Tag Archive for: Torsten Müller-Ötvös

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SIR HENRY ROYCE (1863 – 1933): DRIVEN BY PERFECTION

SIR HENRY ROYCE (1863 – 1933): DRIVEN BY PERFECTION

  • Rolls-Royce marks the 160th anniversary of the birth of co-founder Sir Henry Royce
  • A look back at his remarkable life and work reveals a driven, even obsessive character and a relentless work ethic forged in childhood poverty and frequent adversity
  • The quest for perfection extended to every aspect of Royce’s professional and personal life
  • His famous maxim “Strive for perfection in everything you do. Take the best that exists and make it better” still informs and inspires the company’s activities today

“Sir Henry Royce bequeathed to the world an extraordinary legacy of engineering innovation and achievement. He also left us, his successors at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, an unequivocal instruction: ‘Strive for perfection in everything you do. Take the best that exists and make it better’. Sir Henry himself lived out this maxim in every aspect of his personal and professional life. Today, as we mark the 160th anniversary of his birth, his challenge still informs and inspires everything we do. It serves as a constant reminder that perfection is a moving target: it is never ‘done’. There is always something we can refine, adjust, rework, reinvent or innovate in our pursuit of perfection; and that is what makes our life and work here so exciting.” Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Chief Executive Officer, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars

Sir Henry Royce’s uncompromising command, “Strive for perfection in everything you do. Take the best that exists and make it better” is one of the most famous quotations in automotive history. It is also a maxim that rings down the ages, and still inspires and informs the company that bears his name.

As Rolls-Royce marks the 160th anniversary of Sir Henry’s birth, we look back at his remarkable life and career, in search of the origins of his most celebrated and oft-repeated exhortation. What drove his own lifelong striving for perfection; and how did his relentless, some might say obsessive, desire to improve and refine manifest itself in both his work and domestic spheres?

A LOT TO IMPROVE ON
Royce’s early life was one of hardship, poverty and disadvantage. The youngest of five children, he was born in 1863 into a family in perilous financial circumstances. Matters worsened considerably when his father, a miller, was finally declared bankrupt and, under the law of the time, ended up in prison.

It was against this unpromising backdrop that Royce’s character was formed. Yet he was determined to make a better life for himself, and by the age of just 10 was working in London, first as a newspaper seller and later as a telegram delivery boy.

Things appeared to be moving his way when in 1879, with financial support from his aunt, he secured a coveted apprenticeship at the Great Northern Railway (GNR) workshops in Peterborough. Instantly and obviously in his element, his natural aptitude for design and innate skill with tools and materials quickly become apparent. One early indicator of his talent was a set of three miniature wheelbarrows he made in brass; these pieces clearly demonstrate the exemplary standard of workmanship and quest for excellence he would maintain throughout his life.

VICISSITUDES
Royce’s drive for self-improvement came to an abrupt halt after two years, when his aunt was unable to pay his annual apprenticeship fee. Undaunted, Royce returned to London and, in 1881, began work at the fledgling Electric Lighting & Power Generating Company (EL&PG).

His decision to forsake traditional engineering for the emerging field of electricity was essentially a pragmatic one. Electricity was then so new it had no governing body or professional institutions, and thus no examinations to pass or standards to attain. Unlike in engineering, therefore, Royce’s lack of formal qualifications was no barrier to his progress.

His fascination for the subject, already formidable work ethic and commitment to study (he attended evening classes in English and Mathematics after work) meant that in 1882, the EL&PG, by now renamed the Maxim-Weston Electric Company, sent him to work for its subsidiary in Lancashire as First (Chief) Electrician, responsible for street and theatre lighting in the city of Liverpool. Yet again, however, circumstances conspired against him: through gross mismanagement in its acquisition of patents, the company abruptly went into receivership and Royce, aged only 19, found himself unemployed once more.

TAKING CHARGE
Although the parent company of his erstwhile employer chose to salvage what it could rather than sell off the remaining resources, Royce had had enough. Impelled by his innate drive, clear appetite for (calculated) risk and the abundant self-assurance noted by his contemporaries, he started up in business on his own.

In late 1884, he founded F H Royce & Co (he was christened Frederick Henry) in Manchester. Initially producing small items such as battery-powered door bells, the company progressed to making heavy equipment such as overhead cranes and railway shunting capstans.

But while the business was thriving, Royce himself was not. By 1901, his years of overwork and a strained home life were taking a severe toll on his health, which had probably been fundamentally weakened by the privations of his childhood.

His doctor persuaded him to buy a De Dion quadricycle as a way to escape the office and enjoy some fresh air; but before long, Royce’s health collapsed. A major contributing factor was his growing concern that the company was heading into financial problems; something that would perhaps have had particular significance for him given his father’s experiences.

The company owed its dwindling fortunes to an influx of cheap, or at least cheaper, electrical machinery from Germany and the USA that was able to undercut Royce’s prices. Ever the perfectionist, Royce himself was not prepared to enter a race to the bottom or compromise the quality of his products.

Complete rest was required, and he was eventually persuaded to take a 10-week holiday to visit his wife’s family in South Africa. On the long voyage home, he read ‘The Automobile – its construction and management’. The book would change his life – and ultimately, the world.

MAKING THE BEST BETTER
On his return to England, Royce ­– now fully revitalised both mentally and physically – immediately acquired his first motor car, a 10 H.P. Decauville. Given the still-parlous state of his company’s finances, this might have seemed a frivolous squandering of precious funds; but in fact, this purchase was a shrewd and calculated one that, in his mind, held the key to the company’s future prosperity.

The story usually goes that this first car was so poorly made and unreliable that Royce decided he could do better. In fact, his holiday reading had already focused his mind on producing his own car from scratch; he had already supplied a limited number of electric motors for the ‘Pritchett and Gold’ electric car. So contrary to the received wisdom, he chose the Decauville precisely because it was the finest car available to him, in order to dismantle it and then, in his most famous phrase, “take the best that exists and make it better”.

He began by building three two-cylinder 10 H.P. cars based on the Decauville layout. That he was the only person who believed this new direction could save the company is another sign of his tenacity and self-belief. Just as importantly, his attention to detail in design and manufacture, accompanied by a continuous review of components after analysis, set the production template he would follow until his death.

These first examples were followed by the three-cylinder 15 H.P., four-cylinder 20 H.P. and six-cylinder 30 H.P. – each of which represented significant advances in automotive design. In 1906, two years after the founding of Rolls-Royce, Managing Director Claude Johnson persuaded Royce to adopt a ‘one model’ policy. In response, Royce designed the 40/50 H.P. ‘Silver Ghost’, the car that rightly earned the immortal soubriquet “the best car in the world”.

The Silver Ghost demonstrated Royce’s almost uncanny instinct for using the right materials for components, long before scientific analysis could provide reliable data. He also worked out that the properties of fluids alter with speed, so designed the Silver Ghost’s carburettor with three jets that came into play at different throttle openings, thereby eliminating ‘flat spots’.

HOME AND AWAY
By 1906 it was obvious that Rolls-Royce’s Cooke Street works in Manchester could no longer accommodate the company’s rapidly expanding motor car production. Rolls-Royce acquired a site on Nightingale Road in Derby, where Royce designed and oversaw the building of a brand-new, purpose-built factory. He undertook this enormous and technically complex task on top of his normal workload, and demanded his customary exacting standards from all concerned, not least himself.

Given the relentless volume and pace of his work, Royce’s second serious health crisis in 1911 came as little surprise. Rest was again prescribed, and during the summer and autumn, Johnson drove him on a road trip that extended as far as Egypt. On the return journey, they stopped in the south of France, where Royce took a strong liking for the tiny hamlet of Le Canadel, near Nice. Ever the man of action, Johnson bought a parcel of land and commissioned a new house for Royce, plus a smaller villa for visiting draughtsmen and assistants. Royce himself naturally took a keen interest in the building work, basing himself in a nearby hotel.

His health, however, remained fragile. After a relapse which led to emergency surgery in England, he returned to the now-finished house to recuperate. For the rest of life, he (very sensibly) spent his winters at Le Canadel and the summers in the south of England.

From 1917, his English residence was Elmstead, an 18th-Century house in the village of West Wittering on the Sussex coast, just eight miles from the present-day Home of Rolls-Royce at Goodwood. Elmstead had some adjoining land, where Royce resumed his long-standing interest in fruit farming. Inevitably, he brought his desire for perfection to this activity, too, and he quickly became a leading expert in many aspects of farming and horticulture.

His domestic life at Elmstead throws further light on his perfectionist nature, which focused his attention on even the smallest actions of others. For example, any aspiring cook would be employed only if they boiled potatoes in the ‘right’ way – just as an unfortunate labourer in the Cooke Street works was once admonished and shown how to use a broom correctly.

A REMARKABLE LEGACY
Whether he was designing car components or aircraft engines, Royce’s search for perfection never waned; yet even he acknowledged that it was, in fact, unattainable. His mantra for his drawing-office staff was ‘Rub out, alter, improve, refine’, and that process of constant improvement and development led to some of his greatest engineering achievements. Under his direction, the Buzzard aero engine built in 1927 with an initial output of 825 H.P. was transformed in just four years into the Schneider Trophy-winning ‘R’ engine that, in its final form, was capable of producing 2,783 H.P. And his outline design for a V12 engine would appear almost unaltered in the Phantom III of 1936, three years after his death. An instinctive, intuitive engineer, he was a firm believer that if something looked right, it probably was right. His extraordinary ability to assess components by eye alone proved infallible time and time again.

Royce’s tendency to overwork, often at the expense of his own health, was a symptom of his quest for perfection, and a will to achieve it forged in hardship and adversity. He was a highly driven – some might say obsessive – man who overcame many setbacks and misfortunes, and applied his meticulous engineer’s eye, inquisitive mind and relentless work ethic to every aspect of his life. And such is the power of his ethos and legend, they still inform and inspire the company that bears his name 160 years after his birth.

                                                                               


Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the BMW Group and is a completely separate company from Rolls-Royce plc, the manufacturer of aircraft engines and propulsion systems. 2,500 skilled men and women are employed at the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars’ head office and manufacturing plant at Goodwood, West Sussex, the only place in the world where the company’s super-luxury motor cars are hand-built.

FURTHER INFORMATION
You can find all our press releases and press kits, as well as a wide selection of high resolution, downloadable photographs and video footage at our media website, PressClub.
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ROLLS-ROYCE y Electric power una profecía una promesa y un compromiso

ROLLS-ROYCE y Electric power una profecía una promesa y un compromiso

Rolls-Royce reflexiona sobre la herencia de la energía eléctrica antes del anuncio histórico. La electrificación se ha promovido durante mucho tiempo como el futuro de la propulsión automotriz. Antes de más declaraciones oficiales, invitamos a los medios a reflexionar sobre la herencia única de la marca en energía eléctrica, que es anterior a la fundación de Rolls-Royce, la compañía misma, e involucra a muchos de los principales protagonistas cuyos nombres estarán asociados para siempre con ella.

  • Rolls-Royce reflexiona sobre la herencia de la energía eléctrica antes del anuncio histórico
  • Extraordinaria profecía del padre fundador, Charles Rolls, revelada
  • Rolls defendió los autos eléctricos en 1900 y consideró que el modelo Columbia era el mejor de su tipo.
  • Royce, uno de los primeros ingenieros eléctricos, suministró motores a los primeros autos eléctricos.
  • El CEO, Torsten Müller-Ötvös, se comprometió a traer Rolls-Royce eléctrico esta década
  • Visite  www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com el 29 de septiembre a las 13:00 BST para ver el próximo capítulo de esta historia.

“En abril de 1900, nuestro antepasado fundador, Charles Rolls, hizo una profecía profética sobre la electrificación automotriz. Avance más de 120 años hasta que prometí públicamente, en actas, que traeríamos al mercado el primer Rolls‑Royce totalmente eléctrico en la década actual. Y, en este momento, nuestra empresa se está embarcando en una empresa histórica para crear el primer auto súper lujoso de su tipo. Esto sucederá antes de lo que muchos creían posible, gracias a las increíbles habilidades, la experiencia, la visión y la dedicación de nuestros ingenieros, diseñadores y especialistas en la sede de Rolls-Royce.

“En este esfuerzo innovador, nos basamos en una herencia notable, única en nuestra industria. Nuestros fundadores y quienes trabajaron junto a ellos en los años de formación de la marca fueron importantes pioneros de la energía eléctrica, así como los principales expertos de su era en ingeniería automotriz. Mientras anunciamos un nuevo futuro eléctrico en Rolls-Royce, me enorgullece y me honra compartir sus historias inspiradoras, que nunca antes se habían contado en un solo lugar, y arrojar una luz fresca y fascinante sobre los primeros días de nuestra compañía”.

Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Director Ejecutivo, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars

INTRODUCCIÓN

La electrificación se ha promovido durante mucho tiempo como el futuro de la propulsión automotriz. Los principales fabricantes están adoptando cada vez más la tecnología de vehículos eléctricos híbridos y de batería (BEV), respaldados por la expansión de las infraestructuras de carga nacionales.

Hasta la fecha, Rolls-Royce ha comunicado su estrategia de electrificación en tres simples declaraciones:

  • La marca presentará un automóvil totalmente eléctrico esta década (2020-2030).
  • Este automóvil será un BEV puro, no un híbrido de ningún tipo.
  • Se lanzará solo cuando sea el momento adecuado y cada elemento cumpla con los estándares técnicos, estéticos y de rendimiento de Rolls-Royce.

Existe un considerable interés y especulación de los medios en torno a los planes de Rolls-Royce. Antes de más declaraciones oficiales, invitamos a los medios a reflexionar sobre la herencia única de la marca en energía eléctrica, que es anterior a la fundación de Rolls-Royce, la compañía misma, e involucra a muchos de los principales protagonistas cuyos nombres estarán asociados para siempre con ella.

¿POR QUÉ ENERGÍA ELÉCTRICA?
El motor de combustión interna (ICE) no era el único medio de propulsión de los primeros automóviles de principios del siglo XX, ni tampoco el predeterminado. De hecho, a principios de la década de 1900, los ingenieros y fabricantes inicialmente dividieron sus lealtades precisamente entre tres tecnologías competidoras: el ICE, la energía de vapor y la electricidad.

La energía de vapor, aunque bien entendida, relativamente sofisticada y, en ese momento, omnipresente en la industria y otras formas de transporte, rápidamente resultó menos práctica para su uso en automóviles. Por lo tanto, recayó en la combustión interna y la electricidad para competir por la supremacía.

La energía eléctrica perdió la batalla por dos razones principales: alcance extremadamente limitado y la ausencia de una infraestructura de carga. Un siglo después, a pesar de los avances significativos, estos siguen siendo barreras para su adopción generalizada (aunque cada vez menos), tanto en términos de tecnología como de percepción del consumidor.

Pero las características que primero atrajeron a los ingenieros a la energía eléctrica (funcionamiento silencioso, par instantáneo, tremenda potencia y ausencia de gases de escape) siguen siendo muy atractivas, especialmente para los automóviles de lujo. De hecho, algunos han especulado que, si hubiera podido resolver los problemas de autonomía y carga, Sir Henry Royce podría haber elegido solo la energía eléctrica para sus automóviles.

La idoneidad innata y perfecta de la energía eléctrica sustenta el compromiso explícito de la marca de ofrecer un Rolls-Royce totalmente eléctrico esta década. Al hacerlo, puede aprovechar una historia y un patrimonio únicos; una conexión con la energía eléctrica que es anterior a la propia empresa, y que presenta a los principales protagonistas que, entre ellos, crearían la marca de automóviles más famosa del mundo, empezando por el propio Sir Henry Royce.

SIR HENRY ROYCE
Nacido en 1863, Henry Royce fue uno de los primeros ingenieros eléctricos del mundo. Después de que su aprendizaje en Great Northern Railway se vio interrumpido por razones financieras familiares, trabajó brevemente como fabricante de herramientas en Greenwood & Batley en Leeds, donde desarrolló su primer interés en la energía eléctrica.

En 1881, se unió a Electric Light & Power Generating Company (EL&PG) en Southwark. Durante este tiempo, asistió a clases nocturnas de electricidad en el City & Guilds of London Institute, habiendo recibido solo un año de educación formal cuando era niño. Un año más tarde, con solo 19 años, se trasladó a la nueva subsidiaria de EL&PG, Lancashire Maxim-Weston Electric Co. Ltd, como electricista jefe, proporcionando iluminación de calles y teatros en la ciudad de Liverpool. Pero al cabo de dos años, la empresa quebró y el famoso Royce, trabajador y motivado, se puso en marcha por su cuenta.

Su nueva empresa, FH Royce & Co, inicialmente fabricaba pequeños electrodomésticos como timbres, lámparas, fusibles e interruptores. El negocio prosperó y pronto comenzó a producir dispositivos más grandes y complejos, como dínamos, motores eléctricos y cabrestantes. En 1902, Royce suministró motores eléctricos para Pritchett & Gold, un fabricante de baterías con sede en Londres que se había diversificado para construir automóviles eléctricos.

Aunque el propio Royce nunca construyó ni fue propietario de un automóvil eléctrico, creó motores de combustión interna que brindaban la experiencia de conducción que hoy asociamos con la propulsión eléctrica: par sin esfuerzo, funcionamiento silencioso y la sensación de un engranaje continuo y potente. Su experiencia técnica y sus logros pioneros sustentan el reclamo histórico de la marca como líder mundial en electrificación tanto en entornos sociales como de lujo.

EL HONORABLE CHARLES ROLLS
El Excmo. Charles Rolls también fue un ingeniero muy talentoso; pero su entusiasmo por la electricidad comenzó incluso antes en la vida. Cuando solo tenía nueve años, instaló un timbre eléctrico entre su dormitorio y los establos en The Hendre, el hogar ancestral de la familia en Monmouthshire. También planeó y supervisó la instalación de electricidad en las dependencias de servicio; desplegando los poderes del arte de vender que luego lo harían mundialmente famoso, persuadió a su padre, Lord Llangattock, para que pagara por él.

La pasión de Rolls por los automóviles fue igualmente precoz. En 1896, con 18 años, viajó a París y compró su primer automóvil, un Peugeot Phaeton de 3¾ hp. Dos años más tarde, cuando aún era estudiante de ingeniería en Cambridge, adquirió su único automóvil eléctrico, un vehículo de fabricación estadounidense llamado The Columbia Electric Carriage, importado al Reino Unido por Paris Singer (heredera de la dinastía de las máquinas de coser) y vendido como el coche ‘City & Suburban’. Rolls consideró esto como el mejor disponible en ese momento.

En una entrevista publicada en The Motor-Car Journal en abril de 1900, Rolls describió la propulsión eléctrica en términos que, más de un siglo después, tienen el tono de una profecía profética:
“El automóvil eléctrico es perfectamente silencioso y limpio. No hay olor ni vibración, y deberían ser muy útiles cuando se pueden organizar estaciones de carga fijas. Pero por ahora, no anticipo que serán muy útiles, al menos durante muchos años por venir”.

Rolls hizo su propia pequeña contribución para resolver el problema, al proporcionar una estación de carga de baterías en su sala de exposición de automóviles en Lillie Road en Fulham para los Broughams eléctricos privados o de alquiler que estaban de moda en Londres en ese momento.

En 1904, Charles Rolls acordó convertirse en agente del automóvil eléctrico Contal Electromobile. Pero al conocer a Henry Royce y ver su nuevo automóvil canceló el acuerdo.

Como predijo correctamente, pasaría mucho tiempo antes de que los vehículos eléctricos fueran realmente viables a cualquier escala. Pero es tentador pensar que si este emprendedor visionario hubiera sobrevivido al accidente aéreo que se cobró su vida a la temprana edad de solo 32 años, el día podría haber llegado mucho antes.

UNA SERIE DE CONEXIONES
Si bien Rolls y Royce están inmortalizados como los fundadores, otros, quizás menos conocidos, estuvieron íntima y crucialmente involucrados en los eventos que llevaron a la creación de la marca Rolls-Royce. Ellos también fueron luminarias en los mundos de la automoción y la energía eléctrica a principios del siglo XX; la historia y la marca están en deuda con todo lo siguiente:


HENRY EDMUNDS
Al principio de su carrera, Henry Royce trabajó para Brush Electrical Engineering Company Ltd, donde conoció a Henry Edmunds, el ingeniero de la empresa. Edmunds se ganó su lugar en la historia cuando, el 4 de mayo de 1904, en el Midland Hotel de Manchester, anunció: “Sr. Royce, ¿puedo presentarte a Charles Rolls?

El hombre que sería recordado por la posteridad como ‘El padrino de Rolls-Royce’ era una figura destacada por derecho propio. Amigo de Joseph Swan (el inventor de la bombilla incandescente) y de Thomas Edison (el inventor de casi todo lo demás), fue un pionero de la iluminación eléctrica, la tracción y la telefonía, y estuvo presente tanto en la primera grabación de sonido exitosa como en la primera llamada telefónica. . También creó el primer ferrocarril subterráneo electrificado del mundo, cuando persuadió al ingeniero a cargo de City & Southwick Railway de Londres (ahora la rama de la ciudad de Northern Line) para operar trenes impulsados ​​por electricidad en lugar de vapor.

En 1888, Edmunds fundó WT Glover & Company, que se convirtió en el fabricante líder mundial de cableado eléctrico. En 1894, suministró cables de iluminación para un vasto complejo portuario y polígono industrial (el primero del mundo) que servía al Canal de Navegación de Manchester: la iluminación en sí fue diseñada e instalada por Henry Royce.

No existe ninguna prueba de que Edmunds jugara algún papel en el desarrollo de los automóviles de Royce. Sin embargo, era el automovilista más experimentado entre los amigos y colegas de Royce, por lo que presumiblemente ofreció consejos y aliento de expertos mientras Royce convertía minuciosamente sus ideas en realidad.


EA CLAREMONT
La sabiduría convencional afirma que Royce cofundó FH Royce & Co con un socio, EA Claremont. Sin embargo, la investigación ha demostrado que Claremont se unió a la empresa unos seis meses después de su formación; El propio Royce escribió: “Me indujeron a fundar… una pequeña empresa en mi propio nombre” y nunca se utilizó ninguna excepto la suya.

Si bien el mito original puede tener fallas, es cierto que las carreras de los dos hombres estuvieron estrechamente entrelazadas durante muchos años. Claremont fue socio de FH Royce & Company, director general adjunto de FH Royce & Company Limited, presidente de Royce Limited y primer presidente de Rolls-Royce Limited; ambos eran también miembros del Instituto de Ingenieros Eléctricos.


CLAUDE JOHNSON
De hombros anchos, extrovertido y un vendedor talentoso, Johnson era el autodenominado ‘Guión en Rolls-Royce’. En 1903, renunció a su cargo de secretario del Automóvil Club de Gran Bretaña e Irlanda, cuyos miembros incluían al ya mencionado Henry Edmunds, para trabajar en la compañía Paris Singer’s City & Suburban Electric Carriage.

Sin embargo, después de menos de un año, Johnson se fue para unirse a CS Rolls and Co, y luego se convirtió en Director General de Rolls-Royce Ltd. Fue responsable de gran parte de la publicidad inicial de la empresa: en los anuncios producidos para los mercados del Reino Unido y Estados Unidos, describió Rolls-Royce como “un coche de gasolina tan suave y silencioso como uno eléctrico”. Y para completar la simetría, Paris Singer se convirtió en la primera propietaria del mundo de un automóvil Rolls-Royce.

ELECTRIFICACIÓN EN LA ERA DE GOODWOOD
En el espíritu de estas figuras fundadoras, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars sigue siendo un pionero de la electrificación en la actualidad. Cuando el primer Rolls-Royce totalmente eléctrico de producción llegue al mercado, será la culminación del trabajo de investigación y desarrollo que ha estado en progreso en la Casa de Rolls-Royce en Goodwood, durante más de una década.


2011 – PHANTOM EE (102EX)
En 2011, la marca lanzó Phantom Experimental Electric (EE), con nombre en código 102EX; una versión eléctrica a batería completamente operativa y legal en la carretera de su producto estrella.

Phantom EE nunca fue pensado para la producción, sino que sirvió como un banco de pruebas de trabajo para clientes, VIP, medios y entusiastas para experimentar la propulsión eléctrica y compartir sus experiencias, pensamientos y consideraciones directamente con los diseñadores e ingenieros de Rolls-Royce.

El motor de gasolina V12 de 6,75 litros y la caja de cambios del automóvil se reemplazaron por una batería de iones de litio y dos motores eléctricos montados en el bastidor auxiliar trasero, conectados a una transmisión de una sola velocidad con diferencial integrado. Este sistema daba una potencia máxima de 290kW y un par de 800Nm, frente a los 338kW y un par máximo de 720Nm, entregado a 3.500rpm, del V12 Phantom de la época.

Si bien el Phantom EE recibió elogios generalizados por su logro técnico, particularmente su silencio casi total y su impresionante entrega de par, su alcance limitado, ciclos de carga prolongados y la duración de la batería de tres años siguieron siendo obstáculos importantes que Rolls-Royce tendría que abordar para satisfacer las expectativas de sus clientes.


2016: ROLLS-ROYCE VISION NEXT 100 (103EX)
Lanzado en 2016, este concepto de automóvil radicalmente innovador se propuso definir la visión a largo plazo de la marca sobre la movilidad de lujo. Presentó el automóvil como una oferta de movilidad personal verdaderamente individualizada y una experiencia sensorial y emocional inmersiva.

El 103EX se construyó en torno a cuatro principios de diseño clave:
La carrocería de carrocería permitirá a los clientes encargar un automóvil que refleje su visión personal. Un asistente virtual y un chofer impulsado por inteligencia artificial ofrecen un viaje sin esfuerzo. El interior crea un Gran Santuario, elaborado con materiales raros y exclusivos. Y con su tamaño y escala, 5,9 metros de largo y 1,6 metros de alto, el automóvil garantiza una gran llegada al llegar a su destino.

Construido sobre una plataforma liviana avanzada y propulsado por un tren de transmisión totalmente eléctrico patentado, el automóvil es completamente autónomo.

El sufijo EX confirma que el 103EX era un automóvil puramente experimental, nunca destinado a entrar en producción. Después de un debut espectacular en Londres, el automóvil se embarcó en una gira mundial de tres años y regresó a la Casa de Rolls-Royce en Goodwood en 2019.

Visite www . Rolls – Roycemotorcars . com el 29 de septiembre a las 13:00 BST para el próximo capítulo de esta extraordinaria historia.

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ROLLS-ROYCE BLACK BADGE: BORN FROM HERITAGE
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ROLLS-ROYCE BLACK BADGE: BORN FROM HERITAGE

ROLLS-ROYCE BLACK BADGE: BORN FROM HERITAGE

The desire for self-expression is fundamental to the human condition. It is one of the principal reasons clients are drawn to Rolls-Royce, which offers matchless opportunities to push boundaries, redefine what’s possible and challenge established convention. Our Black Badge series of motor cars captures this spirit in extremis.

  • Rolls-Royce reflects on commissions from highly prominent clients
  • Three rebellious motor cars spanning four decades of marque’s 117-year history
  • Disruptive clients have embraced Rolls-Royce’s near-limitless Bespoke possibilities
  • Finished entirely in black, each car presents distinct application of powerful colour
ROLLS-ROYCE BLACK BADGE: BORN FROM HERITAGE

ROLLS-ROYCE BLACK BADGE: BORN FROM HERITAGE

“From its very earliest days, Rolls-Royce has attracted free spirits, creative minds and those who seek to challenge established conventions. Though from entirely different backgrounds, our founders both refused to be bound by the norms and expectations of early 20th Century society.  It was their courage, vision and willingness to push boundaries that made them who they were – and our company what it is today.


These wonderful historic cars are perfect examples of how that rebellious spirit infuses our brand story, and continues in the modern era with our Black Badge products .”
Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Chief Executive Officer, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars

ROLLS-ROYCE BLACK BADGE: BORN FROM HERITAGE

ROLLS-ROYCE BLACK BADGE: BORN FROM HERITAGE


INTRODUCTION

The desire for self-expression is fundamental to the human condition.  It is one of the principal reasons clients are drawn to Rolls-Royce, which offers matchless opportunities to push boundaries, redefine what’s possible and challenge established convention.

Our Black Badge series of motor cars captures this spirit in extremis.  And today, we look at how individualism, iconoclasm and even outright rebellion pervaded the marque’s history from its inception and continues to inform the unique offer Rolls‑Royce extends to its contemporary clients.

Although their backgrounds could hardly have been more different, the company’s founders both successfully challenged norms and conventions that might otherwise have bound them to unthinkable mediocrity.

Henry Royce overcame poverty, deprivation and a lack of formal education to become a world-class engineer who created ‘the best cars in the world’, eventually being ennobled for his achievements.  Cambridge-educated The Hon. Charles Stewart Rolls was born an aristocrat: he could have chosen a life of ease, indolence and privilege, but opted instead for the grease, grime and frequent peril of early motor-racing and aviation, becoming a leading pioneer in both fields.

Today, we would call them ‘disruptors’ – outliers, visionaries and subversives who shape the world by doing things in ways no one else ever dreams – or dares – to try.  No wonder then, that the marque has always proved so beguiling to others who share their rebellious nature.

The Black Badge family of Rolls-Royce motor cars, launched in 2016, is the ultimate expression of this spirit of individualism, self-expression, creativity and iconoclasm.  And while clients have a virtually unlimited choice of exterior finishes, one colour above all still consistently exerts a special fascination and powerful allure when applied to our motor cars – just as it has throughout the marque’s long history.  Black.

The colour black has long been associated with power, strength and authority.  It is intense and substantial. Black also speaks of elegance and confidence.

Over the decades, there have been many notable examples of bespoke Rolls-Royce motor cars finished in black.  Each of the following examples, spanning more than 30 years, has a unique place in the marque’s history, and demonstrates how its owner took the all-black theme in a unique and memorable direction.

1933 – Phantom II Continental (94MY)

In 1930, at the personal request of Henry Royce, designer Ivan Evernden penned an experimental Phantom II Continental, designated 26EX, designed specifically for long-distance Continental touring.  It had a short chassis and close-coupled four-seat saloon body, with the two spare wheels mounted vertically behind the luggage compartment for optimum weight distribution.  The coachwork, erected by Barker & Co, sat on a sub-frame designed to cope with sustained high speeds and powerful braking forces.

On its first outing, Evernden and Don Carlos de Salamanca drove the car to a concours d’elegance in Biarritz, where it won the Grand Prix d’Honneur.  Following this victory, Rolls‑Royce decided to launch a ‘series’ model with the same mechanical attributes and overall coachwork dimensions as 26EX, giving coachbuilders and owners scope to accommodate their own taste in design.

The first such car, 94MY, built in 1933 for a Mr Samuel Coxhill, has bodywork known as an ‘Owen Fixed Head Coupé’, a specialism of London coachbuilder Gurney Nutting. The adjustable front bucket seats, twin windscreen wipers and flush-fitting direction-indicators behind the side windows were all unusual for the period and intended to make long-distance Continental touring more relaxed.

Designer Ivan Evernden declared: “It is the criterion of a good car that one can drive it the whole day long and at the end feel fresh and relaxed enough to enjoy dinner”.

At that time, the vast majority of Rolls-Royce coachwork was finished in either black, or shades of maroon or blue, so dark as to almost seem black.  94MY was ordered in black with “special brown leather, piped in light brown, carpets and headlining to tone, and woodwork to be highly polished veneers”.  Combining high performance with superlative comfort and a unique personalised finish, if any 1930s Rolls-Royce could lay claim to embodying the spirit of today’s Black Badge, it is this one.

1960 – Phantom V (5AT30)

The Phantom V was launched in 1959 to replace the venerable Silver Wraith.  A much larger car, it was intended primarily for chauffeur-driven use, and all but a very few bodies were of limousine design.  Most were finished in black, and used either on formal occasions, or for private use by members of the wealthy establishment.

One exception was 5AT30.  Delivered in September 1960, its proud owner was HRH The Duke of Gloucester, third son of King George V and Queen Mary, and uncle to HM Queen Elizabeth II.  The body was based on coachbuilder James Young’s PV15 design, today regarded as among the most elegant on the Phantom V chassis.

Although about as ‘establishment’ as it’s possible to be, His Royal Highness clearly had strong ideas about what he wanted in his Phantom V.  His most obvious departure from the accepted norm is the paint combination of matte black to the horizontal surfaces and gloss black on the vertical planes.

Other Bespoke items include a much smaller-than-standard backlight, large foglamps, door-mounted driving mirrors, sliding shutters to the rear windows and two Stephane Grebel spotlights. The front of the car is dominated by Lucas R100 headlamps, in place of the usual faired-in headlights.

The Spirit of Ecstasy mascot, though supplied, was not fitted, her place taken by the Duke’s own mascot of an eagle in flight.  And perhaps for the first time in the marque’s history, the chassis card states that the car was supplied with ‘an umbrella in holder’ – a standard feature on today’s Rolls-Royce motor cars.

On 30 January 1965, the Duke and Duchess were travelling home from Sir Winston Churchill’s funeral when the car skidded off the road and down a shallow embankment, turning over three times and landing on its roof!  None of the occupants suffered serious injury; and such was the resilience of the James Young coachwork that 5AT30 was rebuilt and continued to render sterling service to its owner for years to come.

1965 – Phantom V (5VD73)

In 1964, The Beatles stormed the world with A Hard Day’s Night.  In December, as a gift to himself, John Lennon ordered a brand-new Rolls-Royce Phantom V from R. S. Mead of Maidenhead.  The specification was, as one might expect, highly individual: he wanted the car not just to be black, but black everywhere, inside and out, including all the brightwork that would normally be finished in chromium plate or stainless steel.

The car, built by Mulliner Park Ward, was duly supplied with all-black gloss paintwork, including the wheel discs and bumpers.  Only the iconic Pantheon grille and Spirit of Ecstasy mascot retained their conventional chrome finish, at the marque’s insistence.

It was also one of the first cars in Britain to have blacked-out windows, made from darkened, reflective Triplex Deeplight glass, 3/16” thick in the rear doors and 3/4” in the rear quarterlights, backlite and division glass – but not, as one might suppose, solely for reasons of privacy.  “People think they’ve got black windows to hide.  It’s partly that, but it’s also for when you’re coming home late,” Lennon told a Rolling Stone interviewer in 1965.  “If it’s daylight when you’re coming home, it’s still dark inside the car – you just shut all the windows and you’re still in the club.”

The interior featured black Bedford cord cloth and black nylon rugs in the rear compartment, and black leather in the front.  There were electrical aerials for a radio and a Perdio Portarma television set, and a seven-piece set of black fitted luggage. Legend has it that the car also had a record player, radio telephone, fridge, writing table and red mood-lighting: this remains unproven, but could easily have been later additions; likewise, a rear seat that, according to many accounts, could be converted into a pull-out bed.

Such bold, imaginative and unconventional choices are, of course, entirely consistent with Lennon’s status as one of the 20th Century’s greatest cultural innovators.  Quite apart from changing the face of popular music forever, he’s also credited with being among the first non-athletes to wear trainers as footwear, away from sporting grounds, much like the streetwear phenomenon that pervades the catwalks and boardrooms of the 21st century.  In a photograph of the Fab Four taken in 1967, Lennon is wearing what appears to be a pair of Adidas Stan Smith tennis shoes – still one of the most desirable designs from ‘the brand with three stripes’ more than half a century later.

Later, the car was repainted in a game-changing, vivid psychedelic electric yellow, embellished with flowers, Romany scrolls and signs of the zodiac.  It is wholly unique, indelibly identified with its owner and, in certain quarters, generated its share of controversy – perhaps the perfect encapsulation of the Black Badge spirit.

That unquenchable spirit continues to be expressed in new and dynamic ways through the ever-evolving Rolls-Royce Black Badge family.

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