An almost one-hundred-year-old success story that reads like a hollywood film-script: wherever you find a rolls-royce you will also find a horde of admiring fans. The founders When aristocrat Charles Stewart Rolls and impoverished miller’s son Frederick Henry Royce first met in 1904, they could never
Rolls-Royce Wraith
have guessed that they would be laying the foundations for the establishment of the most exclusive car in the world. Both men wanted to build the perfect automobile and both were perfectionists to their fingertips. Around two years later the first jointly planned and designed car, the Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, reached the market, where it was immediately hailed by automobile experts the best car in the world. After Rolls lost his life in an air crash in 1910 and Royce moved to the South of France for health reasons, Royce’s friend C.G. Johnson took over control of production at the Derby factory. However, Royce continued to produce all drawings and designs himself.
The Spirit of Ecstasy – the radiator mascot
die hollywoodreife geschichte einer bald 100-jährigen Erfolgsstory. Wo immer ein rolls-royce auftritt, zieht er Automobilfans aus aller Welt in seinen Bann.
At the request of Lord Montagu, sculptor Charles Sykes created a figurine known as “The Whisper” as a radiator mascot for the aristocrat’s Rolls-Royce. This figurine was modelled on Eleanor
die gründer
Thornton, the Lord’s secretary and inamorata. The idea became
Als Charles Stewart Rolls, der Spross aus einem
popular and established itself as common practice. Lord Montagu
Adelshaus, und Frederick Henry Royce, der Sohn
then recommended Sykes to Rolls-Royce, which commissioned
eines verarmten Müllers, 1904 erstmals aufein-
him to design another radiator mascot. Once again the model
ander trafen, war ihnen bestimmt nicht bewusst,
was Eleanor Thornton. The mascot was originally to be known
dass sie damit den Grundstein für den Bau der
as the “Spirit of Speed”, however, this name was deemed by
wohl exklusivsten Automobile legten. Beide hatten
Rolls-Royce to be un-British in its boastfulness. For this reason, the
den Wunsch, ein perfektes Auto zu bauen und
radiator mascot was named the “Spirit of Ecstasy”. From 1911
beide waren Perfektionisten. Rund zwei Jahre
onwards, the “Spirit of Ecstasy” crowned the radiator grill of every
später kam der erste gemeinsam geplante und
Rolls-Royce. The Rolls-Royce radiator bore the RR logo right from
konstruierte Wagen - der Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost
the start. Originally in red, the logo was later changed to black
- auf den Markt und wurde von den Automobil-
as red did not match all car colours.
experten sogleich als bestes Auto der Welt gerühmt. Nachdem Rolls 1910 bei einem Flugzeug-
difficult years
absturz sein Leben verloren und Royce seinen
As well as building cars, Rolls-Royce also specialised in aircraft
Wohnsitz aus gesundheitlichen Gründen nach
engines, particularly during the war years. However, the decline
Südfrankreich verlegt hatte, übernahm Royces
in aircraft engine production in the 1970s plunged the company
Freund C.G. Johnson die Aufsicht über die Pro-
into financial crisis. The company’s automotive business was split
duktion im Werk in Derby. Royce fertigte aber
off and, in October 1980, Rolls-Royce was taken over by the
weiterhin alle Zeichnungen und Entwürfe selbst an. Automobile
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