Rolls-Royce

Rolls-Royce is a British brand that is widely known for producing luxury motor cars and aircraft engines. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars was sold to BMW AG in 1998 and the Bentley brand was sold out from under Rolls Royce to Volkswagen.

Rolls-Royce Timeline

1904: Rolls-Royce Limited is founded in Britain on May 4 by Henry Edmunds, Henry Royce and Charles Rolls.

1907: Royce creates the Silver Ghost.c

1921: The first Rolls-Royce factory opens in the U.S.

1922: The Rolls-Royce 20 HP debuts.

1925: The New Phantom, or Phantom I, debuts.

1929: The Rolls-Royce R engine is developed.c

1930s: Rolls-Royce engines break the land speed records at Daytona Beach in 1933 and again in 1937. The company develops Rolls-Royce R engine-powered speedboats. The Phantom II and the Phantom III debut.c

WWII: Rolls-Royce builds aero engines for the war effort. The Silver Wraith and the Silver Dawn debut.c

1950: HRH Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh

receive the first Phantom IV, designed exclusively for royalty and heads of state. Only 18 are produced.

1955: The Silver Cloud debuts.

1956-1960: The Phantom V debuts.c

1965: The Yellow Rolls-Royce film "stars" a yellow Barker-bodied Phantom II. The same year, Beatle John Lennon receives a Phantom V. The Silver Shadow I debuts.c

1970s: Rolls-Royce relaunches into two separate companies - Rolls-Royce Limited for the aero division and Rolls-Royce Motors Limited for the motor car division. The Corniche, Camargue and Silver Shadow II debut.c

1980: The British defense company, Vickers plc, buys Rolls-Royce Motors Limited.

1983: The Silver Spirit debuts.