Rolls Royce Cars

Rolls Royce is the epitome of luxury and style, and for many years, the brand has set the standard that most other car makers can only aspire to. Rolls Royce's current lineup is very small; it only has one model, the Phantom. Here, you will learn more about the history of Rolls Royce and some of its cars.

Rolls Royce Ltd. was formed in 1906, as a partnership between Frederick Henry Royce and Charles Stewart Rolls. The 6-cylinder Silver Ghost was launched that year, and from the beginning, the company's commitment to excellence was evident. The Silver Ghost was made with great attention to detail and it quickly earned worldwide acclaim.

During the 1920s, Rolls Royce built another factory in Springfield, Massachusetts; it did so in order to keep up with rising consumer demand. That factory stayed open for a decade, and the 20s also saw the Phantom I's launch. The Phantom I was powered by an overhead-valve motor with detachable heads, which was very state-of-the-art at the time. Rolls Royce added to its cachet with the acquisition of Bentley in 1931, and for decades after that, Bentley and Rolls Royce vehicles were mechanically almost identical.

In the 1940s, the Crewe factory opened, and the first Rolls Royce made after the war was called the Silver Wraith. This car was important because it was the last Rolls whose body was made by a coachbuiilder; after the Wraith, all car bodies were built by an in-house team.

The Phantom IV was launched in 1950; it was powered by a beefy eight cylinder engine. This car was Rolls' most exclusive model ever (just 18 were made, and all went to heads of state and royals). The Silver Clouds I and II also debuted during the 1950s, and during the 1960s, they were followed by the Silver Cloud III, the Phantom VI and the Silver Shadow.

Rolls Royce, like so many other car makers, had trouble in the 1970s. There were issues with an engine contract, which forced the company to eventually declare bankruptcy. Rolls was only saved by the British government's nationalization effort.

During the 80s, Rolls Royce was bought by Vickers PLC, and the Silver Spirit was debuted in 1981; it was the first in a new line of Rolls Royces. The Silver Spirit was built in order to meet more stringent new emissions and safety regulations, and it was styled in order to appeal to younger buyers.

The company changed ownership again in the 1990s; Vickers ended up selling it to Volkswagen after a failed bid by BMW. VW relinquished control of Rolls Royce on January 1, 2003, but kept Bentley. BMW built a facility in the Goodwood area of England to build Rolls Royces.

Today, the Rolls Royce stable is made up of three Phantom models: the sedan, drophead (convertible) and the coupe. There is also the Ghost, the "entry level" Rolls, and while there are other automakers selling cars at comparable prices, Rolls Royce offers a combination of style and refinement that is hard to equal.