Rolls-Royce celebrates 100th anniversary
One hundred years of engineering excellence went on display today as Rolls-Royce celebrated its centenary.
The company was born exactly 100 years ago to the day when engineer Henry Royce met Charles Rolls at Manchester’s Midland Hotel to agree to build and sell luxury cars.
The pair shook on the deal and a motor engineering legend was born.
Today some of Rolls-Royce’s vintage vehicles sat side by side with the firm’s latest model, the £250,000 (€370,000) Centenary Phantom, as staff returned to the hotel to pay tribute to the historic meeting.
Rolls-Royce chief executive Tony Gott posed for cameras flanked by some of the firm’s finest motoring specimens, the 1905 10HP, 15HP and even a Silver Ghost.
A huge aero-engine was also on display at the rear of the hotel complex.
Mr Gott said: “When Rolls and Royce met exactly one hundred years ago today it was no ordinary meeting. It was the beginning of a legend.
“The engineering excellence upon which the company was founded remains at the centre of all our plans for the future.”
The empire the pair created split into two sections; Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, which dealt exclusively with cars and is now owned by German motoring giant BMW; and Rolls-Royce, which builds aero engine, industrial and marine parts.
Charles Rolls, an aristocrat, was a car and plane enthusiast who was to die at the age of only 32 when he crashed while taking part in an airshow in Bournemouth.
Henry Royce, from a much poorer family, became one of the world’s great engineers and died aged 70 in 1933.
While producing some of the great cars in motoring history, Rolls-Royce has also provided the power for numerous aircraft including Concorde.
