Foundation of Rolls Royce Limited

Frederick Henry Royce, a successful engineer and Charles Stewart Rolls, owner of one of the UK’s first motor car dealerships, agreed to sell motor cars under the name Rolls-Royce. At that moment, a new company was born: Rolls-Royce.

The founding partners of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars came from very different backgrounds. Charles Rolls was born into the British aristocracy and enjoyed a privileged upbringing in the highest echelon of society. Henry Royce, however, was the son of a miller and forced to become the breadwinner in his family from the age of nine.

Charles Rolls and Henry Royce met for the first time on 4 May 1904 over lunch in the Midland Hotel, Manchester. Rolls-Royce Limited was created over a famous lunch on that day.

In the agreement, Rolls contracted to take all the cars built by Royce Ltd, who agree to deliver a range of two-, three- four- and six-cylinder chassis rate between 10 and 30 hp.

Rolls-Royce quickly earned a reputation for quiet, reliable cars. The company’s two-cylinder models could drive up to 38 miles per hour almost silently. In the 1930s, Rolls-Royce broke world records on land and sea. And automation saw the arrival of Phantom III – the first ever Rolls-Royce to be built with a V12 engine.

By 1980, British defense company Vickers had bought Rolls-Royce Motors Limited, producing Rolls-Royce alongside Bentley motor cars. The new Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1985.
Foundation of Rolls Royce Limited