Rolls-Royce to celebrate 110th anniversary

Charles Rolls and Henry Royce met for the first time on May 4, 1904 and decided to form a company. Little could one predict then that these two men were in the making of a brand that makes several heads turn. The first car that was born out of this collaboration was the Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost which ran a good 24,000km. The motoring company has come a long way since then, and will celebrate its 110th anniversary this weekend. The celebrations will take place at the Goodwood Motor Circuit in West Sussex and at The Midland Hotel, Manchester.

Rolls was an avid auto enthusiast and ran a car sales and service depot for other makes in London. Royce on the other hand was the owner of an engineering firm in Manchester, which already had its own car -Royce. Henry Royce was advised to meet Rolls by his business partners. The meeting took place at the Midland Hotel in Manchester and included a ride in the Royce car.

Rolls was impressed with Royce’s passion to build good cars, and thus agreed to sell all the cars that he could build. It was also decided in this meeting that the cars would be named Rolls-Royce. The Rolls-Royce radiator shape was devised along with the logo of two entwined first letters from each man’s surname shortly after this meeting.  

Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Chief Executive, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, says, “The company created by Charles Rolls and Henry Royce had a simple philosophy - the pursuit of excellence - and one that the whole team at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars strives for every day. I have no doubt that the company’s forefathers would be proud to see the exceptional cars made at the Home of Rolls-Royce at Goodwood, still bearing the linked RR letters.”

On May 4, the company will display three special contemporary motor cars- Wraith, Phantom Coupé and Ghost at the Supercar Sunday Breakfast Club meeting at the Goodwood Motor Circuit. A second event hosted by the Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts’ Club will take place at the Midland Hotel on the same day. Several early heritage Rolls-Royces cars will be put on display at this event.