The History of Rolls-Royce

Rolls-Royce is owned by BMW AG. The headquarters are in Goodwood, West Sussex County, United Kingdom. Rolls-Royce Limited was founded in 1906 by Henry Royce, a successful engineer, and Charles Stewart Rolls, owner of one of the first automobile dealerships, as a result of their partnership beginning in 1904. The company specialized in aircraft engines and passenger cars, but during World War I the company also produced armored cars.

In 1971, after the bankruptcy of Rolls-Royce Limited was nationalized, and in 1973, the automotive division was spun off into an independent company Rolls-Royce Motors, which, in turn, in 1998, was sold to BMW AG, where it got its present name. Interestingly, the acquisition of the company was fought for by two German auto giants - Volkswagen and BMW. However, as a result of negotiations, VW got the rights to the brand name Bentley, which since 1931 was part of Rolls-Royce, and the factory in Crewe, Cheshire, where VW manufactured old Rolls-Royce cars using BMW engines and components from 1998 to 2003. The Rolls-Royce brand name went to BMW, and a postponement until 2003 allowed BMW to build its own plant at Goodwood and develop an all-new Rolls-Royce Phantom model.

All Rolls-Royce cars are still made by hand. At the Goodwood plant, only the body painting operations are automated, with 12 coats applied. Each car is driven two thousand kilometers on the test track. After that, the car is disassembled and every part is checked. The final assembly of the car takes place according to the specific specifications of the customer.

The Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars are the official Rolls-Royce dealers in the United States. They represent three families of Rolls-Royce models on the market: the Phantom, Ghost, and Wraith. Do not forget to use Rolls-Royce VIN decoder in order to avoid potential problems when buying a used car.