A history about Rolls Royce
Exceptional and simply elegant. These are two words that define Britain’s most opulent offering on four-wheels, Rolls Royce. To this day it is regarded as one of the most respected marques in the world and today we will find out why.
Though names such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW are considered prestigious car brands, there are some that take luxury to a whole new level. Utter the name Rolls Royce and immediately words like precision engineering, ultra luxury and perfection come to mind. The company is well respected as an automaker and remains the pick of every elitist and executive around the globe. Why is it so desirable? For the answer, we need to look back at the early 1900s.
Rolls Royce came to be over a lunch discussion between two gentlemen in the Midland Hotel back in May 1904. Henry Royce, a well-known engineer and Charles Rolls, who owns one of Britain’s first car dealerships, struck a deal during their talk to establish a marque that would eventually take the world by storm.
Design and development soon took place. Starting off with a range of two, three, four and six cylinder engines, Charles Rolls initially funded the company through his own businesses while Henry Royce built the prototypes would eventually give rise to Rolls Royce’ very first car.
With just four years of research and development, Rolls Royce finally introduced the Silver Ghost in 1907. It shocked the world through its unmatched build quality, craftsmanship and engine technology. The original Silver Ghost was powered by a 7036cc, six-cylinder engine and it was later increased to 7428cc in 1909.
After World War I, Rolls Royce soon began developing a series of body styles to suit their clientele’s taste. The Barker Tourer and Cabriolet was the first among them, but development increased further when the marque opened Royce’s Cooke Street factory in Manchester. Prior to this, the company constructed a custom-built factory in Nightingale Road, Derby, which exists as a museum today.
Besides developing cars, Charles Rolls’ love of aviation caused the company to branch out and build engines for aircrafts. Despite his tragic death in an air show crash back in 1910, Rolls-Royce Limited has achieved tremendous success in both the of aeronautical and automotive fields.
The opening of Rolls Royce Nightingale factory pushed the firm in building cars in volume. Alongside the manufacturing line, Rolls Royce was also making engines for Merlin fighter planes. Till today, Rolls Royce is also well known for developing modern jet engines for commercial airlines such as Boeing and Airbus.
Apart from aircraft engines, Rolls Royce has seen building a range of custom-built cars throughout the years. Starting off with the original, yet ultra-exclusive Phantom IV and V, it was the successor of the Silver Ghost and Rolls Royce has give a few round of upgrades through a number of series before residing onto modern, full-bodied coupes such as the Camargue in the early 70’s.
Though not as well received as its predecessors, the Camargue is Rolls Royce’ first car that paved the future design language in times to come. The signatory grille and silhouette soon followed in the Corniche, Silver Spirit and the Silver Seraph, albeit redesigned slightly onto a sleeker manner to meet modern design standards.
But after going under a receivership in 2003, Rolls Royce soon began developing with BMW in building the marque’s first, modern-day Phantom. It might hold a BMW-powered V12 engine upfront, but the components are entirely sourced from various companies in Europe and the United Kingdom. Hand-built assembly began at the Goodwood factory of Chichester, Sussex.
A coupè version of the Phantom was soon launched to commemorate the original Camargue. The Phantom Coupè and Drophead convertible was offered to complement the Phantom, and the Drophead is considered as one of the best convertible Rolls ever made in their history. Topped of with teak wood panelling over the convertible’s tonneau cover, it held a £305,000 entry price before any customisation, which makes it the most expensive Rolls Royce on sale currently.
Even though cars like the 7-Series based Ghost and Wraith coupè has come into existence to broaden their appeal, Rolls Royce will be foreseeing a bright future with more models coming in the near future. But till then, it remains the most revered automotive icon forever and yes; everyone wants to feel the Spirit of Ecstasy within too.
(Photo credits goes to Autowp.ru, Wikipedia and Rolls-Royce Motorcars.com)