Rolls-Royce Limited

HISTORY

The rich aristocratic Honorable Charles Stewart Rolls was an early car seller and repairer. He first met the self-taught electrical engineer and automobile builder Frederick Henry Royce on May 4, 1904 at the Midland Hotel in Manchester, England. They had agreed to get together and talk about their respective interests and during their meeting the pair signed a deal.

The first Rolls-Royce car, the two-cylinder Rolls-Royce 10 hp, was unveiled at the Paris Salon in December 1904. The model was sold at £395 ($510).

A 1905 model Rolls Royce 10 hp. By Terry Whalebone - Flickr. 

Rolls-Royce Limited was incorporated on March 15, 1906 as a vehicle for the partners' ownership of their Rolls-Royce business.

Rolls and Royce introduced the Silver Ghost in 1906 which was priced at an exorbitant £985. The last word in refinement, the Silver Ghost was a must-have for Edwardian Lords and Viscounts. Its luxury heralded the end of the horse and carriage as the aristocracy's preferred mode of transport. Adverts billed it: "Silent as a Ghost, Powerful as a Lion, and Trustworthy as Time".

The Silver Ghost 1907

During the First World War, Rolls-Royce was one of the few British automakers allowed to remain in production. The others manufactured ambulances, trucks and armaments for the war effort.

After the erstwhile Maharaja of Alwar, the honourable King Jai Singh was denied a test drive in England in 1920, he bought seven Rolls-Royce cars to collect garbage.

The last Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost was sold in London on December 19, 1924.

Edsel Ford agreed on June 12, 1940 to manufacture 9,000 Rolls-Royce engines to be used in British and U.S. airplanes during World War II. The British company went on to build and retain a pre-eminent position in aero engine development and manufacture for use in defense and civil aircraft.

Fitters working on the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine 

In the 1960s Rolls Royce was apparently going to call the successor to the Silver Cloud the Silver Mist - until it was pointed out that 'mist' in German means pile of manure.

Rolls-Royce declared itself bankrupt on February 4, 1971, one of Britain’s largest corporate failures. The company had become hopelessly crippled by its mismanagement of development of its advanced RB211 jet engine and the consequent cost over-runs.

The car division comprised of the Rolls-Royce and Bentley brands, separated from Rolls-Royce Limited in 1973.

Rolls-Royce Motors was purchased by BMW in 1998 a $570 million deal.

The Rolls-Royce Ghost was officially unveiled at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, and went on sale in September 2009.

The second generation Ghost was fully revealed on September 1, 2020. When developing the new Ghost, soundproofing was so overengineered that occupants in the car found the near-total silence disorienting, and some felt sick. Acoustic engineers had to go back and work on "harmonizing" various sounds in the car to add a continuous soft whisper.

CHARLES ROYCE 

Charles Rolls was born in Berkeley Square, London, third son of the 1st Baron Llangattock and Lady Llangattock.

Charles Rolls was educated at Eton.

His childhood nickname was "Dirty Rolls" because of his obsessive interest in engines.

Rolls was a tall man, standing at about 1.95 m (6'5").

Rolls was a notoriously mean man and would sleep under his cars to avoid paying hotel bills.

Charles Rolls

An aviation pioneer, Charles Rolls became the first man to make a non-stop double crossing of the English Channel by plane on June 2, 1910.

Charles Rolls died at 32 on July 12, 1910, when he crashed his Wright biplane after its tail broke off during a flying display in Bournemouth. He was the first Briton to be killed in an aviation accident.

FUN ROLLS ROYCE FACTS

Hong Kong is the city with the most Rolls Royces per capita.

75% of cars that Rolls Royce has ever produced are still on the road today.

Rolls-Royce only uses leather from 15-18 bulls per car. the bulls must live in a climate too cold for mosquitoes, because they want to avoid the upholstery having blemishes caused by insect bites. Cows aren't used because they might have stretch marks from pregnancies.

The actor Richard Harris was so drunk through the 1970s that he forgot he owned a Rolls Royce. It sat in a New York garage for 25 years before he found an old photo of himself with it and his accountant confirmed it was still there running up $90,000 in garage storage costs.

If you own a Rolls Royce, you can send your chauffeur to the company's headquarters in Goodwood, England to be trained to drive a Rolls Royce under the "White Glove" driver training program.

The Silver Ghost is considered the most valuable car in the world; in 2005 its insured value was placed at $35 million. Today it is valued at $200 million.

Source The Independent March 3 2008