Great Cars: ROLLS ROYCE

from the day the first roll voice left the factory it's been the choice of people who wanted to buy the finest cars in the world the early rolls were bought by people at the sinneth of their careers they agreed with a founders motto that quality remains long after the prices forgotten today the company is trying to restore the magical status of the legendary brand Rolls Royce [Music] status what is it but how is it attained there's contemporary status the kind that comes quickly and is associated with fashion popular culture and fads then there's enduring status the kind that has stood the test of time a kind of status that is earned by delivering exceptional products over and over this is the kind of status that turned rolls-royce into the benchmark of quality [Music] to understand how rolls-royce achieved this reputation we need to go back to the beginning at the turn of the 20th century the automobile was strictly for the wealthy people like Charles rolls a well-educated aristocrat were bitten by the auto bug rolls earned a reputation as an auto racer and opened a dealership in London unhappy with the foreign cars he sold he searched for a high quality British vehicle to race and sell one of his friends told him about such a car a car being built by Henry Royce unlike Rolls Henry Royce wasn't born wealthy in fact he worked his way out of poverty this self-taught engineer gained a reputation for building extremely reliable generators that were made to last his company branched out and built lamps electric motors cranes and even doorbells everything he built was acclaimed for its reliability and durability like rolls-royce was irritated by the poor quality of cars of the day he was certain he could build something better he worked for months developing his first car often scrapping different components he wanted nothing less than the best it was ready to be tested on April 1st 1904 this was no April Fool's joke it was so quiet and well built that some called it perfect the mutual friend Henry Edmonds told rolls about this remarkable new car he suggested he drive it and meet the man who'd built it Royce said he was too busy to go to London so a meeting was set up at the Grand Hotel in Manchester after lunch rolls took the Roy's car for a trial run it wasn't a fancy car but it was quiet and ran smoothly he was quickly convinced that this was a car he'd be proud to put his name on rolls signed an exclusive deal with Royce CS rolls and company will take all the motor cars voiced limited can produce and Royce will build all the cars that rolls can sell soon Royce was producing rolls-royce motor cars Rose promoted the car's reliability to his friends but the company needed someone with a combination of flair and good business sense to make it commercially viable Claud Johnson afterward known as the - in rolls-royce knew how to create the right impression for the cars since most wealthy motorists travelled with their maids ballets and chauffeurs they needed a large and powerful car to haul this entourage Johnson convinced roles and Royce to build such a car for the 1907 Olympia Motor Show in London this became the most famous rolls-royce ever produced to stand out it was painted silver and all the metal pieces were nickel-plated its colour and quiet engine earned it the name the Silver Ghost to make a splash in the press Johnson entered the car in the Scottish reliability trial in June of 1907 after a grueling 2,000 mile trip the Royal Automobile Club inspected the car and found little sign of where an inspired Johnson up to the stakes and staged a fifteen thousand mile four-month long non-stop test for the Silver Ghost this was twice as long as the then 7,000 mile record at the Royal Auto Club but the RAC agreed to oversee this event and the car was off the Silver Ghost completed the 15,000 mile run was disassembled and inspected by the RAC a few minor parts were worn but total repairs would cost less than $10 the results astonished the press orders began to pour in and manufacturing began in earnest at Royce's little factory in Manchester it wasn't quite mass production only for chassés a week were built royce didn't want to turn out anything that wasn't as near perfect as possible collectors such as miller newman believed that the rolls-royce Silver Ghost is one of the finest automobiles ever produced Newman liked to take his ghosts on cross-country trips he often asked what other car could perform like this 80 or 90 years after being built Royce believed that to maintain high quality he had to concentrate on producing just one model well instead of trying to do several in a mediocre way this strategy paid off that in 1908 the company moved to a larger Factory in da B Napier its chief rival in the luxury market was soon eclipsed Rolls Royce had climbed to the top of the automotive mountain but Charles wanted to go higher he wanted to fly he became an accomplished aviator and was the first pilot to cross the English Channel twice in a non-stop flight Royce didn't share roses enthusiasm for flying he thought he was too dangerous he refused to build aircraft engines undeterred by his partner's apprehensions roles continued his flying exploits in the summer of nineteen ten while taking part in a lending contest roles sadly had the dubious distinction of being the first Englishman to be killed in an aircraft accident his death was a blow to the company it heartened Royces feelings about aviation that same year the company asked Claude Johnson to combat the spread of inappropriate hood ornaments [Music] he commissioned a sculpture Charles Sykes to create a standard mascot for rolls-royce he'd created the Whisperer for a friend's rolls and Johnson liked it it's thought that Sykes was using Eleanor Thornton the secretary and purported mistress of Lord Montague as his model the new statuette was called the Spirit of Ecstasy this stylish nymph landing on the radiator has adorned the prow of almost every rolls-royce since then while Eleanor was immortalized in art her life took a tragic turn the German submarine sent a torpedo into the ship she and Lord Montague were on it sank and she died as the world careened into the first world war it became clear to Royce that motorized transport would play a larger combat role than ever before rolls-royce made it shatters available for staff cars and ambulances and mechanized armored vehicles the silver ghosts were capable of reaching 50 miles per hour even with a full combat load that nearly doubled his civilian weight te Lawrence or Lawrence of Arabia was the most famous driver an admirer of the rose armored vehicle during the first war he attributed his success in desert warfare to his rolls-royce fleet which covered thousands of miles without any technical problems a triumph of British workmanship said The Times newspaper Lawrence said a rolls in the desert was above rubies as rolls-royce cars were making a difference on the ground Royce was being asked to reconsider his opposition to building aero engines he relented only after winning assurances that he'd be allowed to develop an engine that would ensure that the pilots were given every opportunity to fly home the resulting Eagle engines were so reliable that even after the ignition system or the cooling system was shot out by enemy gunfire the planes would fly [Music] when the war ended the factory pulled out a chassis it had stashed away and began to develop a new car by 1922 the so called baby rolls was ready for motorists who wanted a smaller car to drive without a chauffeur the engine's basic proportions provided rolls-royce with its powerplant for the next 37 years until 1959 the company still wanted to compete in the large luxury car market so it introduced the Phantom in 1925 the new car was built on the silver ghost chassis but had a new engine its best feature was hydraulic shock absorbers many thought it didn't go far enough at the same time Rolls Royce set up a factory in the United States Claude Johnson thought that buyers would welcome the chance to bypass the heavy import duties and have a quicker delivery the cars were popular with movie stars like Charlie Chaplin Al Jolson and Norma Shearer and with society types but the factory never sold more than 300 cars a year not enough to keep the doors opened back home Royce recognized that he needed to update the Phantom and he released the Phantom 2 in 1929 a lower chassis and new gearbox allowed the cars to have longer hoods that created a distinctive graceful look these cars attracted buyers like actress constance bennett who wanted stylish automobiles good morning everyone she always wanted to be ready for her close-up and took being beautiful seriously her phantom too had built-in light hid vanity mirrors complete with perfume atomizers and cones the perfect accessories to take on your way to a movie premiere unfortunately her son also liked her car he borrowed it one night and drove it off the Santa Monica Pier it was fished out of the ocean and put in storage years later JB Nethercutt the heir to the Merrill Norman cosmetic company bought the car and had it restored today it's one of the centerpieces to his museums outstanding collection of beautiful cars in Soma California Royce was still interested in growing his company in 1931 Walter Bentley's company was put into receivership Royce slyly pounced and outbid his rifle napier the legendary manufacturer of racing Bentley's and sporting road cars now belonged to rolls-royce by 1933 Royce had transformed her dream funded with 70 pounds of his savings into a car company known around the world the years of 18-hour days sometimes longer and the relentless pursuit of quality had worn him out his health failed and in April of 1933 he died his commitment to build only the best was his legacy it's reported that the designers and engineers would dismiss something by saying that would not do for Henry Royce this outlook underscored the development of the company's cars and its ever-growing aviation engine business this eventually would dominate the company from the 1920s through the 30s rolls-royce worked on developing high powered aero engines that consistently won international Street contests the Supermarine engine set new world speed records in the air misson tvind captured one on the water and Malcom Campbell's Bluebird on land by the end of the decade rolls-royce engines held speed records on land sea and in the air when they weren't setting records the company's engineers were working on introducing a new car model the phantom 3 released in 1936 this car had more speed independent front suspension that gave it a smoother ride a synchromesh transmission and a new chassis that allowed the bodies to sit lower power came from a new engine which benefited from the company's aviation work the only cars that could compete for the phantom3 were top-of-the-line Mercedes Packard's and Cadillacs which actually had more creature comforts the car had some mechanical shortcomings but there was no time to introduce fixes by September of 1939 England and Germany were at war the company was ready to join the battle with a new aviation engine had been developing the Merlin it was hoped that this engine would provide an impenetrable shield for England like the one Merlin the legendary magician devised for King Arthur it was first put to the test in mid summer of 1940 when the German Air Force launched its assault the Battle of Britain had begun Hitler was confident that his Luftwaffe would quickly knock out the only obstacle to world conquest Britain his generals planned to first attack the Royal Air Force the RAF take control of the sea lanes and the channel and then launch an invasion he would then combine Germany's air and sea power with a Concord car ef-2 launched a coordinated attack with Japan on the United States the front line of defense was the Royal Air Force which was outnumbered ten to one in pilots and planes one advantage they had was the powerful Merlin engines in their Spitfire and hurricane fighters [Music] rolls-royce built two factories to make sure enough millions were there even if one factory was bombed men and for the first time women struggled to turn out Merlin's to push the look better back in the first four days of combat alone the Merlin powered planes downed a hundred and eighty two German aircraft when the enemy attacks the coastal defences and towns the RAF eliminated another 180 German planes Hitler was determined not to be stalled by this high-octane aerial onslaught he stepped up for the fight with nighttime bombing the RAF met the challenge and the rolls-royce workers kept building Merlin's as fast as they could [Music] as voice would have decreed these were engines that were able to return home even under the most extreme circumstances the Battle of Britain continued from July 1940 into the autumn over 1,700 German planes were shot down trying to make the British surrender after leveling thousands of homes and killing more than 23,000 men women and children Hitler gave up and turned his attention to another losing proposition the Eastern Front the milling powered planes headed off the invasion of Britain and some believed saved the free world like its namesake the rolls-royce Merlin had protected the realm when the war ended in 1945 rolls-royce shifted its resources toward commercial aviation with the development of a turboprop engine the dart which powered the famous Vickers bike out airliner [Music] the dart and the company's other pure jet engines became the largest part of rolls-royce post-war business as more money was pumped into aerospace work postwar car production was moved into the factory at Crewe which had been built to manufacture Merlin's while profits from the motorcar division were slim the caste status proved to be a great promotional tool for the aerospace division the people just felt better about getting on a plane with the rolls-royce logo on it to keep this valuable mystique alive the very costly and time-consuming handcrafting processes were always highlighted in company publicity and shown off to visitors to the factory they'd show that wooden inlays were fabricated from carefully chosen matched veneers then polished over and over until they gleaned it was said Roy Roy spent a fortune making his would look like plastic while Detroit tried to make its plastic look like wood only perfect leather hides from ranches without barbed wire that could mark the skins were used for the upholstery and the Spirit of Ecstasy was still hand finished to adorn every radiator except on the cars for export to Muslim countries this meticulous attention to detail helped the company maintain its position as the producer of the world's most prestigious luxury cars the silver clouds silver spirits and Silver Spurs had cachet but luxury models from Mercedes and even the Japanese began to woo buyers with speed comfort reliability and amenities that rolls-royce lacked [Music] unfortunately the aviation business had slipped and been spun off the car company could no longer rely on it for the massive investment needed to make it competitive with other luxury brands it was merged with Vickers in 1980 and foot on the block again in 1997 the quest to grab one of the most exalted brands in the world set off the war of intrigue among rival suitors BMWs winning bid was bested by a late offer by Volkswagen of six hundred and forty five million dollars as the world congratulated the victor the VW discovered it hadn't quite landed the prize the rolls-royce name and Double R logo were controlled by the old aviation business that had been split off and this company preferred BMW BMW rewarded their favor with a forty five million dollar payment for the trademark [Music] instead of the long court battle Volkswagen made a deal with BMW and kept Bentley in the crew factory while handing over rolls-royce to BMW three years later the first BMW designed at rolls-royce appeared in 2003 this v12 powered ultra luxury car was called the phantom many critics weren't taken with its styling they built only a thousand cars a year at a third of a million dollars economy the price that almost guarantees that a buyer won't often see someone else driving one the owners perish rare as the cars typically they're very well-heeled with an average annual income of 1 million dollars and liquid assets of at least 10 million excluding houses of which they often own 3 to 5 many also owned five or six other exotic expensive cars these are the people who buy into a brand that has made history Volkswagen also unveiled its new Bentley in 2003 a stunning sport touring model called the Continental GT while the renewed rivalry between rolls-royce and Bentley will never touch most people it's certainly fun to watch rolls-royce is a magical brand that has been turning heads for a hundred years to call something the rolls-royce of its kind is still the highest compliment that can be paid will the new owners keep Merlins magic alive and protect this symbol of quality time hotel [Music]

Channel: King Rose Archives

Views: 473,791

Rating: 4.8249998 out of 5

Keywords: Henry Royce, Charles Stewart Rolls, Luxury cars, British cars, BMW, aviation, speed records, WWII, Merlin Engine, Battle of Britain

Id: G_YpJHywGVE

Length: 25min 6sec (1506 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 17 2017