Rolls-Royce Limited

For the present day companies see Rolls-Royce plc (Aero Engines etc) and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. For other uses, see Rolls-Royce (disambiguation).

Rolls-Royce Limited

Industry	Automotive & Aerospace
Founded	1906
Founder	Charles Rolls and Henry Royce
Defunct	1987
Fate	Nationalised / split in 1973, and privatised in 1987 as Rolls-Royce plc
Successor	Rolls-Royce plc (1987) Rolls-Royce Motors (1973) demerged
Headquarters	Derby, England, United Kingdom

Rolls-Royce Limited was a renowned British car and, from 1914 on, aero-engine manufacturing company founded by Charles Stewart Rolls and Henry Royce on 15 March 1906 as the result of a partnership formed in 1904.

In 1971, Rolls-Royce was crippled by the development of the advanced RB211 jet engine, resulting in the nationalisation of the company as Rolls-Royce (1971) Limited. In 1973, the car division was separated from the parent company as Rolls-Royce Motors. Rolls-Royce (1971) Limited continued as a nationalised company until it was privatised in 1987 as Rolls-Royce plc.

History

1911 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Tourer

1923 Rolls-Royce Springfield Silver Ghost Oxford Tourer

Rolls-Royce Saloon

Rolls-Royce Limousine

Rolls-Royce 1936

Rolls-Royce 25/30 Limousine 1936

Rolls-Royce 25/30 Drophead Coupé 1937

Rolls-Royce Limousine

One of the first postwar Rolls-Royce models (1947)

1947 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith Inskip Cabriolet

1955 Silver Wraith

1956 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud I Saloon

In 1884, Henry Royce started an electrical and mechanical business. He made his first car, a two-cylinder Royce 10, in his Manchester factory in 1904, and was introduced to Charles Rolls at the Midland Hotel in Manchester on 4 May of that year. Rolls was proprietor of an early motor car dealership, C.S.Rolls & Co. in Fulham.

In spite of his preference for three or four cylinder cars, Rolls was impressed with the Royce 10, and in a subsequent agreement of 23 December 1904 agreed to take all the cars Royce could make. There would be four models:

• a 10 hp (7.5 kW), two-cylinder model selling at £395 (£ as of 2024),
• a 15 hp (11 kW) three-cylinder at £500 (£ as of 2024),
• a 20 hp (15 kW) four-cylinder at £650 (£ as of 2024),
• a 30 hp (22 kW) six-cylinder model priced at £890 (£ as of 2024),

All would be badged as Rolls-Royces, and be sold exclusively by Rolls. The first Rolls-Royce car, the Rolls-Royce 10 hp, was unveiled at the Paris Salon in December 1904.

Rolls-Royce Limited was formed on 15 March 1906, by which time it was apparent that new premises were required for production of cars. After considering sites in Manchester, Coventry, Bradford and Leicester, it was an offer from Derby's council of cheap electricity that resulted in the decision to acquire a 12.7 acres (51,000 m²) site on the southern edge of that city. The new factory was largely designed by Royce, and production began in early 1908, with a formal opening on 9 July 1908 by Sir John Montagu. The investment in the new company required further capital to be raised, and on 6 December 1906 GBP 100,000 (£ as of 2024), of new shares were offered to the public. In 1907, Rolls-Royce bought out C.S. Rolls & Co. (The non-motor car interests of Royce Ltd. continued to operate separately.)

During 1906 Royce had been developing an improved six cylinder model with more power than the 30hp. Initially designated the 40/50 hp, this was the company's first all-new model. In March 1908 Claude Johnson, Commercial Managing Director and sometimes described as the hyphen in Rolls-Royce, succeeded in persuading Royce and the other directors that Rolls-Royce should concentrate exclusively on the new model, and all the earlier models were duly discontinued. Later renamed the Silver Ghost, the new car was responsible for the company's early reputation with over 6,000 built. In 1921, the company opened a second factory in Springfield, Massachusetts in the United States (to help meet demand), where a further 1,701 "Springfield Ghosts" were built. This factory operated for 10 years, closing in 1931. Its chassis was used as a basis for the first British armoured car used in both world wars.

After the First World War, Rolls-Royce successfully avoided attempts to encourage the British car manufacturers to merge. Faced with falling sales of the Silver Ghost caused by the deteriorating economic situation, the company introduced the smaller, cheaper Twenty in 1922, effectively ending the one-model policy followed since 1908.

In 1931, the company acquired rival car maker Bentley, whose finances were unable to weather the Great Depression. From then until 2002, Bentley and Rolls-Royce cars were often identical apart from the radiator grille and minor details.

In 1933, the colour of the Rolls-Royce radiator monogram was changed from red to black because the red sometimes clashed with the coachwork colour selected by clients, and not as a mark of respect for the passing of Royce as is commonly stated.

Rolls-Royce and Bentley car production moved to Crewe in 1946, and also to Mulliner Park Ward, London, in 1959, as the company started to build bodies for its cars for the first time: previously it had built only the chassis, leaving the bodies to specialist coachbuilders.

Cars

• 1904–06 10 hp
• 1905–05 15 hp
• 1905–08 20 hp
• 1905–06 30 hp
• 1905–06 V-8
• 1906–25 40/50 Silver Ghost
• 1922–29 Twenty
• 1925–29 40/50 Phantom
• 1929–36 20/25
• 1929–35 Phantom II
• 1936–38 25/30
• 1936–39 Phantom III
• 1938–39 Wraith
• 1946–59 Silver Wraith
• 1949–55 Silver Dawn
• 1950–56 Phantom IV
• 1955–65 Silver Cloud
• 1959–68 Phantom V
• 1968–92 Phantom VI
• 1965–80 Silver Shadow
• 1980–98 Silver Spirit
• 1998–2002 Silver Seraph

The next Rolls-Royce model, the Rolls-Royce Phantom was built by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.

Bentley Models (from 1933)

• 1933–37 Bentley 3½ L
• 1936–39 Bentley 4¼ L
• 1939–41 Bentley Mark V

Aircraft

• Rolls-Royce Thrust Measuring Rig

Aero engines

See also: Rolls-Royce Aircraft Piston Engines

In 1907 Charles Rolls, whose interests had turned increasingly to flying, tried unsuccessfully to persuade Royce and the other directors to design an aero engine. When World War I broke out in August 1914 Rolls-Royce (and many others) were taken by surprise. As a manufacturer of luxury cars, the company was immediately vulnerable, and Claude Johnson thought the bank would withdraw its overdraft facility on which Rolls-Royce depended at that time. Nevertheless, believing that war was likely to be short-lived the directors initially decided not to seek government work making aero engines. However, this position was quickly reversed and the company was persuaded by the War Office to manufacture fifty air-cooled V8 engines under licence from Renault. Meanwhile, the Royal Aircraft Factory asked Rolls-Royce to design a new 200 hp (150 kW) engine. Despite initial reluctance they agreed, and during 1915 developed the company's first aero engine, the twelve-cylinder Eagle. This was quickly followed by the smaller six-cylinder Hawk, the 190 hp (140 kW) Falcon and, just before the end of the war, the larger 675 hp (503 kW) Condor.

Throughout World War I, Rolls-Royce struggled to build aero engines in the quantities required by the War Office. However, with the exception of Brazil Straker in Bristol the company resisted pressure to licence production to other manufacturers, fearing that the engines' much admired quality and reliability would risk being compromised. Instead the Derby factory was extended to enable Rolls-Royce to increase its own production rates.

Around half the aircraft engines used by the Allies in World War I were made by Rolls-Royce. By the late 1920s, aero engines made up most of Rolls-Royce's business.

Henry Royce's last design was the Merlin aero engine, which came out in 1935, although he had died in 1933. This was developed from the R engine, which had powered a record-breaking Supermarine S.6B seaplane to almost 400 mph (640 km/h) in the 1931 Schneider Trophy. The Merlin was a powerful supercharged V12 engine and was fitted into many World War II aircraft: the British Hawker Hurricane, Supermarine Spitfire, de Havilland Mosquito (twin-engine), Avro Lancaster (four-engine) (developed from the Avro Manchester (twin)), Vickers Wellington (twin-engine); it also transformed the American P-51 Mustang into a competitor for the best fighter of its time, its engine a Merlin engine built by Packard under licence. Over 160,000 Merlin engines were produced, including over 30,000 by the Ford Motor Company at Trafford Park, Manchester. The Merlin crossed over into military land vehicle use as the Meteor powering the Centurion tank among others. Many Meteor engines used engine blocks and parts that failed requirements for high performance engines, but were suitable for use in the derated 650hp Meteor

The Rolls-Royce Nene Avro Lancastrian test bed demonstrating in 1954 with the two Merlins feathered

Rolls-Royce came into jet turbines through an exchange of assets with Rover and in the post-World War II period Rolls-Royce made significant advances in gas turbine engine design and manufacture. The Dart and Tyne turboprop engines were particularly important, enabling airlines to cut times for shorter journeys whilst jet airliners were introduced on longer services. The Dart engine was used in Argosy, Avro 748, Friendship, Herald and Viscount aircraft, whilst the more powerful Tyne powered the Atlantique, C-160 and Vanguard, and the SR.N4 hovercraft. Many of these turboprops are still in service.

Amongst the jet engines of this period was the RB163 Spey, which powers the Hawker Siddeley Trident, BAC One-Eleven, Grumman Gulfstream II and Fokker F28.

During the late 1950s and 1960s there was a significant rationalisation of all aspects of British aerospace and this included aero-engine manufacturers. In 1966 Rolls-Royce acquired Bristol Siddeley (which had resulted from the merger of Armstrong Siddeley and Bristol Aero Engines in 1959) and incorporated it as the Bristol Siddeley division. Bristol Siddeley, with its principal factory at Filton, near Bristol, had a strong base in military engines, including the Olympus, Viper, Pegasus and Orpheus. They were also manufacturing the Olympus 593 Mk610 to be used in Concorde in collaboration with SNECMA. They also had a turbofan project with SNECMA

Leavesden Aerodrome Watford was originally owned by the Ministry of Defence and used during World War II for the manufacture of Mosquito and Halifax aircraft. For a number of years, Rolls-Royce used the site for the manufacture of helicopter engines until the site closed in June 1993. The former Rolls-Royce factory at Watford is now known as the Leavesden Film Studios and has produced world famous films such as James Bond, Star Wars and Harry Potter.

Diesel engines

Rolls-Royce started to produce diesel engines in 1951. Initially, these were intended for heavy tractors and earth-movers but, later, they were installed in lorries (e.g. Scammell), railcars, diesel multiple units and Sentinel shunting locomotives. Rolls-Royce took over Sentinel's Shrewsbury factory for diesel engine production in 1956. The Rolls-Royce diesel business was acquired by Perkins in the 1980s.

Torque converters

The railcar engines were often used with Twin Disc torque converters which were built by Rolls-Royce under licence from Twin Disc of the USA. "Twin Disc" is the name of the company (which originally manufactured friction clutches) and does not describe the construction of the torque converter.

Nationalisation

Financial problems caused largely by development of the new RB211 turbofan engine led — after several cash subsidies — to the company being nationalised by the Heath government in 1971. (Delay in production of the RB211 engine has been blamed for the failure of the technically advanced Lockheed TriStar, which was beaten to launch by its chief competitor, the Douglas DC-10.)

In 1973 the motor car business was spun off as a separate entity, Rolls-Royce Motors. The main business of aircraft and marine engines remained in public ownership until 1987, when it was privatised as Rolls-Royce plc, one of many privatisations of the Thatcher government.

Rolls-Royce of America

Rolls-Royce of America Inc. was formed by Rolls-Royce to meet the massive and growing U.S. car market by building a plant in Springfield, Massachusetts. Their first chassis was completed in 1921.

• The Phantom I produced by the Springfield plant was superior in regards to its more elegantly proportioned and well-engineered coachwork. This was most likely because the coachbuilding was provided by Rolls-Royce Custom Coachwork, and later by Brewster & Co. at the Brewster Building in Long Island City, New York.

• The Silver Spur Springfield Edition was made to commemorate the original Rolls-Royce of America plant's 75th anniversary.

External links

• Video (RT 09:51) Review of 1958 Silver Cloud I.
• Fine examples of Rolls-Royce vehicles on display at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu