Rolls-Royce Motor Cars PressClub · Article.
ROLLS-ROYCE MOTOR CARS REFLECTS ON UNIQUE 116-YEAR HISTORY
04.05.2020 Press Release
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars records another chapter in its long story today. It was on this day in 1904 that The Hon Charles Rolls first met Henry Royce at the Midland Hotel, Manchester – an encounter after which the motor car, and the world of luxury, would never be the same again.
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Andrew Ball
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
- A unique moment of historical symmetry for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars occurs on 4th May 2020
- Date marks both the anniversary of first meeting between founders The Hon Charles Rolls and Henry Royce in Manchester, England on 4th May 1904 and resumption of production at Goodwood‑based manufacturing plant
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars records another chapter
in its long story today. It was on this day in 1904 that The Hon
Charles Rolls first met Henry Royce at the Midland Hotel, Manchester –
an encounter after which the motor car, and the world of luxury, would
never be the same again. It is with a fitting sense of historical
symmetry that production resumes at the Home of Rolls-Royce today,
4th May, on the anniversary of Rolls first declaring of
Royce, “I have met the greatest engineer in the World”.
Together, Rolls and Royce shared a vision to make the future of
motoring extraordinary. Henry Royce, an engineer, had a desire for
perfection and an innate work ethic that later became the pillar of
Rolls-Royce philosophy; “Take the best that exists and make it
better.” Charles Rolls, an aristocrat, was an accomplished motorist,
experienced in selling imported foreign motor cars. His business
partner, Claude Johnson, stepped into the role of Managing Director of
Rolls and Royce’s venture and expanded the fledgling company’s reputation.
The company they founded has faced extraordinary challenges and
difficulties throughout its 116‑year history. Though still in its
infancy, Rolls-Royce endured in 1918 when the greatest pandemic of the
20th Century, Spanish Flu, swept the world. A decade later,
it again stood firm when the Great Depression laid waste to the global
economy. Over the years that followed, Rolls‑Royce has withstood the
shocks of economic and political crises at home and overseas,
embodying calm and constancy in a tumultuous, uncertain world.
In its more recent history, the company weathered the financial
crash of 2008 and came out the other side more resilient and
determined than ever. The marque has always risen to every challenge
with ingenuity, commitment, courage and solidarity, so while Covid-19
is possibly the biggest test Rolls-Royce has ever faced, it’s
certainly not the first.
For the current generation of the Rolls-Royce family, working
from home has been a new experience. For Sir Henry Royce, however, it
was entirely normal. Indeed, some of his most influential designs were
produced in the private studio he maintained at his home – Elmstead –
at West Wittering, just eight miles from the present-day manufacturing
plant and global Head Office.
Royce clearly found inspiration and creative energy in the
peace, quiet and solitude that working away from the bustle of the
office and factory provided. Famously, while walking on the nearby
beach one day, he sketched the initial design for the R-series aero
engine in the sand with his walking-stick. A later development of that
design, the Merlin, would earn everlasting acclaim as the engine which
powered the legendary Supermarine Spitfire.
Royce’s home studio was also the birthplace of another, perhaps
less storied engine that nevertheless occupies an important place in
the annals of aviation achievement. In 1919, his Eagle VIII provided
the power for the first-ever transatlantic flight, from St John’s,
Newfoundland to County Galway in Ireland, by British adventurers
Captain John Alcock and Lieutenant Arthur Brown. Rolls-Royce Motor
Cars commemorated the centenary of their astonishing feat, and the
engine that made it possible, in the spectacular Wraith Eagle VIII
Collection Car, limited to just 50 examples, released in 2019.
Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Chief Executive Officer, Rolls-Royce Motor
Cars, said, “We are living through historic times. Our primary focus
is, of course, on safely resuming production at The Home of
Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, West Sussex; but in marking this amazing
anniversary, we are taking a moment to reflect on what 116 years have
taught us.”
He added, “As a company, we can draw strength from the knowledge
that although Rolls-Royce has faced uncertainty many times over the
years, it has emerged more resilient and confident, with its
fundamental principles unaltered. Our present challenges may be
unprecedented, but as we look to the future, I am confident there is
no company in the world better prepared to overcome them."