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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.
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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." From its formation to the start of World War I in 1914, Rolls-Royce focused on one
product--the Silver Ghost. The war forced new demands on the British economy, and Rolls-Royce shifted its manufacturing emphasis to airplane engines. Henry Royce's designs are credited with having provided half of
the total horsepower used in the Allies' air war against Germany, and World War II transformed Rolls-Royce into a major force in aerospace engineering. In 1931, Rolls-Royce absorbed Bentley, and, since then, it has
produced all cars bearing that name. Together Rolls-Royce and Bentley are synonymous with luxurious handmade cars.
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Charles Rolls
Charles Rolls trained as a mechanical engineer at Cambridge. The first undergraduate to own a car, he soon began racing and to fund his passion set up a car dealership, selling mostly
foreign cars. By 1903 he was looking for a supplier of reliable English cars which led to his introduction to Henry Royce. Rolls was also an accomplished pilot, he was the first aviator to complete a
double crossing of the English Channel. Tragically, he was killed when his aircraft crashed at an air show in July 1910
Henry Royce
Henry Royce had a passion for engineering and set up his first business at the age of 21. Known for his attention to detail and pursuit of perfection, he registered his first patent (the
bayonet lamp socket) in 1887 and went on to produce dynamos, electrical motors and world-renowned cranes.
Dissatisfied with his first car in 1902 - a Decauville - Royce characteristically decided he could improve on it and turned his attention to build the best motor cars in the world. By the
end of 1903 Royce had designed and built his first engine and the first of three prototypes took to the road in 1904
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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-Royce
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