Rolls-Royce Motors

Current Rolls-Royce production is by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. This business entity has been absorbed as part of Bentley Motors. For other uses, see Rolls-Royce (disambiguation).

Rolls-Royce Motors was created from the demerger of the Rolls-Royce car business from Rolls-Royce Limited in 1973. The original Rolls-Royce Limited had been nationalised in 1971 due to the financial collapse of the company, caused in part by the development of the RB211 jet engine. In 1973 the British government sold the Rolls-Royce car business to allow nationalized parent Rolls-Royce (1972) Limited to concentrate on jet engine manufacture.

In 1980, Rolls-Royce Motors was acquired by Vickers. In 1998, Vickers decided to sell Rolls-Royce Motors. The leading contender seemed to be BMW, who already supplied engines and other components for Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars. Their final offer of £340m was outbid by Volkswagen, who offered £430m. As part of the deal, VW acquired rights to the "Spirit of Ecstasy" mascot and the shape of the radiator grille.

However, the Rolls-Royce brand name and logo were controlled by aero-engine maker Rolls-Royce plc, and not Rolls-Royce Motors. The aero-engine maker decided to license the Rolls-Royce name and logo to BMW and not to VW, largely because the aero-engine maker had recently shared joint business ventures with BMW. BMW paid £40m to license the Rolls-Royce name and "RR" logo, a deal that many commentators thought was a bargain for possibly the most valuable property in the deal. VW claimed that it only really wanted Bentley anyway. Bentley was the higher volume brand, with Bentley models out-selling the equivalent Rolls Royce by around two to one.

VW had rights to the "Spirit of Ecstasy" mascot and the shape of the radiator grille but lacked rights to the Rolls-Royce name in order to build the cars. Likewise, BMW lacked rights to the grille and mascot. After negotiations, BMW and VW arrived at a solution. From 1998 to 2002, BMW would continue to supply engines for the cars and would allow VW use of the Rolls-Royce name and logo. On January 1, 2003, only BMW would be able to name cars "Rolls-Royce", and VW's former Rolls-Royce/Bentley division would build only cars called "Bentley". The last Rolls Royce from the Crewe factory, the Corniche, ceased production in 2002, which time the Crewe factory became Bentley Motors, and Rolls-Royce production was relocated to Rolls-Royce Motor Cars in Goodwood, England.

Cars

• 1965–80 Silver Shadow — the first Rolls-Royce with a monocoque chassis; started with a 6.23 L V8 engine, later expanded to 6.75 L; shared its design with the Bentley T-series
• 1968–91 Phantom VI
• 1971–96 Corniche I-IV
• 1975–86 Camargue styled by Paolo Martin with a Pininfarina body
• 1980–98 Silver Spirit/Silver Spur — design shared with the Bentley Mulsanne

Bentley models were produced mostly in parallel with the above cars. The Bentley Continental coupés (produced in various forms from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s) did not have Rolls-Royce equivalents. Very expensive Rolls-Royce Phantom limousines were also produced.

VW era

• 1998–2002 Silver Seraph — This shared its design with the Bentley Arnage, which sold in much greater numbers.
• 2000–02 Corniche V — This two-door convertible shared its design with the Bentley Azure and was the most expensive Rolls-Royce until the introduction of the 2003 Phantom.

See also

• Bentley
• Rolls-Royce of America
• Luxury vehicles
• Brewster

Further reading

• Richard Feast, Kidnap of the Flying Lady: How Germany Captured Both Rolls Royce and Bentley, Motorbooks, ISBN-7603-1686-4

External links

• Video (RT 05:02) Showcasing 1988 Silver Spur.

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Rolls-Royce vehicles

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