Rolls-Royce Founded by Collaboration between Two Companies
Rolls-Royce luxury car. PHOTO/ISTAutomoto651 - Rolls-Royce Founded by Collaboration between Two Companies.
Rolls-Royce's footprint in the automotive industry dates back to 1906 when a mechanical and electrical company named Royce Ltd joined a car showroom in Fulham called CS Rolls & Co.
Charles Rolls, owner of CS Rolls & Co., at that time was a 26-year-old young man who came from a wealthy family. He had a great interest in speed and machines and decided to study mechanical engineering at Cambridge.
In 1903, Rolls started a business to import and sell foreign cars, but Rolls wanted to focus on British cars.
Meanwhile, Henry Royce, owner of Royce Ltd, is a man who is 14 years older than Rolls. Henry started an electrical and mechanical engineering business in Manchester.
The turn of the 20th century marked the start of this extraordinary partnership between these two British male minds. The two met during a luncheon at the Grand Central Hotel, Manchester.
Reporting from Rolls-roycemotorcars.com, Thursday (24/6/2021), the meeting resulted in an agreement. Royce showed Rolls a two-cylinder engine called the "Royce 10", which he had previously assembled.
At first, Rolls preferred three- and four-cylinder cars, but Rolls admitted that he was very impressed with Royce's two-cylinder vehicles. After that, he promised her to take as many of Royce's cars as possible.
The agreement between Royce and Rolls resulted in a collaboration in the automotive industry. Rolls then marketed and sold Royce's machines in its showroom.
These machines were sold already under the Rolls-Royce name. The first two-cylinder Rolls-Royce car was also presented at the Paris Salon in late 1904.
Two years later, it turned out that the market welcomed the presence of the Rolls-Royce engine. The two entrepreneurs agreed to create a new entity under the name Rolls-Royce Limited.
In its development, Rolls-Royce also created cars with two, three, and four-cylinder engines. In fact, there is also a six-cylinder model with 40/50 hp or more popularly known as the Ghost Silver.
The Ghost Silver was also declared the Best Car in the World, as it was able to drive from London to Glasgow 27 times, covering a distance of 23,127 kilometres.
The Ghost Silver became the most desirable model in the market, forcing Rolls-Royce to open a second factory in the United States.
After World War I ended, Rolls-Royce opened its first factory in Massachusetts, United States. There, Rolls-Royce left its mark on the aviation industry.
The company's R engine set a new world airspeed record. The engine was created for use by the British during the 1929 Intercontinental Schneider Trophy seaplane contest.
In 1931, Rolls-Royce acquired Bentley. Bentley's factory in Cricklewood was closed, and production moved to Rolls-Royce's facility in Derby. Until World War II, the Bentley was something of a sporty version of Rolls-Royce.
However, leapfrogging after, in the late 1990s, Rolls-Royce was sold to Volkswagen and BMW. VW acquired the Rolls-Royce production facility in Crewe, England, while BMW acquired the rights to the Rolls-Royce car brand.
BMW licensed the Rolls-Royce name to VW until the end of 2002. Then, BMW started producing Rolls-Royce cars in 2003. At the same time, VW has the right to continue making Bentleys.
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