Charles Stewart Rolls 27 August 1877 to 12 October 1910 - 33 years.





At the time Rolls was born F. H. Royce was resident in the Old Kent Road, London and may well have been a tenant of the Rolls' Estates and as he was a Post Office messenger until September 1877 when he was apprenticed to the Great Northern Railway, quite possibly delivered congratulatory telegrams to Mrs. Rolls on the birth of Charles. The Rolls family soon acquired a permanent London address - South Lodge, Rutland Gate, South Kensington. Rolls attended Mortimer Vicarage Preparatory School in Berkshire and then Eton until March 1894. He installed a dynamo at The Hendre and wired part of the house. He crammed to gain entrance to Cambridge University at Trinity College where he was a keen cyclist and gained a half Blue in 1896 and made Captain 1897.







CSR made his first balloon flight on 8 September 1898. This is shown above.

In 1900 Rolls won the 1,000 miles reliability trial promoted by Lord Northcliffe and organised by his partner, Claude Johnson, also a founder member and Secretary of the Automobile Club. A picture of a similar Panhard motor car is shown below.





Above, Claude Johnson.

In 1903 Rolls established a world land speed record of 93 mph in Dublin driving a 30 hp Mors. This was a French car models of which he imported and distributed.

In 1904, via a mutual friend and another founder member of the Automobile Club, a Mr. Henry Edmunds introduced Rolls to Royce about 4 May at the Midland Hotel, Manchester. Edmunds, pictured below, is known as the Godfather of Rolls-Royce and Claude Johnson The Hyphen in Rolls-Royce.



Rolls-Royce came into being at Christmas 1904 and from then on the 10 hp cars were so named as they were previously called Royce cars.

Rolls went to the New York Motor Show to exhibit Rolls-Royce cars in 1906 and also attended an exhibition organised by the Aero Club of America and was introduced to the Wright Brothers. This meeting gradually directed Rolls' interest from balloons to powered flight.

In April 1910 Rolls purchased the French Wright with a Wright Bariquand engine. It was not Rolls-Royce powered because Royce, having collapsed at work in 1902, was yet to design a Rolls-Royce aero engine. This was a tail-less wheel-less model aircraft really of 1909 specification. Rolls was relieved Rolls-Royce Limited of some duties in January 1910 to pursue aircraft interests.

Rolls completed the first double crossing of the Channel - England/France/England on 2 June 1910 in total flying time 95 1/2 minutes and is pictured below.









Fredrick Henry Royce 1863 to 1933.

In contrast to Rolls Royce, pictured below, described himself simply as mechanic. came Sir Henry was knighted in 1930 for his part in success in the Schneider Trophy races with his R engine giving 2,300 HP at 3200rpm










It should be remembered that in 1902 Royce collapsed through overwork and irregular meals. The extra work of dealing with the erection of the Trafford Park works and commercial competition from cheap imports had caused Royce to work too hard and long.



Rolls was to meet Royce in May 1904. Rolls was, with his manager Claude Johnson, then selling Minerva and Panhard cars, but wanted a good British car with at least 3 cylinders. Royce and Rolls were mutually impressed and Rolls agreed to sell all the cars that Royce could make. By December 1904 Royce was to produce for the Paris Salon 2,3 and 4 cylinder cars and a 6 cylinder engine. It took until February 1905 for a complete 6 cylinder car to be at the Olympia Show.



For similar logic and mechanical perfection the 2 cylinder engine crankshaft had a centre bearing. The 4 and 6 cylinder engines had groups of the original twin cylinder block. The 4 cylinder crank form was the well established two 180 degrees twins back to back balancing out primary forces and couples. The 6 cylinder being probably three twins in a row was very rough running and early attempts with a light flywheel at the front showed Royce the principle of the Lanchester crankshaft torsional damper.

Royce did not immediately make use of this discovery but solved the problem by using two 3 cylinder cranks in mirror image form about the middle of the engine. This principle was adopted for the 40/50 HP engine producing 48 BHP from 7,036 cc at 1,200 rpm. This the configuration of the engine in the Silver Ghost AX201 of 1907, pictured later.











Lord Montagu of Beaulieu declared the factory open and switched on the electricity.








Eleanor Thornton is shown above.

This lady had previously been secretary, while at the Automobile Club, to Claude Johnson. She was a career girl in current parlance and a very attractive lady. The mascot has changed in size over the years and in the period 1932 to 1950 an option of a kneeling type mascot was available and often used for Wraiths, the first Rolls-Royces with independent front suspension, and Phantom IIIs.

In 1911 Royce, who had been on holiday at Overstrand in Norfolk, was taken ill and was operated upon in Norwich. To recuperate he went to France in August and Claude Johnson, who had hired nurse Ethel Aubin to tend to Royce on a temporary basis, met him. Having been given only a few months to live Royce recovered well but was advised to remain in a warmer climate and follow a more relaxed routine. Claude Johnson had a villa at Le Canadel and nearby Royce built Villa Mimosa, the bureau for the design office and Le Rossignal to house the designers on handy.















Towards the end of its production the 40/50 HP series had servo operated four wheel brakes, electric lighting and starting and by 1925 a more efficient overhead valve engine was used in the New Phantom. The Silver Ghost, pictured below, had run its course and set the standard for 19 years.



From 1906 to 1959 a six cylinder engine became the norm for Rolls-Royce except for a short time in the late thirties for the PIII and its V12 configuration. In 1959 a V8 was introduced with the Cloud II. In normal Rolls-Royce practice this V8 engine has already been improved over 40 years.

Recent Specification Changes on Rolls-Royce Cars

Silver Spirit

Introduced in 1981 to replace the Silver Shadow. The car featured fully automatic airconditioning from the outset.

In 1987 fuel injection and anti-lock brakes were fitted to the cars.

1990 models had styling changes, a revised dashboard, alloy wheels and active damping fitted. The cars became known as Silver Spirit IIs.

In 1994 engine revisions were made and the car featured a four speed automatic and 20% more power. Twin airbags were the norm and the cars were called Silver Spirit IIIs.

In 1996 larger wheels and electric steering adjustment was added.

Silver Spur

A long wheelbase version of the Silver Spirit. In 1996 a 300hp turbo charged engine was fitted.

Silver Seraph

Introduced in February 1998, just before the Bentley Arnage. 5.3 litre V12 engine and five speed gearbox were standard.

The car was updated in late 1999 with additional legroom and GPS.

Production Numbers and Dates

Pre 1946

Dates Model Number Produced
1904 - 1906 10hp 16
1905 15hp 6
1905 -1906 20hp 40
1905 - 1906 30hp 31
1905 - 1906 V8 Legal Limit 3
1907 - 1925 40/50hp Silver Ghost 6,173
1921 - 1926 40/50hp Springfield Ghost 1,701
1922 - 1929 20hp 2,940
1925 - 1929 New Phantom (Phantom I) 2,212
1926 - 1931 New Phantom Springfield 1.225
1929 - 1936 20/25hp 3,827
1929 - 1935 Phantom II 1,672
1936 - 1938 25/30 1,201
1936 - 1939 Phantom III 710
1938 - 1939 Wraith 491

Post 1946

Dates Model Number Produced
1947 - 1959 Silver Wraith 1,783
1949 - 1955 Silver Dawn 785
1950 - 1956 Phantom IV 18
1955 - 1959 Silver Cloud 2,359
1959 - 1962 Silver Cloud II 2,716
1962 - 1966 Silver Cloud III 2,376
1959 - 1968 Phantom V 832
1965 - 1976 Silver Shadow 19,493
1965 - 1976 2 door/drophead 1,111
1968 - Phantom VI
1977 - 1981 Silver Shadow II 10,560

Some examples of Rolls-Royce Cars

The 10hp car, SU 13, and 40/50hp, AX 201, The Silver Ghost, at Windsor Castle in April 2002.

15hp car

The 40/50hp known as The Silver Ghost.



20hp with body by Hooper.

1929 Phantom II limousine.

1938 Wraith with body by Gurney and Nutting.

1965 Silver Cloud III Flying Spur by Mulliner.

Phantom V limousine by James Young.

Royal Phantom VI 1977.

1981 Corniche fixed head coupe.

Silver Spirit III.

2002 Silver Seraph Mulliner edition.

2002 Corniche.

2003 Phantom.

EX100