On 4 May 1904, Charles Rolls and Henry
Royce met for the first time at The Midland Hotel, Manchester; an
encounter that would change the course of automotive history. Exactly
115 years later, the marque they agreed to form that day continues to
set global standards for innovation and excellence, and uphold their
legacy as the originators of ‘the best car in the world’.
On 4 May 1904, Charles Rolls and Henry Royce met for the first time
at The Midland Hotel, Manchester; an encounter that would change the
course of automotive history. Exactly 115 years later, the marque they
agreed to form that day continues to set global standards for
innovation and excellence, and uphold their legacy as the originators
of ‘the best car in the world’.
Rolls and Royce would doubtless be astonished at the cars
produced under their names in 2019. The century (and more) that has
elapsed since their first 10hp machine made its debut at the Paris
Salon has seen materials, technology and manufacturing methods utterly
transformed. Yet in several key areas, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars retains
unbroken links to those pioneering days; and in its approach,
instincts and values, it would be immediately – and pleasingly –
recognisable to its founding fathers.
A return to coachbuilding
The lines and styling of the first Rolls-Royce cars
are clearly influenced by the horse-drawn carriages they replaced.
This is no coincidence, since they were handcrafted by the same master
coachbuilders, who effortlessly transferred their skills and artistry
from the outgoing tradition to the new technology. Coachbuilding at
Rolls-Royce ended in the 1960s, but in 2017, the craft made a
triumphant return in the form of ‘Sweptail’ – a fully bespoke,
coachbuilt commission for a customer seeking ‘the ultimate grand tourer’.
‘Sweptail’ is a truly unique creation, with a
never-to-be-repeated silhouette and individual interior touches,
including a champagne cooler specifically proportioned to hold only a
bottle of Dom Pérignon ’73. Nevertheless, with its Pantheon grille and
rear overhang, it remains absolutely true to the Rolls-Royce brand and
design language.
The Architecture of Luxury
Henry Royce began his automotive career by building
an improved version of the 10hp two-cylinder French Decauville – the
first car he bought when his eponymous electrical company became
successful. When Rolls saw and drove Royce’s machine, he knew he had
found a British car that could outshine the continental competition
and agreed to sell all the cars Royce could build. In its first two
years, Rolls-Royce produced a mere 10 cars: in 2018, it delivered
4,107 – the highest annual total in its history – to customers in over
50 countries.
To satisfy global demand for its products, the company has
developed a common platform that underpins all new models. Known as
The Architecture of Luxury, it comprises an aluminium spaceframe that
can be scaled to fit different applications by using different-sized
floor pans and cross members: new production processes ensure
stiffness and integrity, as well as delivering the company’s signature
Magic Carpet Ride.
Black Badge
Black Badge is Rolls-Royce’s response to a small and
select group of clients who have asked the marque for motor cars with
specific, focused characteristics that reflect their different take on
life, success and the luxury they consume. These people choose to
define themselves differently from their wider social group; a subset
within a subset.
For over a century such individuals, possessed of a dark and
restless spirit, have been drawn to Rolls-Royce’s unique allure.
Luminaries including Sir Malcolm Campbell, Howard Hughes and Muhammad
Ali have all shared the marque’s founding philosophy; an
uncompromising refusal to accept the status quo and a constant yearn
to innovate, create and advance.
Their restless spirit was also shared by the marque’s
co-founder; himself one of the great disrupters of his day. The
Honourable C.S. Rolls was a man in a hurry. Not satisfied with
fundamentally altering the road-car landscape, he sought more and
pursued his appetite for advancement and adventure in the air; a
passion that would ultimately lead to his untimely demise aged just 33.
It is this indomitable spirit that, since the launch of Black
Badge, has captivated so many of today’s young owners, who are drawn
to Rolls-Royce in the knowledge that no other luxury house is
possessed of the vision and flexibility to meet their demands both in
design and engineering terms. Indeed, Black Badge serves to amplify
the inherent characteristics that have driven so many new, younger
patrons of luxury to the marque.
In conceiving Black Badge versions of Wraith, Ghost and Dawn,
the marque’s Bespoke designers and engineers drew upon their
instinctive understanding of the unique lives of these extraordinary
men and women to create both design and engineering treatments that
perfectly amplify the inherent values of these great Rolls-Royces.
Black Badge models are the ‘alter egos’ of the standard models:
darker, edgier, with more power and torque and enhanced driving
dynamics to open up the Rolls-Royce brand to new audiences.
Styling details include a dark-chrome Spirit of Ecstasy, wheels
and carbon-fibre interior components, plus the ‘inverted’
black-on-silver ‘RR’ logo: as with every other Rolls-Royce, however,
customers can add whatever Bespoke elements they wish, so even a Black
Badge car can be any colour you desire.
Effortless, everywhere
In July 1917, a British diplomat, Hugh Lloyd-Thomas,
was dining in a Cairo club with his wife, Aileen, when a man in
flowing robes swept in and demanded: “Whose Rolls-Royce is this
outside?” When Aileen said it was hers, the man announced that he was
commandeering it “in the name of His Majesty’s armed forces” and drove
away. He was, of course, T. E. Lawrence, more familiar to millions as
Lawrence of Arabia; both he and the car would be immortalised in one
of the most famous photographs of the First World War.
A century after Lawrence’s exploits, Rolls-Royce once again
produced a car capable of conquering the most hostile environments on
Earth. The Cullinan super-luxury SUV caused an international sensation
on its launch in 2018, and set the new global standard in luxury
off-road motoring. Cullinan was engineered from scratch to enable
customers to go anywhere, see anything and do everything they desire
with total confidence, while cocooned in the comfort and splendour
embodied in the Rolls-Royce name. To prove its all-terrain
credentials, the car completed a 12,000-mile odyssey through some of
the world’s most challenging terrain, in partnership with National
Geographic. As well as the Scottish Highlands, the Austrian Alps and
the American West, Cullinan’s itinerary included the arid wastes of
the Middle East, where it effortlessly confirmed Lawrence’s assertion
that 'a Rolls in the desert is above rubies.'
“We are deeply conscious of our heritage: it is a tremendous
privilege to be continuing and building on work that began 115 years
ago,” says Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Chief Executive, Rolls‑Royce Motor
Cars. “But we also understand that our founders were visionaries,
always looking to do things in new and different ways. It’s that
spirit of excellence and innovation that Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
embodies and celebrates today."
