one gentleman in uniform. After introducing myself and a brief conversation, I mentioned being an ex-military person (Logistics - Transportation). As we waited for our VIP, I was asked what my rank was during my service; I mentioned that I was a Corporal. As a result I was then introduced to the VIP as Corporal Williams. Keep in mind I left the military in 1997. The vehicle I was driving is considered a classic from England, a Daimler. (Steering on the right-hand side) I was then asked by our VIP, how often I've driven a Daimler. I responded, 'just this morning, but not to worry I'm a former MSE-Op.' The VIP was relieved as he knew what MSE-Op meant and he proceeded to re-assured the other passengers that I'm a former military service member." 2) While driving a unique group of people, one person lowered the window that separates the driver from the back, and asked if she could sit with me. Before I could respond, she climbed through the window while stating, 'I don't want to be with those people anymore, you seem like a nice guy.'
His secret to providing first class service, being respectful of everyone and giving them the most comforting and safe ride possible. He enjoys his work, and just wants to know that the clients are satisfied enough to call on me again.
Eric has driven everything from farm vehicles, to Tractor Trailers. But now his main focus is in the Airport Shuttle Bus field. He has taught Computer Engineering, Web Page programming, and Database Management at the College Level, as well as in Adult Education. In his previous life he was a Regional Police Constable in Niagara Falls, and owned a Video Rental Store.
He became a chauffeur because it encompasses a lot of things that he likes to do, which are driving nice cars and being able to help others have a good time at whatever the occasion might be. In a sense, customer service is in his blood.
His driving specialty is airport, weddings and wine tours.
Some memorable NCC moments include his first NHL hockey game with a group of ten guys in the Lincoln Navigator Stretch Limo.
Eric's secret to providing first class service is finding out what it is the customer wants, and then delivering that plus a little more without being obvious, just friendly and personable, and making sure the ride is just a smooth as it can be.
Professional Customer Service is his aim. That can be done in a friendly atmosphere, but professionalism needs to be maintained. He is at the customer's beck and call.
