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CLASSIC INTEREST
The Rolls-Royce myth falls flat
The automaker's arrival in America encounters speed bumps
By David Grainger
Thursday, March 11, 2004
After the Second World War the automotive industry in North America boomed and American cars became iconic of the power and prestige of a fully matured North American industrial juggernaut. British car companies, desperate for markets that no longer existed in Europe, aimed at what they perceived as a Utopian export market that promised unending riches.
The problem was that aside from a few small British sports cars, America viewed the British automobile as quaint, undependable and too small for everyday use. British car companies failed miserably at attracting any serious market attention and most withered on the vine. Rolls-Royce, by nature of its pre-war reputation and the outright arrogance of the company's claims of producing the finest car in the world, despite evidence to the contrary, did manage to eke out a small, but prominent market niche. The Rolls became a formal car fit for Hollywood stars, industrial tycoons and a very small and elite group of the very wealthy. It was not a symbol of success like the Cadillac; rather it represented old wealth and established American aristocracy. Unlike American cars, which during the '50s changed dramatically every two years and pushed the envelope of design and technology, Rolls-Royce laboured along with technology largely unchanged from the late 1930s.
In the '50s, Rolls-Royce offered very few different models and could not compete with the giants. It was a small and financially troubled little company that lacked the money to offer a wide range of models. Instead, its management chose to hide behind many of the myths that had circulated around the cars and their apparent exclusivity.
The general public believed that any Rolls-Royce was guaranteed for life, and even the smallest failure would be attended to by teams of mysterious technicians who would whisk the car away in closed vans after leaving a suitable replacement for the owner. Many of these legends are so entrenched that I have heard them time and time again, related by dozens of people in my showroom and at car shows. When I explain that no such warranties or masked technicians exist, it is often met with disbelief, and should I venture that in fact Rolls-Royces are cantankerous, barge-like and prone to a myriad of mechanical failures, I am met with a stony silence and hostile stare.
People rarely like their myths dispelled and take comfort in thinking that eventually they might actually one day own a car that has its slightest problems attended to immediately and for free. The reality is that when Rolls-Royces broke, which they did with great regularity, it was a time consuming and very expensive proposition.
Through the '50s the company had several models, including the Silver Wraith, Phantom, Silver Dawn and the best known of all Rolls', the Silver Cloud series cars. Clouds lasted from the mid-'50s to the late '60s, and while ponderous and slow, they epitomized the prestige of the marque. Their replacement was the Silver Shadow and it was with the Shadow that Rolls-Royce finally recognized that their cars were more often driven by owners than chauffeurs.
Shadows were the first to treat the driver as the most important occupant and offered all of the luxury and sophistication commensurate with an individual's ability to buy them. They were wonderful cars to drive, and while not sports cars, they at least faired well in traffic and had enough power to move along smartly. Unfortunately they were also mechanical nightmares, with overly complicated and badly designed braking and suspension systems, a tendency for engine fires and electrical systems that were problematic to say the least.
Over the years the Shadow evolved into other models and later cars became quite dependable, but the company's ability to keep up with technological advances in cars that were produced in such limited quantities became impossible. Sticker prices rose from two or three times that of an average car to 10 times, and other makers like Mercedes and BMW whittled away at Rolls-Royce's rather limited market.
After dodging insolvency for many decades the company was finally sold off to Volkswagen who then lost it to BMW.
Today the Rolls name survives, but the car does not. While the German company is producing cars bearing the legendary name, the world has changed and I very much doubt the marque's ability to survive.
The arrogance and lingering memories of empire that were the downfalls of Rolls-Royce were also the company's essence and a great part of its myth. It is the myth that kept it alive, and I seriously doubt that BMW or any company with efficient accounting departments will be willing or able to nurture that myth or enjoy sustaining the financial burdens associated with producing a car that carries the cachet, if not the reality, of being the finest automobile in the world.
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