Automotive Recyclers Association - Archive

Online Resources:

• rolls-roycemotorcars.com
• Rolls Royce History

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Rolls Royce Cars

Elegance, luxury, and wealth are synonyms of Rolls-Royce. Hand-built to perfecting standards, this exclusive and premium brand of fine cars is the envy the world over. Master craftsmanship, technological advancements, and simplistic functionality are the cornerstones of these beautiful vehicles. Headquartered in Goodwood, England, this coveted name has been an icon for over one hundred years.

Rolls-Royce Limited was the result of an agreement between Honorable Charles Rolls, a well-known race car driver, and Sir Henry Royce, a successful engineer. Basically, Rolls would sell the cars that Royce manufactured and C.S. Rolls & Co became the exclusive agent of the cars. Royce, on the other hand, built the cars that would quickly set the bar for quality engineering and superb craftsmanship. By 1907, the first Silver Ghost was ready, and after completion of nearly fifteen thousand miles, a “journalist called it the best car in the world”.

Sadly, Charles Rolls did not participate very long in the company. In 1910, he was killed in an aviation crash when the plane he was flying fell out of the sky and crashed into the ground. He was an experienced and avid pilot having been the only aviator to cross the English Channel round-trip without stopping. Henry Royce died at seventy years old in 1933 and to this day is celebrated as a genius, and one whose work is legendary in the field of motor cars and aero engines.

Interestingly, the names chosen for the various models of the cars, specifically Ghost, Phantom and Cloud were the characteristics of the vehicles themselves. Succinctly stated, “they were silent” and that was one of the features that made Rolls-Royce so revered as a luxury brand. Such precise engineering as to make a car glide on the road without noise.

Significant Dates in the Rolls-Royce Timeline:

• May 4, 1904, the day the partnership was established. The company was formalized in December.
• 1921, a plant was built in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA.
• 1922, the 20 HP is released, a smaller version of the car that would appeal to professional men like doctors, lawyers and businessmen. It could go as fast as sixty-two mph.
• 1927, the last Silver Ghosts were built as armored chassis for the Russian Trade Delegation "ARCOS".
• 1929, Rolls-Royce wins a contest creating the “R” engine which set a new world air speed record.
• 1931, Rolls-Royce buys out Bentley which is in receivership.
• 1936, the Phantom III is the first V12 Rolls-Royce.
• 1946, a new factory is built at Crewe in Cheshire. Aircraft engines are the focus due to the war.
• 1947, all Silver Wraith models had bodies created by coachbuilders.
• 1949, Silver Dawn models were steel bodies, a first for Rolls-Royce.
• 1950, the Phantom IV is released and it becomes one of the rarest Rolls-Royce models in the world because only eighteen were built. That same year, it was ordered by the HRH Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh, which broke the tradition of the English Royal Family riding in Daimler cars.
• 1955, the new Silver Cloud could travel as fast as one-hundred and six mph.
• 1965, a movie was released called “The Yellow Rolls-Royce” starring Omar Sharif, Ingrid Bergman, Rex Harrison, and a yellow Barker-bodied Phantom II.
• 1965, John Lennon took delivery of his Phantom V in white but had it repainted in a bright yellow with Steve Weaver's pattern of scroll and flowers commissioned by coachbuilder J.P. Fallon Limited. In addition to many other modifications, the back seat was changed into a double bed. In 1985, the car was auctioned for close to two-point-three million dollars ($2,299,000 US). At the time, it was the most expensive car in the world.
• 1971, the company goes into receivership and is divided into two parts, one for the aero division, and a new car company called Rolls-Royce Motors Limited.
• 1985, Vickers P.L.C. buys the company and changes the name to Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited.
• 1998, Rolls-Royce and Bentley are bought by Volkswagen.
• 2002, production ends at Crewe for Rolls-Royce, and BMW Group buys the rights to produce Rolls-Royce cars.
• Cars are now built in the plant in the Sussex Downs at Goodwood.

Models and Years Introduced:

• 1907 Silver Ghost
• 1922 20 HP (baby Rolls-Royce)
• 1925 New Phantom – Phantom I
• 1929 Phantom II Continental
• 1936 Phantom III
• 1947 Silver Wraith
• 1947 Silver Wraith LWB Touring Limo Franay-Chapron
• 1949 Silver Dawn
• 1950 Phantom IV – rarest in the world
• 1955 Silver Cloud I
• 1959 Phantom V and VI
• 1959 Silver Cloud II
• 1963 Silver Cloud III
• 1965 Silver Shadow I
• 1975 Camargue
• 1977 Silver Wraith II
• 1977 Silver Shadow II
• 1980 Silver Spur
• 1980 Silver Spirit
• 1985 Silver Spur Centenary
• 1998 Silver Seraph
• 1999 Corniche
• 2007 Drophead Coupé
• 2007 Phantom Silver Commemorative Edition - 100th anniversary of Silver Ghost
• 2008 Phantom Coupé
• 2011 Ghost (shown to the public in 2009)