1913 the Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Formed

Heritage

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars was formed in 1904, following the historic meeting of the aristocrat Charles Stewart Rolls and Henry Royce in Manchester, England. These extraordinary individuals hailed from different backgrounds, but shared many traits. Most significantly, both were visionaries and passionate engineers. Henry Royce had established his reputation as a successful electrical engineer and businessman, prior to turning his skills to car making at the turn of the century. Charles Rolls, a pioneer in the exciting new fields of automotive and aviation, shared Royce's hands-on approach to nuts, bolts and moving parts.

By the time the men met, Royce had begun a car manufacturing operation in Manchester. Rolls, meanwhile, was retailing cars from a showroom in central London. Both were on record professing dissatisfaction with the quality of imported models upon which their respective operations were originally based. The meeting in Manchester - of men and of minds - established exclusive rights for Rolls to sell the British-built, and magnificently engineered Royce motor cars through his London showroom. Rolls-Royce was born.

Rolls and Royce Agreement - May 04 1904

The meeting led to an agreement that Rolls would exclusively sell as many cars as Royce could produce. The marque launched in 1904 following a verbal agreement made back in May although a formal agreement was not signed between the two until December. C.S. Rolls & Co were the sole agents for a series of two, three, four and six cylinder cars that broke the mould for engineering and craftsmanship. By 1907 Royce had created the first Silver Ghost, a car of legendary smoothness that completed a 14,371-mile virtually non-stop run that led a journalist to call it 'the best car in the world'

Rolls And Royce

On March 15 1906, Rolls-Royce Ltd. was officially registered with Charles S. Rolls and F. Henry Royce as directors. In 1904, Henry Royce, the founder of his self-titled electrical and mechanical engineering firm, built his first car. In May of that year, he met Charles Rolls, whose company sold cars in London. The two men agreed that Royce Limited would manufacture a line of cars to be sold exclusively by C.S. Rolls & Co.

The cars bore the name Rolls-Royce. Success with their partnership led to the formation of the Rolls-Royce Company. In 1906, just after the company was organized, it released the six-cylinder 40/50 horsepower Silver Ghost. The car was enthusiastically heralded by the British press as "the best car in the world."

1904 Rolls-Royce 10hp, two cylinder car

One of three Royce cars built, pictured in Cooke Street, Manchester, 1904

Rolls-Royce 10hp, 1904 - 1906

Rolls-Royce 15hp, 1905

Rolls-Royce 40/50hp Silver Ghost limousine by Hooper

Introduced in 1907, the 40/50 HP or Silver Ghost remained in production until 1925. Originally powered by a 7,036cc six-cylinder engine, this was increased to 7,428cc in 1909.

Best-known body styles included the Barker Tourer and the Barker enclosed cabriolet. First built in Royce's Cooke Street factory in Manchester, following its success the company moved to a custom-built factory in Nightingale Road, Derby.

The Original Silver Ghost

Rolls-Royce 30hp, 1905 - 1906

C.S. Rolls Stand, 1906 Olympia Motor Show

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