When was rolls royce invented

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Service: 8am-5pm. Parts: 8am-5pm. Look for this link on your favorites: Save. In the early s, however, a six-cylinder engine was not impressive, not even one built by Rolls-Royce.

American automakers were offering eight-, and cylinder engines, and the competition in the U. Though it seemed to fly in the face of logic, Packard, Cadillac, Lincoln, Auburn, Pierce-Arrow and Franklin all had introduced cylinder engines. Cadillac and Marmon had even debuted cylinder models, the latter failing in In Europe, Hispano-Suiza had introduced the cylinder J12, and Rolls-Royce with its inline six, was simply no match on either continent. This was an entirely new Phantom, from the inch wheelbase chassis and General Motors-type independent front suspension, to the massive overhead valve V12 engine displacing The Rolls-Royce twelve delivered up to horsepower at rpm and could easily take a full-bodied town car up to 85mph.

Later models with overdrive were capable of nearly mph in top gear, making this the fastest and—thanks to the improved suspension—best-handling Phantom ever built. It was also to be the least produced prewar model, with total deliveries ending at the th chassis in When Great Britain went to war in , the Rolls-Royce Company was asked to turn its efforts to the manufacturing of aero engines.

The company decided to design its own range of engines to be named after birds of prey, such as Eagle, Falcon and Condor. It was not long before Rolls-Royce aero engines enjoyed the same reputation for excellence as their automobiles. Motorcar chassis production did not cease completely; as the War Office needed armored cars, staff cars and ambulances.

The armored cars were particularly successful, even seeing service during World War II. Lawrence Lawrence of Arabia made dramatic use of the Rolls-Royce armored car. Not withstanding all the rough work they have done there has been no engine breakdown. The cars have run over thousands of miles of roughest desert and the complete absence of engine trouble is a triumph for British workmanship. The feat was largely credited to Rolls-Royce.

Following WWI Rolls-Royce resumed motorcar production with the Silver Ghost, but also introduced a new, smaller, owner-driver car, the 20hp. It was developed and put into production alongside its larger sister in Although costing 40 percent less than the Ghost, it met the same exacting standards of design, materials and workmanship. In , the Twenty and the Phantom I were both replaced. Superb coachwork with modern styling was now available and Royce decided on a lightweight sporting body, which Ivan Evenden designed, and Barkers of London built.

This car became the forerunner of the legendary Phantom II Continentals. The introduction of the Phantom II, only four years after the Phantom I, was prompted by increasing competition from other manufacturers, particularly Buick in the U. At the same time the Phantom II was introduced, the little 20hp had an engine enlargement from 3. However, there was still a gap in the market that Rolls-Royce wished to exploit, which was for the more rakish, sporting car.

An opportunity came in , when Bentley Motors went into liquidation. Never a financially sound company, Bentley was known for making fast and stylish cars, able to race and beat the best that the rest of the world could offer. Rolls-Royce acquired the assets of the company and, in , used the name on a car of their own design, the 3. Until its recent acquisition by Volkswagen, Bentley remained a part of Rolls-Royce, and for the first time in more than 70 years, has become an independent marque.

Rolls-Royce itself is now owned by BMW, although the cars are still built in the Rolls-Royce factories in England by many of the same craftsmen and sons of those craftsmen, who have seen to the construction of Rolls-Royce motorcars for decades. Further chassis improvements resulted in the Rolls-Royce Wraith, another spirited name. Development of these two independently sprung cars, however, was cut short by the start of World War II in Very few cars were completed in , with production concentrated on aero engines, and also their variants for use in tanks and to power vessels such as torpedo boats.

Although Derby remained the hub of production, a new factory was built at Crewe. A total of , Merlin engines were produced. When peace returned to Britain in , the Derby factory continued with aircraft engine production, by now with jets such as Derwent, Avon, Dart, Tyne, Conway and Spey. Motorcar production, meanwhile, began at the Crewe factory, where it remained until the new Rolls-Royce factory was recently opened at Goodwood.

After World War II, Rolls-Royce management realized that the company would have to abandon the bespoke nature of its products and fall into line with other manufacturers in the postwar era. This meant designing a pressed steel body and taking responsibility for the manufacture of a complete car, rather than merely the chassis, which up to this time had been fitted with custom-made coachwork. When Silver Dawn came on the scene, it was the first Rolls-Royce sold with a standard steel body.

Rolls-Royce replaced Daimler as the preferred motor car supplier to the British monarchy in the early s. Phantom IV is one of the rarest Rolls-Royce motor cars in the world, with only 18 ever built and was designed exclusively for royalty and heads of state, By the late s, the Rolls-Royce Phantom V had arrived which was powered by a V8 engine - it was a huge success.

In the s, Rolls-Royce began to appeal to a new breed of owners. Actors, rock stars and celebrities chose the Rolls-Royce marque as a symbol of their success and wealth. Famously, John Lennon bought a Phantom V which left their factory with a plain white finish. Lennon though had it repainted in matt black before opting for an outlandish, colourful design. Today, Lennon's Phantom V is one of the most valuable items of pop memorabilia - ever.

Each Rolls-Royce motor car is now built by hand at their state-of-the-art manufacturing facility and headquarters in Goodwood, England. Goodwood was designed by architect Sir Nicholas Grimshaw and merges effortlessly into the beautiful West Sussex countryside.

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