Riding the Waves of History: Rolls-Royce's Growth. Brand history: Rolls-Royce Where Rolls-Royce is made

19.06.2019

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(Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd).

Rolls Royce in the form in which we know the brand today, was created under the huge influence of its founders. In fact, all stages of the company's activities were laid down by Charles Stuart Rolls and Frederick Henry Royce. They have not been childhood buddies, as is often the case when two young people start their own businesses. Moreover, they were representatives of completely different, if not opposite, sections of society. But their union gave life to luxury car XX century.

Frederic Royce was born 27 Martha 1863 . In his early years, he still could not dream that in the future he would become a very rich and respected person. Frederick was born in Alvator, Lincolnshire. His father was a miller, but not at all for a long time because it went bankrupt very quickly. Poverty led to the fact that already at the age of 10, Frederick found his first job - what he didn’t do at that time! Young Royce earned everything from delivering newspapers and telegrams to working on the railroad.

However, early work absolutely did not discourage Frederick from studying. They understood that his future depended entirely on how good knowledge he would have. And therefore, after hours, Royce studied foreign languages, mathematics and the basics of electrical engineering. It was the latter discipline that particularly attracted him. The boy was clearly an engineer's mind. Besides, similar work gave him real pleasure.

The first job associated with the capture of Frederick was a position in the company of Hiram Maxim, famous for the famous machine gun, named after the author. Royce liked the job, but his real dream had his own company, and therefore from the very first months he began to save money, which should have been the start-up capital of his future company.

And such a company as a result was born together with his friend Frederick founded FH Royce & Co. in Manchester.

Things were slowly gaining momentum. The key moment in this story was 1903, when Royce purchased his first car. French Decauville. The car was terrible. She had many technical problems that pissed off Frederick. The engineer in his soul was indignant. All this resulted in the fact that he decided to design his car, which will completely suit him and far exceed the Decauville.

Well, it was obvious that Frederick had engineering genius, because exactly one year later he really introduced his first car. He was head and shoulders above everything french cars, and received very favorable reviews in the press. Royce's brainchild had excellent running characteristics, a high degree reliability, and at the same time it costs quite reasonable money - 395 pounds. Of course, at that time it was a lot of money, but not the kind that will be required to buy Rolls-Royce after a while.

The legendary Rolls-Royce company was registered on March 15, 1906. However, the idea of the enterprise was born at the Midland Hotel in Manchester on May 1, 1904. On this day, Charles Rolls met - a racer who started his business by selling British aristocrats cars from the continent, and Henry Royce, a designer and manufacturer of electric motors and cranes, who was dissatisfied with the cars sold and dreamed of developing - "a car beyond all criticism."

The joint company for the production and sale of cars was called Rolls-Royce. Moreover, Rolls took over the commercial part, and the production and technical side of the matter fell on Royce. The ambitions of the young aristocrat stretched so far that he set himself the goal of producing the best cars in the world.

The true birth of the legendary brand took place in
in the same 1906 at the London Olympia Motor Show, when Rolls-Royce introduced the first Rolls-Royce 40/50 HP chassis under serial number 60551. The new model did not repeat its predecessors in any way. The sale of 40/50 HP began in 1907. And since the Rolls-Royce factory didn't manufacture bodies until World War II, they were made by body shops to the customer's own order - giving rise to a huge number of Rolls-Royce variants with a single chassis.

The 40/50 HP chassis itself cost £985 without bodywork. Approximately the same price cost the client a no less luxurious body, produced by eminent workshops, such as: Hooper, Barker, Park Ward, Thrupp & Maberly, H.J. Mulliner and others Soon this car was given an unusual name - "Silver Ghost" (Silver Spirit). The car owes this name to the silver-plated exterior parts of one of the first samples and an extremely quiet engine. According to legend, the most loud sound there was the ticking of a clock in the cabin.

The car could reach speeds of up to 150 km / h - an indicator inaccessible to many sports models that time. "Silver Ghost" has become perhaps the most famous car in the world. Already in 1907, the creators advertised it as "the best car in the world." The emblem of the Rolls-Royce company, which has become one of the most prestigious in the world, appeared in 1907. One legend says that Royce saw the RR logo on a tablecloth in a restaurant and decided to buy the tablecloth. At first, the letters RR of the emblem were red, but in 1930 they began to be made in black.

Another integral attribute of Rolls-Royce cars is the Spirit of Delight. In 1909, Sir John Montagu, Lord Belew, acquired one of the Rolls-Royce cars for personal use. In order to distinguish his car from the general flow, in 1911 the lord ordered his friend, the modernist sculptor Charles Sykes, to develop a talisman nose figurine.

The artist found a simple and elegant solution: he created some kind of chiropteran deity figurine, directed forward, with arms thrown back, in a robe fluttering in the wind. She seemed to convey the spirit of the car - reasonable speed, grace and beauty. At first, the official name of the figurine was "Personification of speed", but later Sykes sold his copyright to Rolls-Royce, and it was renamed "Spirit of Ecstasy" ("Spirit of Delight or Spirit of Inspiration").

In 1921, a branch was opened in America in Springfield. One of the first buyers of the American Silver Ghost was Nelson Rockefeller. Until 1926, 1703 cars were built in the States. Silver Ghost faithfully served the owners for decades. In the USA, for example, in the 30s, new fashionable bodies were simply put on the "eternal" chassis of the "Silver Spirit".

Thanks to the relatively stable British market, where wealthy buyers were not so affected by the Great Depression, the company managed to maintain its position in the crisis years of the 1930s. automotive market. And in 1931, Rolls-Royce even acquires its competitor, which has fallen into a difficult financial situation - the Bentley company, has an established reputation as a manufacturer of solid, expensive and reliable sports cars and limousines, which are very similar in basic parameters to Rolls-Royce. The Bentley brand has been preserved to this day. Since 1949 classic cars class "luxury" receive the names "Silver Ghost" (Silver Wraith), "Silver Dawn" (Silver Dawn), "Silver Cloud" (Silver Cloud) permeated with the spirit of nostalgia, in 1965 it changed "Silver Shadow" (Silver Shadow).

Consequently, the firm prospered, but the foundation laid by the founders only lasted 30 years after Royce's death in 1933. In the 60s, a recession began, and the financial position of Rolls-Royce, which was busy at that time with the creation of a new aircraft engine and the Rolls-Royce-Corniche model, became very precarious, and on February 4, 1971, the company was officially declared bankrupt.

Rolls-Royce, as a national treasure, was saved by the British government by investing about $ 250 million in the business. But at the same time, Rolls-Royce Motor Holding was divided into the automobile company Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd, which produces cars, components for the automotive and aviation industries , diesel engines, locomotives, light aircraft, and Rolls-Royce Ltd, the aviation jet engine division that was government-run from 1971 to 1987 and was privatized in 1987, after which it changed its name to Rolls- Royce Plc.

Military-industrial concern Vickers - once the UK's largest syndicate of manufacturers of military equipment, fulfills the order of the British Ministry of Defense - in 1980 acquired Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd for 38 million pounds, when the company, due to deteriorating financial performance and the development of a new model Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit, once again found itself on the verge of a crisis.

Vickers has done a lot for Rolls-Royce since owning this legendary brand: having invested about 40 million pounds more, the concern has modernized the outdated factories in Crewe. The factories at Crewe also had a true 0.01 mph conveyor belt. But the rationalization touched only unskilled labor, in another Rolls-Royce there was a Rolls-Royce - cars were made by hand and only on orders. However, thanks to the measures taken, the full cycle of manufacturing one car has been more than halved - from 65 to 28 days. And in the early 90s, the company began to make a profit again. So, in 1997, the company's profit, despite the small number of cars sold (1380 Bentley cars and 538 Rolls-Royce cars), amounted to $45 million with a turnover of $500 million.

However, the situation remained unstable: in case of an unsuccessful economic situation, such a volume could easily fall by half. And so it happened - until the end of the 90s, the continued existence, development and compliance of Rolls-Royce products with high quality required new investments - according to the chairman of the board of Vickers, Sir Colin Chandler, more than 200 million pounds, which the military-industrial concern did not have: “We did everything we could for Rolls-Royce. We saved him, we returned his "health" and good shape, but it's time to leave ... "- he said.

In October 1997, negotiations began with interested parties to sell Rolls-Royce. Several groups fought for control of the company, including two British financial and industrial groups, German auto giants: Daimler-Benz, Volkswagen, BMW and the RRAG organization, which consisted of a group of patriotic and wealthy owners of Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars, led by attorney Michael Shripmpton.

The result of the struggle for the legend of the British automotive industry was an agreement under which Volkswagen acquired the factories of Bentley and Rolls-Royce, and BMW bought the Rolls-Royce name. Assessing the sale of Rolls-Royce to win the brand name in 1998 to the German auto giant BMW, the Berlin newspaper Welt wrote: "Now the oldest British carmaker will have the strength that is needed for the future." Soon, BMW began producing cars under the famous brand at a new plant in Goodwood (Southern England).

There, the concern built "the most exclusive factory in the world" for the production of a new family of cars of the prestigious British brand Rolls-Royce. The company is based in Chichester, West Sussex. It is noteworthy that not far from there, in the town of West Wittering, Sir Henry Royce lived from 1917 to 1933 and died. His design bureau was also located here. In addition to the picturesque surroundings, Southern England has a developed infrastructure and the ability to attract additional personnel from the yachting industry to their usual manual work.

The company's cars have never been cheap, and the pricing policy formulated by Royce remains relevant today: "Quality remains when the price has long been forgotten." The first Rolls-Royce cars in 10 liters. With. sold for £395. Today, these antique models can be purchased by any aesthete for $250,000. About six out of ten of all Rolls-Royce cars ever built are still on the road.

In 1907, one of the "Silver Ghosts" sets a record - it runs 24 thousand km without stopping. What a huge distance for those times the car overcame with a single malfunction - the fuel cock failed. At the Rolls-Royce factories in Crewe and London, the cars are called "Royce". They are never called "Rolls". The radiator grill in a Rolls-Royce car is made by hand using ... an eye. Just "vprikidku", without any tools.

It takes one man-day to make a Rolls-Royce radiator. And another five man-hours to polish it. When you open the ashtray in a modern Rolls-Royce, you will never find a cigarette butt there - the ashtrays are emptied automatically. None of the members of the factory staff will ever say: "Rolls-Royce is broken." Instead, you will hear: "Rolls-Royce refuses to continue to function." In the old Rolls-Royce factories (in Crewe and London) you can see the signs: "Beware of the silent car!"

The cooling capacity of the air conditioner in the modern "Silver Spirit" is equal to the performance of 30 household refrigerators. Each piece of glass in Silver Spirit is polished by hand with a special pumice stone, which is usually used for polishing optical lenses. Once, after chanting hymns of praise for Rolls-Royce cars, an aristocratic woman, after thinking, asked: “But, Sir Henry, what would happen if your factory made a bad car?” Royce replied, "Madame, the guard at the central gate would not have let her out of the grounds."

The last words of the dying Henry Royce were: "I only regret that I did not devote more time to work." The prototype of the "Spirit of Delight" was the personal secretary of Lord Belew-Eleanor Thornton, with whom the sculptor was hopelessly in love. The most elite of the Rolls-Royces are considered representatives of the Park Ward series, also called the "Royal Rolls-Royces". It is these emphatically conservative machines that monarchs prefer. It is impossible to buy or order such a car in an expensive car dealership, because Park Ward is the brainchild of that branch of the company where cars are not even assembled, but are made entirely by hand, on special orders, and each of them is only for a specific client.

Rolls-Royce style is, without exaggeration, unique. The importance that the company attaches to the little things is amazing. Salons "Rolls-Royce" has always been characterized by a special, incomparable subtle aroma, which emitted the best grades of natural leather and precious woods used for interior decoration of cars. And suddenly the customers of the new exclusive model- "Silver Seraphim" - felt that the smell in the cabin is not the same. They began to find out - and found that instead of the former rosewood and mahogany, some previously wooden interior trim parts were replaced with plastic.

It can’t be distinguished from wood by sight and touch, but the smell is not the same. And manufacturers are seriously engaged in solving this problem. They developed a composition of aromatic oils to treat the interiors of all Rolls-Royces, which again began to smell of expensive leather and wood. Rolls-Royce is a palace car, a status car, a symbol car. This is an attribute of a high position in society. We should not forget that there are many millionaires on the planet, and Rolls-Royce is much smaller, so there is a queue among those who want to pay several hundred thousand dollars for a vehicle - the entire circulation of cars is scheduled for several years in advance.

Among the happy owners of the Rolls-Royce were Charlie Chaplin, and Benito Mussolini, and Muhammad Ali, and Emperor Nicholas II, and Elizabeth Taylor, and Rudyard Kipling, and Guglielmo Marconi, and Alfred Nobel. On a Rolls-Royce, Prince Yusupov and his accomplices were taken to throw the half-dead Rasputin into the hole. Thanks to the Japanese Emperor's decision to buy a Rolls-Royce in the 1920s, Japan still drives on the left.

The prestige of the Rolls-Royce brand was so great that in the 50s the company became a car supplier for the British Royal House and many ruling and aristocratic families of the world. So, for example, Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh ordered in 1950 for their own use Rolls-Royce Phantom-IV models with a body made by Mulliner-Park-Ward. Since then, the garage (the so-called Royal stables) is no longer equipped with Daimler cars, but with Rolls-Royce. Last summer, during the celebrations marking the fiftieth birthday of Elizabeth XI on the English throne, the Queen drove around in one of latest models Rolls-Royce-Bentley limousine.

By order of the Indian Maharaja Nabi, English engineers created for the "Silver Ghost" a body in the form of a swan figure, carved from a massive piece of wood and covered with gilded lotus flowers. To increase the smoothness of the ride, a suspension with an additional longitudinal spring was used. This version of the Rolls-Royce even featured horsehair brushes designed to scrape dirt off spinning wheels. This masterpiece of engineering and design, which is more reminiscent of an illustration for "Tales of 1000 and One Nights" than a car, can now be seen at exhibitions of automotive rarities.

John Lennon's Rolls-Royce, painted with psychedelic vignettes of absolutely incredible colors, was no less original - albeit in a slightly different style. There was no limit to the indignation of the patriots, offended by such a blatant desecration of the legend of the British automobile industry. However, for some time to tease the respected public, on July 5, 1968, Lennon sold his Rolls-Royce.

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was also the happy owner of the "tuned" Rolls-Royce. In fact, the leader of the world proletariat was served by two Rolls-Royces at once, but one of them, the Elpine Eagle with an open body, is not famous for anything special. But the second, the Continental brand, was bought for 4 thousand pounds sterling through the mediation of the Soviet trade representative Lev Krasin, then delivered to Petrograd and processed there into ... a tracked autosleigh. The handsome Rolls-Royce was equipped with the so-called Kegress mover, named after the creator, the head of the royal garage, Adolf Kegress.

Instead of the rear axle, a trolley with rubberized cotton bands was installed. For better handling, wide skis were put on the front wheels. This design weighed over 500 kg. On the rolled snow, the car with the "Kegress" confidently walked at a speed of 60 km per hour. The mass of the car reached 2700 kg. Fuel consumption was 37 liters per 100 km. The tracked Rolls-Royce was also equipped with an insulated cab, a heater, a thermostat, and an improved ignition system.

In general, Rolls-Royce enjoyed the well-deserved love of the Soviet nomenklatura. From 1922 to 1925 - mind you, the era of devastation and famine - 73 cars were bought in England, mostly with open bodies. The Czech writer Hofmeister wrote in those years: “I have never seen such a cluster of Rolls-Royce, which I saw one evening on the embankment of the Moskva River ...”

Brezhnev also had a personal Rolls-Royce. Interestingly, the "Silver Ghost" never belonged personally to Brezhnev, like many other cars from the mythical "collection". However, the car was created taking into account the physique of the Secretary General and his desire to sometimes drive himself.

It is still reminded of this located on dashboard a switch with two positions: one “adjusts” the driver’s seat to Brezhnev’s figure, the other to the driver’s dimensions. The car was ordered by the 9th Directorate of the KGB to "serve the members of the Central Committee" in 1971 and arrived in Russia less than a year later. In general, five machines like this one were made at the plant: one for an Arab sheikh, capable of moving freely across the sands with a cage built into the interior for a jaguar beloved by the sheikh, the other was ordered by a gold miner from Alaska, who, on the contrary, had to move through the snow.

The order for two other cars comes from the shores of the Amazon and assumed the special resistance of cars to a tropical climate. The fifth car was supposed to combine the requirements of all the other four orders - albeit without a cage for the jaguar. It was he who was intended for Brezhnev. Almost entirely made of aluminum body, "Riveted", as in aviation, spars made in single copy rubber and plastic parts, hydraulic accumulators on all four wheels, twelve layers of paint - to be sure, a masterpiece ... It is interesting that the unique car is still actively used today: Eduard Tenyakov, vice president of the Moscow Central Stock Exchange, drives it.

Rolls-Royce is a true legend automotive world. In total, a little over 20 models of this car were released over the long history of the brand, which is strikingly different from the speed with which other well-known car brands release new models. However, Rolls-Royce has never pursued quantity at the expense of quality. The brand was primarily associated with prestige, and this continues until today, and therefore the company always tries to bring each model to perfection.

The fact that Rolls-Royce releases few models contributes to the fact that each of them becomes a legend of its time, and is successfully sold for a long time after the release. Famous businessmen, politicians and show business stars from all over the world drove around on these British cars in the 20th century.

Today, Rolls-Royce is not doing as well as in years past. The end of the 90s was marked by a long epic sale of the company, which ended only in 2003. As a result, the company became the property of BMW. However, the golden years of Rolls-Royce are gone forever. Sales are not as high as before, and the brand is not as popular. Of course, it cannot be said that he died or anything like that. No. It's just that his golden years are over. Along with the 20th century.

founding fathers

No matter how much the supporters argue about this various versions, and without Frederick Henry Royce, the Rolls-Royce manufacturing company would not exist. As the son of a bankrupt miller, at the age of 10 he was forced to find a job - first as a paperboy, and then as a worker. Despite the fact that he had to deal exclusively with physical labor, the guy did not lose heart and was engaged in self-education in his spare time. In particular, he studied French and German languages and the fundamentals of electrical engineering. Due to his penchant for engineering, he was soon adopted by the designer lifting equipment to the Hiram Maxim plant, which we know from the famous machine gun that received . At the same time, Royce lived quite modestly - he saved money all his life, and in 1903, when he was 40, he opened his own mechanical workshop under the name F.G. Royce & Co., which later became the first production base of Rolls-Royce.

But the other founder of Rolls-Royce, Charles Stuart Rolls, was a hereditary aristocrat from Wales, and the full heir to the family estate. Being a rich and intelligent man, he received two higher educations, but did not seek to put the knowledge he had gained into practice - after all, during his studies he became interested in cars. On the Peugeot Phaeton donated to him by his father, Rolls even set one of the speed records. Seeing a profitable business in his passion, in 1902 a young aristocrat opened the company C.S. Rolls & Co., which was engaged in importing french cars. However, the history of Rolls-Royce would never have begun if Rolls had not been willing to create.

Start

Future founder Rolls Royce, Henry Royce, in 1903 acquired a French car brand Decauville. The car was so imperfect and unreliable that the self-taught engineer had a burning desire to make his own vehicle that would fully meet his personal quality standards. This year, Royce built three cars that produced 10 horsepower. They did not differ in any technical innovations, however, they had excellent build quality and the use of exceptionally reliable parts - that is, features that are currently bearing the Rolls-Royce brand.

All of England soon started talking about these vehicles - what’s there, even the Russian magazine “Behind the Wheel” in 1903 wrote about the amazing creation of the mechanic Royce. It so happened that the automobile enthusiast Charles Rolls, who was just looking for a partner who could help him create his own, also heard about it. car factory. The founding of Rolls-Royce took place on May 1, 1904 in the city of Manchester in the restaurant of the Midland Hotel, where there was a mutually beneficial cooperation between two entrepreneurs.

In 1904, the assembly of automobile chassis began, on which the Rolls-Royce brand was already affixed, and not just the name of engineer Royce. At the request of the client, they could be equipped with engines with a number of cylinders from 2 to 8. At the same time, the most powerful motor, installed on a car with its own name "Legalimit", had an advanced V8 layout for that time. There was no Rolls-Royce - it was assumed that the client would order them himself, guided by his artistic taste. These cars also gained excellent fame very quickly - thanks in large part to the victories in the races, where many eminent racers, including Charles Rolls, sat behind the wheel of them. In total, until 1907, 100 Rolls-Royce cars were created, which were built on a common chassis, called the "prototype".

The first real Rolls-Royce

At the end of 1906, at the international transport exhibition, a new model of the Rolls-Royce 40/50 HP was shown, which was not similar to the early "prototypes" of the company. It was based on a very powerful one, and at the back there were three semi-elliptical springs - two longitudinal and one transverse, which gave such a vehicle an unprecedented smooth ride. The power unit was a 7-liter engine with six cylinders arranged in a row, the power of which was not disclosed to the general public. It was then that the tradition of Rolls-Royce to refer to power as “enough” was born, which was abandoned relatively recently.

Initially, under the name Rolls-Royce 40/50 HP, 12 chassis were produced, and the thirteenth became fateful for the company - the body for it was made by the Barker studio, whose designers gave the surfaces a silver color and covered everything with imitation of precious metal. Thanks to this, the model received the name "Silver Ghost", which after a few years began to be recognized in all corners of the world. At the same time, the Rolls-Royce emblem was registered, which consists of two letters R intertwined. Legend has it that Henry Royce, having lunch in a restaurant, saw a similar monogram on a tablecloth, and decided that it would be ideal for creating his logo. company, Rolls-Royce.

Rolls-Royce cars, called the Silver Ghost, were advertised as "the best in the world." This was doubted by Rolls' former companion, and now secretary of the Royal Automobile Club, Sir Claude Johnson. Having prepared a logbook to form entries about it, he went on a Rolls-Royce for a run. After walking 2000 miles, he decided to increase the distance to 15 thousand miles, which corresponds to 24 thousand kilometers. Despite the fact that Sir Johnson did not spare the Rolls-Royce, and accelerated it to 120 km / h, at the end of the run in his logbook there was only one entry about replacing the fuel valve at a cost of 2 pounds.

First ups and downs

In 1910, the history of Rolls-Royce was replenished with the first black line. As an avid aviation lover, Charles Stewart Rolls participated in demonstration performances before the public. Despite the fact that he took to the air dozens of times and even the first of the British to fly across the English Channel, he could not hold the aircraft. The plane crashed into the field and crashed, and one of the founders of Rolls-Royce was killed. In memory of his passion, Henry Royce founded the aviation division of Rolls-Royce, which later became completely independent from the parent company.

In 1911, Rolls-Royce received another brand name, which was the figurine "Spirit of Ecstasy", mounted on the hood of the car. The owner of the Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, Lord Belew, commissioned a sculptor friend, Charles Sykes, to make a figurine that would adorn the hood of his four-seat phaeton. He sculpted his creation, inspired by the image of the Lord's secretary, Eleanor Thornton. Since 1911, the Spirit of Ecstasy figurine for every Rolls-Royce - it was cast from babbitt, bronze, steel, as well as silver or pure gold according to special order client.

And 1922 was marked for Rolls-Royce by the appearance of another well-known name - Phantom. This car was the first Rolls-Royce to be originally equipped with an electric starter. In addition, the use of an upper valve arrangement in it made it possible to make power unit more powerful and stable and at the same time - compact. In 1929, the second generation Phantom saw the light, in which the engine was combined into a single block with and had more power. In addition, the outdated spring suspension schemes were no longer used on the Rolls-Royce chassis.

Despite the fact that other companies in the 30s suffered from the detrimental effects of the Great Depression, the global financial crisis, Rolls-Royce flourished - and in 1931 it even acquired Bentley, which was its only competitor. However, in 1933, the second founder of Rolls-Royce, engineer Henry Royce, died, after which the letters on the logo, which were previously red, remained forever black. During the outbreak of the war, the Rolls-Royce company also flourished - it received huge military orders and lived not so much due to the production of cars, but thanks to, including aviation.

Under strong wings

Until the end of the 50s, the history of Rolls-Royce was as successful as possible. The Bentley division brought in big profits, and the fourth and fifth generation Phantom models created by Rolls-Royce itself were even bought by the royal family, which served. Less wealthy people could buy the Silver Wrath, Silver Cloud, Silver Dawn models, also produced by Rolls-Royce based on their own technologies.

However, in the 60s, the company faced a financial crisis, which had to be rebuffed accordingly. Nevertheless, the Rolls-Royce administration, mindful of its success during the Great Depression, ignored the economic downturn and began work simultaneously on two significant projects - the development of a jet engine for aviation and the release of the Corniche model. As a result, Rolls-Royce lost its financial stability and, after several years of borrowing from various sources, was officially declared insolvent in 1971.

Under public pressure, the British government bailed out Rolls-Royce by paying $250 million to pay off loans and complete these projects. However, one of the demands made by government officials was the division of Rolls-Royce into two parts - an automobile factory and an enterprise that produced jet engines. If the first could be abandoned later, then for the British and American aircraft industry, the production of Rolls-Royce engines was of strategic importance.

After 9 years of trying to restore the Rolls-Royce company to a positive profit, the British government sold it for 38 million pounds to the Vickers aviation concern, which invested another 40 million pounds in the modernization of factories in the city of Crewe. Unbelievable, but true - only this year the company got the first assembly line, which reduced the production time of one vehicle from 65 to 28 full working days. Under the leadership of Vickers, Rolls-Royce even began to turn a profit. However, in 1997 it became clear that in order to establish industrial production, it was necessary to find another 200 million pounds, which the aviation corporation simply did not have. Therefore, in 1997, Rolls-Royce was put up for auction.

present tense

As soon as the auction began, the first applicants for the purchase of Rolls-Royce appeared. These became:

Volkswagen;
Daimler-Benz;
RRAG - Rolls-Royce Rescue Society. A group of enterprising people who believed that Rolls-Royce was a British treasure and could not be sold to the eternal rivals of the British-Germans.

When the stakes reached dizzying heights, Daimler-Benz withdrew its application, believing that it would be much cheaper for it to develop its own Maybach brand, which had already been repeatedly discussed at the meeting of directors. And RRAG, who wanted to make Rolls-Royce public, was abandoned by representatives of the Vickers concern, without receiving from them a coherent program for managing a company in crisis.

To obtain guarantees in the acquisition of Rolls-Royce, BMW company, by that time supplying motors for this premium brand, threatened to stop cooperation. As a result, a £340 million deal was announced, in which the BMW group was the recipient of Rolls-Royce. However, the owner, Ferdinand Piech, could not just give way to his main competitor. By buying Rolls-Royce's associate Cosworth and persuading Vickers' board of directors, he was able to get a change of heart and bought the business for £430m.

However, BMW did not miss its share of Rolls-Royce. Thanks to her ownership of a small joint venture in the production of aircraft engines, she blocked the deal and did not allow the production of cars to continue. However, after numerous meetings of the heads of the companies, an "amicable agreement" was adopted - Volkswagen receives the plant and trademark Bentley, while BMW gets the Rolls-Royce brand.

While the production of the expanded Bentley range began at the Crewe plants, group-owned BMW firm Rolls-Royce moved to West Sussex, where a new modern factory. Despite the presence of a conveyor and modern equipment in it, most of the operations for creating the interior and exterior decoration are carried out manually, which emphasizes. Currently in the lineup Rolls-Royce includes the following vehicles:

Ghost sedan;
Phantom sedan;
Phantom EWB limousine (long wheelbase);
Coupe Phantom Coupe;
Coupe Wraith;
Convertible Phantom Drophead Coupe.

On the video, the history of Rolls-Royce:

The luxury people want

Despite the fact that the owners of such cars were mostly aristocrats and people with huge incomes, the British still supported the idea of \u200b\u200bpreserving Rolls-Royce - even if they could not earn even a hundredth of its value. For them, Rolls-Royce was more of a symbol, as was the constitutional monarchy that Britain is so proud of. Therefore, we can confidently say that Rolls-Royce is not afraid of any crises now - especially if you consider that under the leadership of BMW it has again become profitable. To destroy Rolls-Royce, you must first completely change the mentality of the British, depriving them of their commitment to tradition.

Depositphotos

Now on the Russian streets it is quite difficult to meet a Rolls-Royce car - it has become an exotic toy for very, very rich people. But back in the twentieth century, everything was different - all the major leaders of that era, from Nicholas II to Lenin, had their own Rolls-Royces, party officials traveled in these cars, and over time, when the cars wore out, they were transferred "to the people" - heads of collective farms or state farms.

The history of this brand is the story of an amazingly successful union of two businessmen, Charles Rolls and Henry Royce. One of them was a wealthy aristocrat, and the other grew up in poverty and spent only a year in school, but together they created a car that has become an absolute symbol of success.

We tell you how Rolls-Royce appeared, how it is connected with Russia, and what exactly helped the brand to go through bankruptcy, but survive.

The Rolls-Royce company name is made up of two surnames. These are the names of the founding fathers of the company - Charles Rolls and Henry Royce. The history of their brand is a classic case of a successful business alliance between an investor and an inventor.

Rich man and poor man

Interesting fact: the names of a rich man and a poor man met in the name of the company. The first is the name of the rich man - Charles Rolls. He was born into a family of hereditary aristocrats from Wales, received two higher educations and from childhood was interested in cars - he even became the first student at Cambridge who had his own car. After graduation, he opened own firm, which was engaged in the import of cars, it was founded in 1902 and became C.S. Rolls & Co. But ordinary imports seemed to Rolls not enough, he dreamed of creating his own car.

The second surname in the brand name - Royce - belongs to Henry Royce, the founder and first engineer of the company. Unlike Rolls, Royce was born into a poor, practically impoverished family: from the age of ten he worked as a paperboy and postman. At the same time, Royce understood that without education he would not be able to achieve anything in life, so in his spare time he studied French and German, electrical engineering and mathematics. At the age of 16, despite the lack of a diploma (what diploma, if he graduated from only one class of school), Royce got a job in Maxim Hiram's company as an engineer. This work helped him to accumulate initial capital and establish his own business - a mechanical workshop Royce & Co. But just a workshop is not enough for Royce: like Rolls, he dreams of his own car.

Company founders

Acquaintance

In 1904, Rolls Royce met. The year before, Royce's workshop produced three cars with a capacity of 10 horsepower. Nothing particularly new technical solutions the cars did not, but they looked good and were distinguished by excellent assembly and reliable details.

Cars made a splash in England - all local newspapers wrote about them, and a little later - the world ones. The fame was so great that an article about these cars even appeared in the Russian magazine Za Rulem. Charles Rolls also heard about these cars, who at that moment was just looking for an engineer who could help him develop own car. On May 1, 1904, an agreement was signed between Rolls and Royce at the Midland Restaurant. This day is considered the official founding of Rolls-Royce.

Brand features and the first car

One of the first cars

Distinctive features Rolls-Royce from the very beginning has been a reliable car. The first real model of the company was shown at the international transport exhibition in 1906 - it was a car with a very powerful steel frame, a 7-liter engine and six cylinders in a row.

At the same time, the power was not disclosed, and this gave rise to the tradition of indicating power as “sufficient” (the brand got rid of the tradition only in the last few decades). The car was called Rolls-Royce 40/50 HP and was positioned as "the most reliable car in the whole world."

Initially, the founders of the company launched a logo in the form of large red letters RR, but pretty soon the color was changed to black to “emphasize prestige and luxury.” However, the symbol of the brand was not the letters RR, but the famous figurine on the hood called "The Spirit of Ecstasy".

The figurine appeared like this: in 1909, Lord Sir John Montagu bought one of the company's cars. To make his car different from others, he commissioned a mascot figurine from the sculptor Charles Sykes. The artist created the sculpture "The Spirit of Ecstasy" - a girl looking forward. Charles Rolls liked the figurine so much that he obtained permission to use it on all brand cars.

Rolls-Royce was positioned from the very beginning as "the best in the whole world", the most reliable cars. This was emphasized during advertising campaigns: no matter how much you use the car, you will not be able to break it. Such a case is known: businessman Claude Johnson, who doubted the veracity of advertising, went on a run in the first car of the brand. The run was organized specifically in order to identify the shortcomings of the car, but after 15 thousand miles (that's about 24 thousand kilometers), only one part broke - a fuel valve worth 2 pounds. At the same time, the businessman drove most of the way at a speed of 120 km / h.

Successes and failures

For almost 50 years, until the end of the 1950s, the brand felt extremely confident - Rolls-Royce formed the image of a premium British car, which was driven by businessmen, celebrities and even representatives of the monarchy. So, the fourth and fifth generation Phantom models were used by the royal family, and this was an excellent advertisement and led to a sharp increase in sales that year.

The same car that the members of the royal family drove

The company prospered even during the Great Depression - sales in the 30s were so good that the company was even able to absorb Bentley, which was then its main competitor.

Everything changed in 1960: another crisis was raging in the world, but Rolls-Royce seemed such a stable brand that the administration decided not to rewrite the business strategy for the economic downturn. Moreover, the company began work on two large-scale projects at once - the release of a new car model and the creation of a jet engine. However, managers miscalculated: during the crisis, the number of buyers decreased, and new developments were unclaimed. As a result, the brand took loans from several banks and subsequently went bankrupt.

The rescue

In 1971, the company was officially declared insolvent. However, the British public could not allow the closure of Rolls-Royce - the brand was considered a symbol of the country and a national treasure. As a result, the state was forced to pay $250 million to repay the firm's loans.

From that moment, bidding for the company began. Bidders for the purchase were BMW, Volkswagen and Daimler-Benz. Bidding was incredibly tense, and the deal was canceled several times: first, Daimler-Benz left the struggle, which decided to develop its own Maybach brand. Then BMW and Volkswagen increased the amount of the deal several times in order to beat the competitor's price. After several months of negotiations, a compromise was reached: BMW bought the Rolls-Royce brand directly, and Volkswagen received the rights to Bentley.

Rolls Royce now

Rolls-Royce is now one of the most expensive cars in a world that is bought not so much for reliability, but to demonstrate status and social position. Nevertheless, with the efforts of BMW, the brand overcame the crisis and became profitable again. The company sells several thousand cars annually, and in Russia last year they sold more than a hundred cars.

"For successful entrepreneurs in Russia, the Rolls-Royce brand remains the ultimate symbol of success," said James Crichton, regional director of the brand.

Only a few lamps burned in the workshop. At the back of the room, at a huge table, a man sat bent over. In his hands was a photograph of a woman, she stood, leaning on the cabinet and smiling affectionately.

“Well, Eleanor,” Charles said quietly, “you will always fly now!” and drawing his favorite, well-sharpened pencil, he set to work on the sketch. Carrying out the order of Lord Montagu, the sculptor Charles Sykes tried to follow the main principles: to convey the spirit of the car to the figurine - no vulgarity, frivolity and rage, only modesty and grace, beauty and the spirit of delight! In front of him was a picture of the personal secretary and the customer's lover, it was he who served as the prototype for the creation of the famous "Flying Lady".

Since then, the winged deity, looking forward, with arms thrown back, in a robe fluttering from the wind, has been an integral attribute of Rolls-Royce cars. "Spirit of Rapture" is the best characterization of this beautiful machine.

Rolls-Royce is a dream car, a true legend of the English automotive industry. Cars of this brand symbolize prestige, comfort and reliability. For more than a hundred years of existence, the company has faced both incredible success and serious financial problems, but the quality of the machines has always remained at a decent level.

Creators of Rolls-Royce

Frederick Henry Royce was born in the city of Alvator on March 27, 1863. He came from a simple family, if someone had said that in the future he would achieve unprecedented success and become a rich and respected person - Henry would most likely just laugh, considering it a fiction. The boy's father worked at a mill, but soon went bankrupt and the 10-year-old son began to help the family. He worked at the post office, delivering telegrams and newspapers, and later on the railroad. Despite the constant employment, the boy's thirst for knowledge did not disappear. He realized that only study would help him somehow change the situation. When Henry had free time, he studied mathematics, foreign languages and mastered the basics of electrical engineering. The boy had a mathematical mindset, he was especially good at engineering, he not only grasped everything on the fly, but also enjoyed the process.

The first serious job that corresponded to the interests of Royce, he received in the company of Hiram Maxim himself, the man who invented the machine gun of the same name, which brought him world fame. New position Henry really liked it, it was while working in Hiram's company that he had the idea to open his own business. He began to raise money, saving on almost everything in order to put together a start-up capital. In 1894, in Manchester, together with a friend, Royce founded the firm F.H. Royce & Co. Things went well for the company, Henry and a friend designed and assembled cranes. In 1899, their company floated on the stock exchange and built a factory in Old Trafford.

Being a fairly wealthy man, Royce bought a French car De Dion. The machine disappointed Henry, he, a man with excellent engineering abilities, resented such a careless attitude to business. Firstly, the car constantly broke down, secondly, it was uncomfortable and, thirdly, it slowly developed speed. It is worth noting that the car is “not to blame” here, in those days almost all cars were of such quality, by the way, De Dion was not the worst option from the brands presented on the car market of that time. Royce decided to design his own car, which could satisfy him in all respects.

In terms of automotive engineering, Frederick Henry Royce turned out to be a real genius. A year later, the public was presented new car. The press praised Royce's invention, when compared with the French car, the victory of Henry's car was obvious. The car cost £395, which was decent money, but a reliable car with good move well justified its cost. And, of course, if you compare how much Rolls-Royce cars will cost later, then the price of the first car will seem completely ridiculous.

Charles Stuart Rolls lived a completely different life, he was the fourth child in the family of Colonel John Rolls, Baron Langatok. The boy was born in London, but later the whole family moved to the family estate near Monmouth. At Eton, Charles received his secondary education, and engineering - at Cambridge. The first car was given to Charles by his father in 1896 - it was a Peugeot Phaeton, at that moment he was still a student. Rolls quickly learned to drive a car, in addition, he constantly participated in races, often won prizes, and once even managed to set a world speed record.

Rolls was boundlessly passionate about cars, after graduating he decided to open a company selling French cars. In 1902 C.S. Rolls & Co was incorporated. Claude Johnson, an excellent specialist in the field of car sales, worked with Charles. The company was doing well, the company grew and soon Rolls became one of the largest car dealers in Britain.

Things were going well for Rolls, but he soon became obsessed with the idea of not just reselling cars. He wanted to become a car manufacturer own brand. However, he was not going to start production on his own and from scratch; for such a business, Charles wanted to find a small but promising company to unite and launch a large-scale automotive industry in England together. Fortunately, Rolls and Royce had a mutual friend, who recommended the two gentlemen-car enthusiasts to get acquainted.

On May 1, 1904, 40-year-old Frederick Henry Royce and 27-year-old Charles Stuart Rolls met in the elite restaurant of the Midland Hotel. Initially, Charles was skeptical, but already in the middle of a conversation with Henry, he began to discuss the possibility of cooperation. On this day, the main principle of their further joint activities was put forward - Rolls-Royce cars must be of the highest quality.

By 1904, Henry had already produced several cars. In 1903, the magazine "Behind the wheel" describes Royce's cars with two-cylinder engines and a power of 10 hp. These machines were not something outstanding, but they were distinguished by incredible accuracy and thoughtfulness of every detail. While studying on the Great Norton Railway, Henry learned to do everything according to high quality standards, a principle he would follow for the rest of his life.

If we describe Royce's cars, presented in April 1904, then these will be solid models with a quiet, vibration-free engine operation, characterized by excellent maneuverability and a fairly long service life. By the way, most cars of that time, in order to gain 1000 rpm, needed to adjust the carburetor, ignition and suction air systems, Henry's cars were picking up that many revs on the move.

In the two years since its inception, Rolls-Royce LTD has launched 12PS, 15PS, 20PS and 30PS, new luxury cars that are rapidly gaining market share. These models had two-cylinder, three-cylinder and four-cylinder engines. At that time, cars acquired special success after victories in racing tournaments. The first prize was won by a four-cylinder Rolls-Royce 20PS model with an engine power of 20 hp at the Tourist Trophy race. Then another record at the Monte Carlo - London rally and victories in America and a new record among cars with a power of up to 60 hp. All victories were won by cars made on the basis of the "Royce Prototype", then in 1907 they produced 100 copies.

Rolls-Royce "Silver Ghost"

The Rolls-Royce legend appeared at the end of 1906. In London, at the Olympia Motor Show, the company introduced the new 40/50HP chassis, number 60551. This car was completely different from previous models. Sales of the new car started in 1907, and since Rolls-Royce did not produce a body before World War II (the client himself ordered the body separately in the workshop), it turned out to be a mass various kinds one car with the same chassis. The cost of the 40/50HP chassis without bodywork was £985. The price of a good body was about the same. At that time, the following workshops were the most popular: Hooper, Barker, Vanden Plas, Thrupp & Maberly, Windover (London), H.J. Mulliner, James Young, Gurney Nutting, Freestone and Webb, Rippon, Park Ward. The total cost of the chassis and body, of course, was not affordable for everyone, but there were enough customers.

After some time, the car got an unusual name - "Silver Ghost". According to legend, the car got its name because of the silver parts, one of the first cars, and a very quiet ride. They say that in the cabin, when the engine was running, you could hear the clock ticking. This is possible, because in those days, gentlemen preferred expensive chronometers that “walked” quite loudly. Henry Royce designed for this model six-cylinder engine, with a volume of 7 liters. The inventor doubled the diameter of the bearings, this balanced crankshaft- so the motor ran incredibly smooth and quiet. Also on this model was used, rare in those days, a pressure lubrication system. The frame of the car was made of high-quality steel, bridges were fixed with semi-elliptical springs. In 1907, together with the company Barker, the 13th copy of this model was released. Barker created the famous five-month open body for the car, some of the details of which were covered with polished silver.

Royce without Rolls

Rolls-Royce Ltd moved from Manchester to Derby in 1907. The management decided to open a station in this city Maintenance, the company's driving school was also opened to train drivers.

In 1908, the company stopped producing models based on the Royce-Prototip and concentrated exclusively on the Rolls-Royce 40/50 Silver Ghost. In addition, the management became interested in the production of aircraft.

During a trip to the US, Rolls met the Wright brothers. Aviation conquered Charles, and he completely surrendered to a new passion. Having quickly mastered the intricacies of aircraft control, he even managed to fly across the English Channel. The production of aircraft engines helped the company survive the First World War, when demand for expensive cars plummeted. However, a new hobby became fatal for Rolls, on June 12, 1910, at the age of 32, he died during demonstration performances near Bournemouth. Henry Royce became the sole owner of the firm.

After the loss of a friend and partner, Henry brought aircraft engines to perfection, making them of high quality and reliability.

When Royce was asked about his profession, he usually answered: "I'm a mechanic." Being constantly in the process of improving something, Henry knew all the stages of production at his plant from "a to z". He personally controlled all the processes and very often, if something went wrong, he showed how to work. For outstanding services to Great Britain, Henry Royce was awarded the title of baron.

But, despite the desire to meet the highest quality standard, Rolls-Royce was very skeptical about various kinds of innovations and inventions. For example, the company began to install electric engine start on its cars only in 1919, although other companies applied this innovation as early as 1914.

Rolls-Royce cars have always cost a lot of money, and the pricing policy developed by the first leaders of the company has remained relevant at the present time. Royce said: "quality remains when the price has long been forgotten."

Traditionally, Rolls-Royce did not list the engine power of their models, but simply described it as "sufficient". This was how they worked until the advent of the Silver Seraph model and the use of BMW engines in Rolls-Royce cars.

In 1922 the company released small car with a six-cylinder engine and a volume of 3.1 liters. The car was well bought and soon it overtook the more prestigious options in terms of the number of sales. A series of luxury models, following the Rolls-Royce 40/50 Silver Ghost, was continued by the Rolls-Royce Phantom I, which used an overhead valve engine, and the Rolls-Royce Phantom II, with even more engine power than previous model, now it is a monoblock connected to a four-speed gearbox, in addition, in the new model, the chassis were freed from obsolete rear springs.

In the 1930s, despite the Great Depression, from which the British market did not suffer much, but still suffered, the company not only retained its position in the automotive market, but also bought out its competitor, Bentley. As you know, this company has long been producing expensive sports cars and limousines, which even looked like Rolls-Royce cars.

In 1949, when choosing names for new cars, the manufacturer turns to old ones. legendary models and machines appear: Silver Cloud, Silver Wraith, Silver Dawn. The Silver Cloud was replaced in 1965 by the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow. With the exact same chassis as the Silver Cloud, the Phantom V and Phantom VI were released. Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit with V8 engine, released in 1982.

In the 50s, the company was honored to become a car supplier for the royal house of Britain and other ruling and aristocratic families around the world. In 1950, Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh purchased a Rolls-Royce Phantom IV for personal use. The body for VIPs was made by Mulliner-Park-Ward. Since that time, the royal garage began to replenish with Rolls-Royce cars.

Her Majesty has five Rolls-Royce cars in service: a 1955 Phantom IV with a Mulliner-Park-Ward body. This car has a transparent electric sunroof, it is located on the roof, just above the rear seats. Passenger doors are hung on the rear hinges, which provides additional comfort when leaving the car, and on the radiator there is a statuette of St. George on horseback, slaying a dragon, instead of the usual figure of the "Spirit of Delight"; two Rolls-Royce Phantom V (1960-1961), also with a body from Mulliner-Park-Ward. One of these cars has a body 10 cm higher than the standard model, with a fully transparent back. In the trunk, the set includes a steel roof, which, if necessary, can be closed glass roof; two Rolls-Royce Phantom VIs, 1978, also with Mulliner-Park-Ward bodies. Both cars are equipped with a spar frame, limousine bodies, with a rising glass partition between the front and rear seats.

Hard times for Rolls-Royce

For another 30 years, after the death of Rolls, the company was doing well, however, in the early 60s, the Rolls-Royce company, which at that time was busy creating an aircraft engine and a new model of the Corniche car, began to have financial difficulties. On February 4, 1971, the company declared itself bankrupt. The British government could not allow the loss of the "national treasure", and about $250 million was invested in the firm. The decision was made to split the company. This is how Rolls-Royce Motor Holding and Rolls-Royce Ltd appeared. Rolls-Royce Motor Company was engaged directly in the production of cars and components for cars and aircraft, diesel engines, locomotives and light aircraft. Rolls-Royce Ltd specialized in the manufacture of jet engines. The second firm was completely controlled by the state from 1971 to 1978, and after that it was privatized and received a new Rolls-Royce name plc.

The Vickers military-industrial concern took a direct part in the life of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited. The organization fulfilled orders from the British Ministry of Defense and in 1980 acquired the company for £38 million, which was again in financial difficulties due to work on the new Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit model. Previously, Rolls-Royce Ltd had already worked with this institution that produced military equipment: in 1919, the Vickers aircraft flew over the Atlantic for the first time with an Eagle engine. In addition, Rolls-Royce assembled Merlin engines, which were used in Spitfire aircraft.

Vickers invested about 40 million pounds in Rolls-Royce, the main task - the modernization of obsolete equipment was completed. Thanks to this, Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph, the company's new car, developed from 1994 to 1998, was designed using the latest computer technology. The factory had a real conveyor belt that ran at 0.01 mph. Of course, the changes did not affect all areas, without changing traditions, Rolls-Royce cars were made by hand and exclusively for individual orders.

Technical innovations made it possible to reduce the production time of the car by more than half: instead of 65 days, it now took only 28. In early 1990, the company became profitable again. In 1997, having sold a relatively small number of cars: 1,380 Bentleys and 538 Rolls-Royces, the company made $45 million in profits on a total turnover of $500 million.

Despite the success, the situation was still not stable. Even with a minor setback, competitors could instantly take the lead, taking away the title of “best” in luxury cars from Rolls-Royce. In 1998, Rolls-Royce was bought out by the German auto giant. Its head, Graham Morris, in an interview for the Berlin newspaper Welt, said: "Now the oldest British automaker will have the strength that is needed for the future." New owner was needed by Rolls-Royce, since Vickers admitted that they did not have the funds to further development car company. In his speech, the representative of the board of the military-industrial concern, Sir Colin Chandler, explained that in order to further develop and meet the high standards of Rolls-Royce, more than 200 million pounds sterling is needed, which, unfortunately, is not there: “We have done everything for Rolls-Royse that could. We saved him, we returned his "health" and good shape, but it's time to leave ... "

The sale of Rolls-Royce started in the fall of 1997. The seller, the Vickers concern, received one tempting offer after another. German auto industry giants such as BMW, Volkswagen, Daimler-Benz, British industrial groups and RRAG, a group of wealthy British owners of Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars, led by lawyer Michael Shripmpton, entered the fray. However, unexpectedly, Daimler-Benz withdrew the application, citing a desire to work on their own future Maybach luxury car model. It is worth noting that RRAG has collected quite a large sum. However, the patriotic British had little idea what to do next with this kind of company. In Britain, in general, public opinion about the sale of Rolls-Royce outside the country was divided. The “camp” of those who were against the sale supported RRAG, which willingly used “public opinion” to save the company from unreliable foreign “predators”. It is worth noting that RRAG, according to some reports, managed to raise 340 million pounds at the time of the transaction. But Vickers was skeptical about the intentions of the patriotic buyers. In his speech, the military-industrial concern stated: “RRAG is strong only in words. The facts show that it does not meet the requirements that were presented to potential buyers ... "

The Volkswagen concern added completely unthinkable requirements to its offer, and BMW start trading with a ridiculously low amount. Negotiations went on for six months and on March 30 it was announced that the German carmaker BMW would become the owner of Rolls-Royce. The deal amounted to 340 million pounds, which is about 555 million dollars. On April 27, Vickers confirmed its decision, and on May 7, to everyone's amazement, announced that it was changing its decision in favor of the Volkswagen concern, which was ready to pay £ 430 million for Rolls-Royce. Naturally, such coups did not take place without the direct participation of Ferdinand Karl Piech, the head of the Volkswagen concern.

It is not surprising that BMW management was dumbfounded by such a turn, of course, Vickers still had the last word, but no one doubted that the deal was in fact closed. The BMW concern nevertheless decided to continue the fight, because they supplied 30% of the components for the new Rolls-Royce models. Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph, powered by a BMW V-12 engine. After such a dishonest game, further cooperation was out of the question. The shareholders were worried, but Ferdinand Piech again "jumped" his rivals: Audi, a subsidiary of Volkswagen, made an offer to Vickers, which the concern could not refuse, the German "comrades" wanted to buy Cosworth Engineering, which produces automobile engines, from the military-industrial organization. On June 5, 99% of shareholders voted in favor. Rolls-Royce was sold Volkswagen Group. Even though now German company waiting for the huge costs required to upgrade obsolete equipment and develop a new motor at the Cosworth Engineering plant, BMW, as promised, stopped all cooperation with Rolls-Royce, Volkswagen was very happy with the victory. The management made the following statement: "...Rolls-Royce is prestige. In addition, if Volkswagen were to develop its own extra-class model, it would have to spend a lot more money to make it famous. It seems to me that for Rolls-Royce we paid a reasonable price...".

Volkswagen was also pleased with the acquisition, in large part due to the fact that its "high-end" Audi car in all respects inferior to the elite car of the main BMW competitor. This is not surprising, because initially Volkswagen was created to produce inexpensive small cars, the name is translated from German: “people's car”.

However, the BMW concern continued cooperation with the English car manufacturer. BMW and Rolls-Royce Plc have opened a joint venture specializing in the production of aircraft engines. The firm is called BMW Rolls Royce", 50.5% of the capital belongs to BMW AG, Munich and 49.5% - Rolls-Royce Plc, London. The headquarters of the organization is located in Oberursel, near Frankfurt am Main.

The company employs more than 1900 workers of the company "BMW Rolls-Royce". They are engaged in the production of modern turbojet engines. Their engineering center, which is located near Berlin, is considered one of the most modern. BMW Rolls-Royce also specializes in the design and manufacture of small gas turbines and aircraft engine components.

Rolls-Royce Plc has the right to use the Rolls-Royce trademark and may also block a decision to sell Rolls-Royce Motor Cars to any foreign buyer. BMW suggested Rolls Royce Plc a seat in one of the director's chairs in exchange for support in the case against the Volkswagen Group.

The fight for the legend of the British car industry ended with Volkswagen stopping the production of cars under by Rolls-Royce and concentrated on the production of Bentley cars, while BMW, in turn, began production exclusive cars under a famous brand.

Conclusion

There are many legends around the history of the company to this day. There are some indisputable facts: each assembled car is first tested. It has to go 2000 km, then it will be taken apart again, every detail checked and painted.

The paint is applied in 12 layers, each of which is polished before the next one is applied. All figurines on the bonnet are polished using a special powder made from crushed cherry pits.

And most importantly, Rolls-Royce is assembled exclusively in the UK, because as motorists say: "this car is a thoroughbred British aristocrat."

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How did the car that became an absolute symbol of success

Now on the Russian streets it is quite difficult to meet a Rolls-Royce car - it has become an exotic toy for very, very rich people. But back in the twentieth century, everything was different - all the major leaders of that era, from Nicholas II to Lenin, had their own Rolls-Royces, party officials traveled in these cars, and over time, when the cars wore out, they were handed over "to the people" - heads of collective farms or state farms.

We tell you how Rolls-Royce appeared, how it is connected with Russia, and what exactly helped the brand to go through bankruptcy, but survive.

Rich man and poor man

An interesting fact: the names of a rich man and a poor man met in the name of the company. The first is the name of the rich man - Charles Rolls. He was born into a family of hereditary aristocrats from Wales, received two higher educations and was interested in cars from childhood - he even became the first student at Cambridge who had his own car. After graduation, he opened his own company, which was engaged in the import of cars, it was founded in 1902 and became known as C.S. Rolls & Co. But ordinary imports seemed to Rolls not enough, he dreamed of creating his own car.

The second surname in the brand name - Royce - belongs to Henry Royce, the founder and first engineer of the company. Unlike Rolls, Royce was born into a poor, practically impoverished family: from the age of ten he worked as a paperboy and postman. At the same time, Royce understood that without education he would not be able to achieve anything in life, so in his spare time he studied French and German, electrical engineering and mathematics. At the age of 16, despite the lack of a diploma (what diploma, if he graduated from only one class of school), Royce got a job in Maxim Hiram's company as an engineer. This work helped him to accumulate initial capital and set up his own business - a mechanical workshop Royce & Co. But just a workshop is not enough for Royce: like Rolls, he dreams of his own car.

Acquaintance

In 1904, Rolls Royce met. The year before, Royce's workshop produced three cars with a capacity of 10 horsepower. There were no particularly new technical solutions in the cars, but they looked good and were distinguished by excellent assembly and reliable details.

Cars made a splash in England - all local newspapers wrote about them, and a little later - the world ones. The fame was so great that an article about these cars even appeared in the Russian magazine Za Rulem. Charles Rolls also heard about these cars, who at that moment was just looking for an engineer who could help him develop his own car. On May 1, 1904, an agreement was signed between Rolls and Royce at the Midland Restaurant. This day is considered the official founding of Rolls-Royce.

Brand features and the first car

Distinctive Rolls-Royce features from the very beginning was the reliability of cars. The first real model of the company was shown at the international transport exhibition in 1906 - it was a car with a very powerful steel frame, a 7-liter engine and six cylinders arranged in a row.

Logo and advertising

Rolls-Royce was positioned from the very beginning as "the best in the whole world", the most reliable cars. This was emphasized during advertising campaigns: no matter how much you use the car, you will not be able to break it. Such a case is known: businessman Claude Johnson, who doubted the veracity of advertising, went on a run in the first car of the brand. The run was organized specifically in order to identify the shortcomings of the car, but after 15 thousand miles (that's about 24 thousand kilometers) only one part broke - a fuel valve worth 2 pounds. At the same time, the businessman drove most of the way at a speed of 120 km / h.

Successes and failures

The company prospered even during the Great Depression - sales in the 30s were so good that the company was even able to absorb Bentley, which was then its main competitor.

The rescue

Rolls Royce now

Rolls-Royce is now one of the most expensive cars in the world, which is bought not so much because of reliability, but to demonstrate status and social position. Nevertheless, with the efforts of BMW, the brand overcame the crisis and became profitable again. The company sells several thousand cars annually, and in Russia last year they sold more than a hundred cars.

“For successful entrepreneurs in Russia, the Rolls-Royce brand remains the ultimate symbol of success,” said James Crichton, regional director of the brand.