The history of the Rolls Royce brand

With Rolls Royce, we immediately perceive the concept of something luxurious and majestic. British cars with some exclusivity are not often seen on the roads.

Rolls Royce Motor Cars is a British luxury car company headquartered in Goodwood.

The history of the birth of luxury foreign cars dates back to 1904, when two British friends of the same thought agreed on the idea of ​​making a luxurious reliable car, they were Frederick-Henry Royce and Charles Rolls. The backstory of the partnership lies in the dissatisfaction with the purchased car by Royce, who had an interest in the quality and good construction of the car. Soon he came to the idea of ​​developing his own project, and having designed his first car, he sold it to the engineer Polos, who took a closer look at his project. The model was created by Royce in 1904 and became the first car of the company. This is how the partnership began to build the legendary company.

A distinctive feature of the company is that to this day all cars are assembled by hand. The only mechanization process takes place in painting the car with 12 layers of paint.

In a short period of time after the establishment of the enterprise, in a couple of years by 1906, several cars with power units for 2, 4, 6 and even 8 cylinders were already produced (but to a greater extent with a two-cylinder engine. These are 12/15/20/30 models PS). The models conquered the market with lightning speed and were in demand, since the company was guided by several important principles, such as reliability, quality, and a diligent approach to work. This is what Royce tried to put into the head of each employee, because without this there would be no good result.

During the war, the company also produced military vehicles.

Rolls Royce was also popular in racing, taking prizes. The first lead is attributed to a 1996 sports car in the Tourist Trophy rally. This was followed by the regularity of winning prizes thanks to cars produced on the basis of Royce-Prototype.

An abundance of luxury was endowed with the Panthom, which was refined several times. She was quite well in demand and for a short period of time more than 2000 models were released.

In 1931, the company takes over the majestic Bentley, which is on the verge of bankruptcy. At that time it was one of the most important competitors of Rolls Royce, as Bentley produced not inferior quality cars and had an influential reputation in the market.

During World War II, the company expanded its focus to the production of engines for military aviation and made a breakthrough with the RR Merlin with lightning power. This power unit was used in almost all military aircraft.

Rolls Royce cars are in great demand among the aristocrats and the wealthy.

For almost half a century, the company flourished rapidly without ceasing to amaze with the luxury it produced, but by the beginning of the 60s the situation had not changed for the better. Another crisis and a change in economic tactics, several costly large-scale projects, the development of a jet power unit and loans - all significantly hit the financial well-being of the company, up to bankruptcy. The closure could not be allowed and the company was rescued by the government, which paid off most of the significant debts. This only proves that Rolls Royce has won a legacy and a prestigious reputation not only in the markets, but also in the country.

Later in 1997, the brand was acquired by BMW, which was one of the many who stood in line to acquire Rolls Royce. Bentley went to Volkswagen.

The new owner of the brand quickly set up production without significantly affecting all the technologies and methods of Rolls Royce.

The famous brand is considered unrivaled to this day. The luxury and grandeur of the produced cars is the great merit of its founders. The company has more than a hundred points of sale all over the world, and its prestige and originality give rise to the desire of everyone to own a Rolls Royce car.

Founder

The founders are two talented British engineers Frederick Henry Royce and Charles Rolls. 

Frederick Henry Royce was born in the spring of 1963 to a large miller family in Great Britain. Henry went to school in London, but studied there for a year. The family was poor, financial problems and the death of his father prompted Henry to leave school and get a job as a newspaper boy.

Further, with the help of relatives, Henry got a job as an apprentice in the workshop. Then he worked in an electrical company in London, and later as an electrician in Liverpool.

Since 1894, together with a friend, he organized a small enterprise producing electrical appliances. Climbing the small steps of his career ladder - Royce organizes a company for the production of cranes.

1901 - a turning point that had a positive impact on the rest of his life, Henry purchased a machine invented in France. But soon he was very disappointed in the car as a whole and decided to create his own.

In 1904 he created the first Rolls Royce and sold it to his future partner Rolls. In the same year, the legendary Rolls Royce company was organized.

After health problems and the postponed operation, he could not take part in the creation (assembly) of cars, but he exercised thorough total control over the designers who developed the drawings and were engaged in production.

Frederick Henry Royce died in the spring of 1933 at West Witterting in Great Britain.

The second founder, Charles Stewart Rolls, was born in the summer of 1877 into a large family of a wealthy baron in London.

After graduating from school, he was educated at the prestigious Cambridge with a degree in engineering.

Since childhood, he was carried away by cars. Was one of the leading motorists in Wales.

In 1896 he bought his own car.

In 1903, a national speed record of 93 mph was set. He also created an enterprise selling cars of French brands.

Rolls Royce was founded in 1904.

In addition to motorsport and the automotive industry, he was also fond of balloons and airplanes, which became his second hobby and brought him popularity (unfortunately, not only in a good way). In the summer of 1910, Rolls' plane collapsed in the air at a height of 6 meters and Charles died.

Emblem

“Spirit of Ecstasy” (or Spirit of Extasy) is a figurine that embodies this idea on the hood of a car.

 The first owner of a car with this figurine was the wealthy Lord Scott Montagu, who ordered a sculptor friend to create a figurine in the form of a woman in flight. The model for this figure was Montagu's mistress Eleanor. This impressed the founders of the company and they used this example as an emblem for the car. By placing an order with the same sculptor, they embodied an almost identical idea with the same model creating the famous Spirit of Extasy - “flying lady”. Throughout history, only the alloy from which the figurine was made has changed, at the moment it is made of stainless steel.

And the company logo itself, as it is not difficult to guess, flaunts a duplicated English letter R, which characterizes the initial letter of the names of the Rolls Royce creators.

Car history

As mentioned, the first Rolls Royce was created in 1904.

From the same year to 1906, the company produces 12/15/20/30 PS models with different cylinder power units from 2 to 8 cylinders. The 20 PS model with the power of a four-cylinder engine of 20 hp deserved special distinction. and taking a prize in the Tourist Trophy rally.

In 1907 the Silver Ghost was named the best car in the world, originally designed a year earlier as the company's first 40/50 HP chassis.

In 1925, the Phantom I debuted with a 7,6 liter engine. A more modernized, renamed version of the Phantom II was released four years later and was endowed with special greatness. Later, four more generations of this model were released.

Following the acquisition of Bentley, the MK VI debuted with a solid metal body.

In 1935, a new generation of Panthom III saw the world with a powerful 12-cylinder engine.

In the post-war period, the Silver generation starts. But the Silver Wraith / Cloud - these two models did not win the due respect and special demand in the market, which allowed the company to create a more ambitious project based on these models and make a splash with the released Silver Shadow with fairly good technical performance and appearance, especially the load-bearing body .

Based on the Shadow, the Corniche convertible was developed in 1971, which was the company's firstborn.

And the first car developed by foreign engineers was the 1975 Camague.

The four-door limousine with 8-cylinder powertrain debuted in 1977 and became an exhibit at the Geneva Exhibition.

The new Silver Spur / Spirit series was introduced to the world in 1982 and has gained quite a lot of popularity, especially the Spur, recognized as the best car in the states. And in 1996 an improved version was released called the Flying Spur.

An innovative model was the Silver Seraph, created in 1998 and presented at the auto show, on the basis of which two models were released in the new 2000: the Corniche convertible and the Park Ward.