Daniel Priestley: February 2008 Archives
In 1904, 43 year-old engineer Henry Royce sat with a 27 year-old, pioneering car dealer, Charles Rolls to discuss the idea of selling his cars in Britain. In 1906, the pair formed their new company Rolls Royce Limited. In their first year of business, they won several awards for quality engineering.
Charles Royce was as passionate about airplanes as he was automobiles, forming the Royal Aero Club in 1903 and becoming the 2nd person to be certified by it. He broke several records in hot air balloons and aero-planes before disaster struck in 1910. Rolls was piloting a Write Flyer when the tail snapped off and he was the first Briton to die in a plane crash at just 33 years old.
Henry Rolls assumed custodianship of his partners legacy for excellence in automotive and aeronautic engineering and began manufacturing plane engines as well as cars in 1914. This proved to be a stroke of genius when war broke and Rolls Royce was able to finance its growth by making engines for planes during the war.
The company swelled and in 1931 bought out its rival, Bentley, during the great depression.
Today the Rolls Royce brand has the “Super Luxury Car” category almost entirely tied up, it works with Airbus and Boeing to provide state-of-the-art engines for their flying fleet and it's brand is one of the most well known and respected in the world.
Charles Rolls will never know the strength and importance of his legacy however by following his passion boldly he has become an immortalized figure in Briton's history.
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