Rolls-Royce

Rolls-Royce . Group of companies, all derived from the British automobile and aeronautical company founded by Henry Royce and Charles Stewart Rolls in 1906.

Summary

[ disguise ]

• 1 Companies
• 2 History
• 3 Bankruptcy and separation of brands
• 4 Models
• 5 Sources

Companies

• Rolls-Royce plc, by far the most economically important, is a British engineering company specializing in turbine products, particularly aviation engines, but has recently added marine thrusters and power systems to its portfolio, providing a wide range of services and products. civil and military industrialists.
• Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited, a new luxury car manufacturer, owned by BMW, which began deliveries of its first model, the Phantom, in January 2003.
• Bentley Motors is the continuation of the original Rolls-Royce automobile division. Since 1998 the company has been owned by the Volkswagen Group.

Bentley and Rolls-Royce cars have shared many mechanical similarities since the 1931 absorption of Bentley by Rolls-Royce, often only differing in small details such as the radiator grille. Since 2003 the company has not been allowed to build cars called Rolls-Royce.

Rolls-Royce has nicknames such as “Rolls”, “Roller” or “Double R”, although in Derby (the town where Rolls-Royce’s headquarters are located), the company is known as “Royces”. The term “The Rolls-Royce of the x” is used colloquially to describe something that is the best of its kind; The company is very strict when it comes to defending the right to its name, in phrases like this. A notable example is the lawsuit that forced the cancellation of production of the famous Chevrolet Monte Carlo, because its advertising slogan named the brand Rolls-Royce.

History

In 1884 Frederick Henry Royce started an automobile mechanics and electrical business and built his first vehicle, a “Royce”, at his Manchester factory in 1904. He met Charles Stewart Rolls at the Midland Hotel in Manchester on May 4, that same year, and they agreed that the cars manufactured by Royce would be marketed exclusively by Rolls-Royce. They included in their contract a clause stipulating that the cars would be called “Rolls-Royce.” The company was founded on March 15, 1906, and moved to Derby in 1908.

The Silver Ghost ( 1906 – 1925 ) was responsible for the company’s early good reputation. It had a six-cylinder engine and 6,173 units were manufactured. In 1921, the company opened a factory in Springfield, Massachusetts, in the United States to supply the vehicles due to their high demand, where 1,701 “Springfield Ghosts” were manufactured. This factory remained open for ten years, closing in 1931. This chassis was used as the basis for the first British armed military vehicles , used in both world wars .

In 1931, the company acquired the Bentley brand, whose finances could not overcome the Great Depression. From then until 2002, the Bentley and Rolls-Royce models were almost identical, differentiated only by the radiator grills and minimal details. Production of Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars moved to Crewe in 1946 and so did Mulliner Park Ward, London, in 1959 as a coachbuilder, having previously only built chassis, leaving the coachwork to specialist coachbuilders.

Bankruptcy and separation of brands

Due to financial problems caused by the long development of the new RB211 turbojet for the Lockheed L-1011 Tristar, in 1971 Rolls-Royce had declared itself insolvent, and on February 4, 1971 it was taken into bankruptcy, as it was considered that had reached the economic situation of bankruptcy.[1] Due to its strategic importance, the company was nationalized by Edward Heath’s Conservative government.[2]

In 1973, the car business was separated from the brand as Rolls-Royce Motors. The core aviation and marine engine business was maintained as a public company until 1987, when it was privatized as Rolls-Royce plc, one of many privatizations by Margaret Thatcher’s government.

In 1980 Rolls-Royce Motor Cars was acquired by Vickers. Vickers decides to get rid of the brand just at the moment when nostalgia is incorporated into trends and demand for models and brands inspired by the past is growing strongly. In 2002 Mercedes-Benz resurrected Maybach and Volkswagen launched its Volkswagen New Beetle. The big names in the industry went after brands such as Maserati, Bugatti, Mini, Bentley or Rolls-Royce. In 1998 Vickers decided to sell the Rolls-Royce automobile brand. The Volkswagen group made offers for the company, but it seemed that BMW, which already supplied engines and other components for Rolls-Royce and Bentley, had a better chance. However, BMW’s offer of £340 million was outbid by Volkswagen by £430 million. This was far from the end of the story, Rolls-Royce plc, the aircraft engine manufacturer, decided that it would sell the patents and licenses for the Rolls-Royce name and logo to BMW, not Volkswagen, which had acquired the rights to the mascot “Spirit of Ecstasy” and the radiator design, BMW acquired the rights to the name and logo “RR” for 40 million pounds, certainly for many analysts the most valuable property of the brand; Volkswagen stated that they really only wanted the Bentley brand. BMW and Volkswagen reached an agreement. From 1998 to 2002, BMW would supply engines to Volkswagen and allow the use of the name, but from January 1, 2003, only BMW could use the Rolls-Royce brand, and Volkswagen the Bentley brand. The Rolls-Royce Corniche Convertible ceased production in 2002.

Models

Rolls-Royce (1904-1950)

• 1904-1906 – 10 hp.
• 1905-1905 – 15 hp.
• 1905-1908 – 20 hp.
• 1905-1906 – 30 hp.
• 1905-1906 – Legallimit.
• 1906-1925 – 40/50 Silver Ghost.
• 1922-1929 – 20 hp.
• 1925-1929 – 40/50 Phantom.
• 1929-1936 – 20/25.
• 1929-1935 – Phantom II.
• 1936-1938 – 25/30.
• 1936-1939 – Phantom III.
• 1939-1939 – Wraith.
• 1950-1956 – Phantom IV.