General Information

Henry Royce was an apprentice railroad engineer who later turned to the production of electrical devices.  In 1903 he bought a Decauville automobile, but Royce soon grew tired of its unreliability and decided to produce his own car instead of continuously tinkering with one.  Meanwhile, Charles Rolls had earned a degree in mechanical engineering and was a  successful automobile dealer as well as a highly skilled driver.  His desire to be associated with only the best cars led him to Royce, and the two soon formed a partnership.  The first Rolls-Royce model, the 40/50 HP, set several long-distance reliability records.  Its silent operation and unpainted aluminum body gave rise to the name ‘Silver Ghost.’ The Rolls-Royce quickly became known as the “best car in the world” for its quality and reliability.  Until WWII all Rolls-Royces were coachbuilt cars, meaning that the factory did not supply the bodywork.  Instead, the buyer would have a specialist build a body to suit his or her specifications.  Factory bodies were first offered after the war, and the later switch to unibody construction forced R-R to almost completely abandon the practice of coachbuilding.  Standardization did help the company’s bottom line.  The Silver Shadow, which came out in 1965, was the first profitable model since the Silver Ghost ended production in 1925!  Even though a Rolls-Royce was one of the most expensive cars in the world, it was built with such unstinting regard for quality that it was still sold at a loss, and the company was only able to balance its books through the sale of aircraft engines. 

Rolls-Royce was acquired by the Volkswagen group in 1998, but they only kept the Bentley brand, selling the Rolls-Royce name to BMW.  BMW only got the name and logo, so all subsequent models are completely different from previous Rolls-Royces.  Although the cars now use a number of German components, they are still entirely made almost entirely by hand in the classic Rolls-Royce tradition.  Two robots spray the paint, but it is still hand-polished between coats.  The Phantom was introduced in 2003 and is R-R’s first model since the BMW buyout.  It is as supremely luxurious as one would expect, and is available in an astonishing 44,000 colors.  It is a preferred vehicle among the rich and famous, including actor Nicolas Cage, who at one point owned nine of them.  Subsequent financial trouble forced him to sell many of his cars, including this beautiful example of the best car in the world.