Rolls-Royce Cars

Rolls-Royce Cars

Introduction

• Considered to be the ultimate automobile manufacturer.
• Founded by Henry Royce and Charles Stewart Rolls in 1904.
• The symbol of British automobile prowess.

Changing hands

• Part of Rolls Royce Limited which also manufactured jet engines.
• Consisted of Rolls Royce and Bentley brands.
• Demerged from the original company in 1973 after it was nationalised.
• Bought by Vickers in 1980 which sold it to Volkswagen and BMW.
• Bentley went to VW and Rolls Royce to BMW.

The Spirit of Ecstacy

• The mascot of Rolls-Royce.
• In form of a woman leaning forward with her arms outstretched behind and above her.
• Billowing cloth runs from her arms to her back, resembling wings.

The First Rolls-Royce: 10hp

• The first Rolls-Royce made in 1904.
• 1800 cc – 12 hp at 1000 rpm.
• Top speed of 63 km/hr.
• Only 16 were made between 1904-1906.

Silver Ghost

• First car from the official Rolls-Royce company.
• More than 6000 were sold.
• Was responsible for the company’s reputation.
• RR opened a factory in Massachusetts in 1921 where 1706 Silver Ghosts were built.

RR in the battlefield

• The Silver Ghost was used by the British Navy to raise its first Armored squadron.
• They were used both in World War 1 and 2.
• The cars were an important advantage for the British forces during the war.

Rolls Royce for the masses

• To counter the Great Depression and the dwindling sales, RR ame out with Twenty – its small car.
• The company dropped its one car at a time strategy.
• The car costed £1100 in 1930s.

Bentley and RR

• RR bought Bentley when the latter failed after the Great Depression.
• The purchase was so secret that even Bentley founder W.O.Bentley didn’t knew that RR was the buyer.
• Bentley was at that time a complete sports brand like Lamborghini today.
• Is used by James Bond in the original books by Ian Fleming.
• Was sold to the Volkswagen group in 1998.

• RR used Bentley as sports-versions of its own cars. But that changed in 1980s with the Mulsanne that re-established Bentley as a premium sports model.

Famous Bentleys during RR

• Azure

Shaping the auto world

• Rolls-Royce is known to be the shaper of the automobile evolution. Lets see that with the two Phantoms. The original which came in 1925 and the new model which debuted in 2003.

The original Phantom

The current Phantom

Studying the Phantom

• Made by BMW
• 6.75 L, 48-valve, V12 Engine – 453 bhp
• Direct Injection Fuel Management
• Maximum torque 720 NM @3500 rpm
• 0-100 km/h in 5.9 seconds
• Top speed – 240 km/hr – auto-cutout
• Price starts at $300,000 (Rs. 1.5 crores)
• Modifications and taxes extra

The Dashboard

The Rear

Current Models

• The regular Phantom has 2 variants:
• Phantom Drophead Coupe – 2 door convertible

Rolls Royce Phantom Coupe

• 2-door 4 seat version

Trivia about Phantom

• Customers can choose from 44,000 colors and any leather trim.
• Instead of a tachometer, the Phantom uses a “Power Reserve Dial” – to show how much power is still available for driver.
• The rear-doors are rear-hinged called “suicide doors”.
• The traditional “Spirit of Ecstacy” has an automatic retraction mechanism to prevent theft and tampering.
• The RR logos on wheels always stand upright.
• The “Bespoke” program of RR creates any feasible feature that the customer wants.

RR and India

• The Indian kings were the biggest customers of RR in the pre-independence days.
• RR was imported by the Indian rich until it was officially launched last year.
• Inspite of economic recession, RR has sold 70 Rs. 3 crores Phantom in the last year.
• Indian designer Dilip Chhabria re-designed a RR Silver Coupe for a NRI client making it into a Rs. 4 crore sports car.