Rolls-Royce Reflects on Unique 116-Year History
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars records another chapter in its long story thisweek.Itwasonthisdayin1904 that The Hon Charles Rolls first met Henry Royce at the Midland Hotel, Manchester – an encounter after which the motor car, and the world of luxury, would never be the same again.
Itiswithafittingsenseofhistoricalsymmetrythat production resumes at the Home of Rolls-Royce on 4th May, the anniversary of Rolls first declaring of Royce, “I have met the greatest engineer in the World.”
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Lagos owned by Coscharis Motors Plc is the exclusive franchise ownerforRolls-Roycevehiclessalesandservicesin Nigeria.Itcurrentlyhasshowroomsandworkshops located both in Lagos and Abuja.
Astatement by General Manager, Marketing and Corporate Communications, Coscharis Group, Abiona Babarinde, quoted Rolls-Royce to have said together, Rolls and Royce shared a vision to make the future of motoring extraordinary. Henry Royce, an engineer, had a desire for perfection and an innate work ethic that later became the pillar of Rolls-Royce philosophy; “Take the best that exists and make it better.”
Charles Rolls, an aristocrat, was an accomplished motorist, experienced in selling imported foreign motor cars. His business partner, Claude Johnson, stepped into the role of Managing Director of Rolls and Royce’s venture and expanded the fledgling company’s reputation.
The company they founded has faced extraordinary challenges and difficulties throughout its 116-year history. Though still in its infancy, RollsRoyceenduredin1918whenthegreatestpandemic of the 20th Century, Spanish Flu, swept the world. Adecade later, it again stood firm when the Great Depression laid waste to the global economy. Over the years that followed, Rolls-Royce has withstood the shocks of economic and political crises at home and overseas, embodying calm and constancy in a tumultuous, uncertain world.
Initsmorerecenthistory,thecompanyweathered the financial crash of 2008 and came out the other side more resilient and determined than ever. The marque has always risen to every challenge with ingenuity, commitment, courage and solidarity, so while Covid-19 is possibly the biggest test RollsRoyce has ever faced, it’s certainly not the first.
For the current generation of the Rolls-Royce family, working from home has been a new experience. For Sir Henry Royce, however, it was entirely normal.Indeed,someofhismostinfluentialdesigns were produced in the private studio he maintained at his home – Elmstead – at West Wittering, just eight miles from the present-day manufacturing plant and global Head Office.
Royce clearly found inspiration and creative energy in the peace, quiet and solitude that working away from the bustle of the office and factory provided. Famously, while walking on the nearby beach one day, he sketched the initial design for the R-series aero engine in the sand with his walking-stick. Stories by Bennett Oghifo