The history of Rolls Royce brand vehicles and jet engines starts with the founding of the Rolls-Royce brand by Charles Rolls and Henry Royce. It all started in 1884. At the time, Henry Royce was running an electrical and mechanical business while Charles Rolls was the proprietor of a motor car dealership.
Henry Royce made the Royce 10, a two-cylinder car which Charles Rolls agreed to sell at his dealership although he preferred three or four cylinder cars at the time. Both went on to sell four models namely a two cylinder (£395 at the time), a three-cylinder (£500), a four-cylinder (£650) and a six-cylinder (£890). All the above cars had the Rolls-Royce badge.
The first Rolls-Royce 10 hp was unveiled in December 1904 at the Paris Salon leading to the formation of Roll-Royce Limited in 1906. The first factory was set up in Derby and production began in 1908.
After the Roll-Royce 10hp, the company went on to make the Roll-Royce 30 hp. This was designated as the 40/50 (The Silver Ghost) and 60,000 of these were made. When World War I (1914) began, Roll-Royce began manufacturing aero engines. The first aero engine was the Rolls-Royce’s Eagle made in 1915.
In 1922, Rolls-Royce introduced the Twenty car model which was cheaper. This was followed by the introduction of the Phantom car model, 3 years later and the acquisition of Bentley in 1931.
Rolls-Royce began manufacturing Griffon and Merlin aero engines in 1938 and during World War II, they went into jet turbines. At the time, they made significant advancement in gas engine designs. They include the Tyne and Dart turboprop engines. These engines enabled airlines to cut times, especially for short journeys.
Another jet engine that was made at the time was the RB163 Spey which powered the BAC One-Eleven, Fokker F28 Fellowship, and Grumman Gulfstream II.
Since 2000, Rolls-Royce has manufactured the following engines:
V-22 Osprey - used on the tiltrotor aircraft by US Marine
Trent 1000 - used on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner
Trent 900 - powered the Airbus A380
Trent XWB - powered the Airbus A350
Today, the company is headquartered in Goodwood and it continues to produce the following car models:
Phantom ($450,000 for the 2018 base model)
Cullinan($325,000 for the 2018 model)
Ghost($250,000 for the 2018 model)
Wraith($462,000 for the 2018 model)
Dawn($341,000 for the 2018 model)
Black Badge($350,000 for the 2018 model)
References
https://www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com/en-GB/house-of-rolls-royce/the-history-of-rolls-royce.html#
https://www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com/en-GB/house-of-rolls-royce/a-greener-goodwood.html#
https://www.rolls-royce.com/about/our-history.aspx
