The rise of Rolls-Royce
Luxury automaker steered a course into automotive history

I can still remember how excited I was the first time a Rolls-Royce came into the shop for work. That was more years ago than I care to remember, and while I have become rather jaded in respect to the "finest automobile in the world," the world in general has not.

Rolls-Royce established its reputation for excellence with the Silver Ghost, before the First World War. It was a technologically sophisticated car for its day and established many records of note. During the war the British government borrowed Ghosts from their owners, removed the bodies and replaced them with armoured car bodies with machine gun turrets and light cannons. The bodies were stored for the duration of the war and cars that survived had their original bodies replaced when they were shipped back to England.

The Ghost survived until its replacement by the Phantom 1 in 1925. The Phantoms were the top models of the Rolls-Royce line, but Rolls-Royce built less expensive but still elite automobiles, the best know being the Wraith.

These cars were represented as the finest cars in the world, yet all suffered from very real deficiencies. In most cases the cars were severely underpowered for their weight. This resulted in additional strain on engines that were overly complicated. One trick that Rolls-Royce mastered was the art of over-engineering. This was done not to make the car more reliable or give it higher performance; it was instead used to give the car exclusivity. In many cases this exclusivity resulted in cars that were far less dependable than many other automobiles of the day, even those considerably cheaper.

Before the Second World War, Rolls-Royce motorcars were built with a chauffeur in mind - the owner was safely ensconced in the opulent back seat. Chauffeurs were often sent to a special Rolls training school where everything from the removal of the car's crankshaft to proper driving etiquette, such as not allowing the hands to be seen above the halfway point on the steering wheel, was taught.

Rolls-Royce had a major role building engines during the Second World War. Their engines not only equipped ground vehicles of all types, but were the war's premier aero engines, powering aircraft like Spitfires, Hurricanes and Mustangs.

After the war society changed and the Rolls-Royce along with it. The middle class rose to become the economic power and the U.S.A. replaced Europe as the centre of modern culture and technology. In this marketplace Rolls had to change or die.

Initially Rolls-Royce motorcars were not even intended to be shipped the U.S. Instead, the Mark V and Mark VI Bentleys were supposed to bear the market. It was not long before Rolls learned that few in North America really knew or understood what a Bentley was. The company hurriedly replaced the curved and elegant Bentley grille and mascot with the square Rolls grille adorned with the Spirit of Ecstasy and renamed the car the Silver Dawn.

The carmaker had its work cut out for it, however, as Americans clamoured for new Cadillacs and Lincolns - luxury cars that were intended to be owner driven. The chauffeur became an affectation, one that few Americans were interested in promoting. Europe, still reeling from the war, had little use for a servant class or luxury cars for that matter, so the company found itself desperately needing to rethink its automobiles.

In the decades following the war, Rolls-Royce's aviation engine division soared, but the automobile division had many painful lessons to learn. Lessons never fully absorbed.

In the next column, Rolls-Royce limps through the second half of the 20th century.