Rolls-Royce

Rolls-Royce is a set of companies, all deriving from the British automobile and aero-engine manufacturing company founded by Henry Royce and C.S. Rolls in 1906. The companies are: more...

• Rolls-Royce plc, by far the most significant in economic terms, a British engineering firm specializing in turbine-based products, particularly aircraft engines, but which has recently added marine propulsion and energy systems to its portfolio, providing a wide range of civil and military engineering products and services.

• Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited, a new manufacturer of luxury automobiles, owned by BMW, which started deliveries of its single model, the Phantom, in January 2003 (see below).

• Bentley Motors, the continuation of the original Rolls-Royce automobile division. Since 1998 the company has been owned by the Volkswagen Group. Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars have shared much mechanically since the 1931 takeover of Bentley by Rolls-Royce, often differing in little other than the radiator grille. Confusingly, from 2003 the company is no longer allowed to produce cars called Rolls-Royce, the trademarks being licensed to BMW, rather than to Volkswagen.

Nicknames for Rolls-Royce cars are "Rolls", "Roller" and "Double R", although in Derby (where the headquarters of Rolls-Royce plc are located), the firm is universally known as "Royce's". The former Rolls Royce motor car factory in Crewe, Cheshire, which now only builds Bentley cars, is also often known by locals as "Royce´s". The term "The Rolls-Royce of x" is often used informally (Cadillac is the American version of the term) to describe anything that is the best of its type. The company is aggressive at protecting its trademarks whenever commercial use of the term is mentioned. (One noted example was a coachbuilder marketing the Custom Cloud - which used a Chevrolet Monte Carlo with Rolls-Royce cues. The company was forced to shut down production after a heated lawsuit.)

Column-mounted automatic transmission shifters are still used today on all Rolls-Royces.

History

In 1884 Frederick Henry Royce started an electrical and mechanical business. He made his first car, a "Royce", in his Manchester factory in 1904. He was introduced to Charles Stewart Rolls in a Manchester hotel on the May 4 of that year, and the pair agreed a to deal where Royce would manufacture cars, to be sold exclusively by Rolls. A clause was added to the contract, stipulating the cars would be called "Rolls-Royce". The company was formed on March 15, 1906, and moved to Derby in 1908.

The Silver Ghost (1906-1925) was the model responsible for the company's early great reputation. It had a 6-cylinder engine. 6173 were built. In 1921, the company opened a second factory in Springfield, Massachusetts, in the United States to help meet demand there. A further 1701 "Springfield Ghosts" were built there. This factory operated for 10 years, closing in 1931. Its chassis was used as a basis for the first British armoured car deployed in both World wars.

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