Rolls-Royce History

this is London England today this is London before the turn of the century at the dawn of the age of the film the radio the motorcar and the aeroplane change was everywhere to be seen no nation wrote Emerson was ever so rich enable men but at this time to able men came together to quietly influence that change in a single generation came the age of the motorcar the conquest of the air Marconi brought to Britain his first wireless transmitter and radio was born and so was the gramophone people talk to the bicycle even royalty at cows the speed limit was set by the new motorcar act it was twenty miles an hour and people forecast doom the American Wright brothers took to the air in 1903 and in 1904 the first performance of Peter Pan and the Edwardian Music Hall was ruled by George Roby with Houdini and Mary Lloyd and little ditch but now the horse was giving way to horsepower and the internal combustion engine another evolution and to able men were to influence that revolution the Honorable Charles rolls an aristocrat with a Cambridge Science degree an adventurer he took to the air in balloons and with equal Verve and skill he took to the racetrack he also had his own workshop but primarily he sold cars and he wanted to sell a British car the very best a close friend Henry Edmonds introduced rose to Royce Henry Royce had a tough life and started with nothing apprentice but largely self-taught he became a superb engineer working from cook Street in Manchester he bought a car a deck oval it was unreliable inefficient noisy and difficult so Royce built by hand a car of his own which was efficient mr. rails and mr. Royce came together and made their first motorcar the man known as the - in Rolls Royce Claud Johnson joined them they built cars quality cars from this new Derby production line came the Silver Ghost hand-built with craft and skill and care rice reckoned it to be the best thing he'd ever done the 6-cylinder engine as silent as a sewing machine and the bright work silver plated that was Claude Johnson's idea he was a great man of promoting the new car and the world's press declared it the best car in the world motorists and fliers together the Wright brothers and rolls and it was in the air that tragedy struck roles in his early thirties when flying his own plane at Bournemouth he was killed in an Rice's health breakdown but his genius was too much to lose and he continued his work from his sickbed in the country the Silver Ghost became sought-after by the legend classes and they made the rolls-royce car part of the social scene but the ghosts put on armor in 1914 for World War one and it took to the desert so perfect so reliable at ramp for British workmanship said the legendary Lawrence of Arabia and it went to the front in France with the king two aircraft engines Henry Royce applied the same exacting standards they powered aircraft and airships and the aero engines like the cars earned a great reputation trustworthy where the rolls-royce eagle eights that powered or cockin brown's vickers vimy on the first direct crossing of the North Atlantic in 1919 Wahl gave way to peace the Charlestown was the new dance the Rell's Royce Silver Ghost gave way to the Phantom its reliability and efficiency the unquestioned qualities of rolls-royce cars made it sought-after round the world Rolls Royce on the ground but still in the air powering the great airship are a hundred with six condor engines roaring into the thirties at Brooklands motorcars took to the track at ever increasing speeds among them the Bentley's was a time of technical innovation meanwhile a new rolls-royce aero engine was developed which powered among other machines the Supermarine seaplanes which won outright for Britain the schneider trophy it was to turn out to be an important development it was almost to win a war the same engine was used by quedan in setting a new water speed record in Miss England the same engine was used by Sir Malcolm Campbell setting a new land speed record only occasionally did Henry Royce leave his country house he was knighted for his contribution to engine design and he became Sir Henry Frederick Royce and honour richly deserved he always called himself a mechanic he was however more a great engineering craftsman newspaper boy apprentice mechanic self-taught electrical engineer motor car maker aero engine designer he set the standards which still pertained to this day Sir Frederick Henry Royce died in 1933 he had started a tradition nothing changed the phantom range continued the phantom 2 and this the phantom 3 rails rice made the engine and chassis and many coachbuilders match the quality with beautiful hand-built kochwebb today only one fan Mulliner Park ward part of rolls-royce motors is trusted to produce the fine coach work for some of the models once more walk a September 1939 and Rolls Royce went powered most of the Royal Air Force planes the Spitfires and hurricanes with rolls-royce murders the factories of Britain worked throughout the day at night these engines were at the very heart of Britain's war machine that rolls-royce development in the twenties and thirties which one speed records would now in the forties be playing its part winning a war trustworthy reliable efficient powerful they had to be rolls-royce would at work in every service for airmen sailors and generals peace came again and people's minds and efforts now changed direction rolls-royce car production moved to the outskirts of Crewe in a corner of Cheshire using the Bentley the Silver Wraith the silver dawn which in 1949 was the first complete rolls-royce to be built under one roof and then the Silver Cloud in 1965 the new masterpiece the silver shadow it takes three patient painstaking months to build one of these cars 80,000 parts go into the manufacture of these machines modern technology hand in hand with craftsmanship skilled fingers install the complex electrical system which moves everything from the seat to the unique gear selector to supreme engineering design is added the traditional standards and quality of workmanship all his working life this man has assembled the classic radiator grille but is it the best way to do it that's the way mr. Dyson have your net and these will end up hand polished on top of that radiator the Spirit of Ecstasy emerging from the mold no they're not made of silver each car is tested in monsoon weather conditions no leaks no seepage every engine installed the rolls-royce way with care it will be tuned inspected tested at every stage and from each batch at random one is taken and run and stripped right down to the last nut boat washer and component how many do they strip one in every home would you take it right down yeah how would you describe a rolls-royce engines the best in the world the same meticulous ear and eye to detail right down to the woodwork it's all real from trees not a plastic mold but rot trees Californian Persian and India basically BRE it's still all put together by hand I see yes we fit all our wood by hand you know there's no automation at all um each bit is cut with loving care and fixed with loving care and the Lud's the fix-it they take a terrific pride in their work real craftsmen real trusted without a doubt painstaking attention to every detail even the ashtrays are hand finished by a craftsman dedicated to his work but would you ever use one does he even smoke no not now hand-rolled as yet never faster than five miles an hour as it makes its way to completion skilled tradition and modern technology have gone into its making the crew craftsmen keep up the high standards that owners have come to expect cars 30 40 50 years old and more become collectors items and on occasions such as this come together they seldom go to waste more than half the cars ever produced by Rolls Royce are still on the road today they are symbols of a modern trend of conservation an investment for quality and reliability British craftsmen have produced something special exceptional unbeatable this car is a Silver Ghost it was made in England in 1914 and is one of many which were sent in those early days to America the body was made by Brewster of New York and is called Salamanca she's one of the most reliable ghosts as I've owned not that there's any unreliable guess they're all reliable and that's what every owner has come to expect of his engine or his car cars for royalty the aristocracy and Mao Rogers the Rolls Royce custom built by craftsmen for any country any owner when you sit in a rose you're sitting on the back of a real first-class terabit whereas the yellow car you sort of sitting there on the first class working hunter know there's there's something about queen Deutschland oil soy sand the wine stout disease I think the magic of Rolls Royces it is there's nothing else like it the rolls-royce magic is something similar like the English Way of life the most beautiful car it's just like a sitting an aeroplane it's fantastic kings and queens right in them so did Lenin since the Silver Shadow was introduced it's never been changed for changes sake only when improvements could improve its comfort or performance improved comfort and performance are now incorporated in the new silver shadow the silver shadow tool here in Scotland everything that rolls-royce has learned over the past three quarters of a century has gone into the building of this car advanced engineering at its very best among the improvements twin exhausts revised front suspension a new steering system improved road-holding making road wearing us a thing of the past the Fisher is redesigned a new electronic speedometer a battery of warning lights an entirely new air conditioning system dual level fully automatic with finger control override all come together in the silver shadow to a car which bears the hallmark of the traditional rolls-royce quality and comfort technical innovation superb engineering design a piece of history it's a car which like those before it will be at home anywhere here in the setting of the Highlands of Scotland or elsewhere in the world you you history and tradition this castle at Edinburgh is part of the British heritage so in its way is this Motyka Britain home of the Industrial Revolution of invention of Engineers of craftsmanship still today is home of another quiet revolution one that's been going on for over 70 years this rolls-royce is part of it a part of Britain's history

Channel: King Rose Archives

Views: 116,671

Rating: 4.846561 out of 5

Keywords: Sir Henry Rolls, Rolls-Royce, Luxury Vehicle (Automotive Class), Sir Malcolm Campbell, Bluebird, Land Speed Record, Schneider Trophy, Merlin engine, Crewe (City/Town/Village), Derby (City/Town/Village), Automobile (Industry)

Id: _cghjyi8flg

Length: 19min 53sec (1193 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 25 2014