Unit 32
The Founders of Rolls-Royce (I)
Strive for perfection in everything you do.
Take the best that exists and make it better.
When it does not exist, design it.
-- Henry Royce
Rolls-Royce is any of the large luxury cars manufactured by the British company Rolls-Royce. Many people recognize them by the small metal statue on the front of every Rolls-Royce. The company was founded by Charles Stewart Rolls and Frederick Henry Royce, who came from very different backgrounds with different educations and, until shortly before they met, their careers were going in very different directions. Yet in 1904, they joined forces to build and sell motor cars. And, just two years later, the partnership had produced the Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost: a car acclaimed as the "best in the world".
In the late 1800's, Henry Royce and Charles Rolls were going through experiences which made their meeting and the cars they produce almost inevitable. Royce, the son of a miller, had, by any standards, a difficult start in life. He began work at 10, selling newspaper. But he soon found his first real job working as an apprentice for the Great Northern Railway in Peterborough. It was while he was there that he learnt most of the basics of engineering. Even at that age, Royce was determined to do well because he set about teaching himself foreign languages, algebra and the fundamentals of electricity. At 19, he went to Liverpool as technical advisor to the Lancashire Maxim and Western Electric Company. And then, just three years later, he and a partner set up business in Manchester, making electric light fittings and cranes. Such was Royce's determination that by the turn of the century the order books were full and the business was going from strength to strength.
All this, of course, was quite an achievement for someone who had started almost literally with nothing. But the real turning point was yet to come. This happened in 1903 when Royce bought himself a second hand French car. The car was difficult to start; it overheated with depressing regularity; it vibrated; it was unreliable and the ignition system was hopelessly inefficient. This may be the point which annoyed Royce the most. He was, after all, quite an expert in electricity in his own right. Royce later became so disappointed with the car that he decided, in his characteristic style, that he could do better himself. And just a few days later, he announced to his colleagues that he was going to build three 2 cylinder motor cars of his own design. The first of these, designed and built almost completely by Royce himself, rolled out the factory gates in the spring of 1904. The first car was a success in almost every way; it started easily, ran smoothly and quickly was very reliable, something which never failed to impress everyone who saw or rode in the car. |