Rolls-Royce Motors was created from the demerger of the Rolls-Royce car business from Rolls-Royce Limited in 1973. For the present day company see Rolls-Royce plc. For other uses see Rolls-Royce (disambiguation. Rolls-Royce Limited had been nationalised in 1971 due to the financial collapse of the company caused in part by the development of the RB211 jet engine. The Rolls-Royce RB211 is a family of high-bypass Turbofan engines made by Rolls-Royce plc and capable of generating 37400 to 60600 pounds-force (166 In 1973 the British government sold the Rolls-Royce car business to allow Rolls-Royce Limited to concentrate on jet engine manufacture.

In 1980 Rolls-Royce Motors was acquired by Vickers. Please refer to the overview article Vickers for other companies known by this name Vickers plc was the remainder of Vickers Armstrong Limited In 1998 Vickers decided to sell Rolls-Royce Motors. Please refer to the overview article Vickers for other companies known by this name Vickers plc was the remainder of Vickers Armstrong Limited The leading contender seemed to be BMW, who already supplied engines and other components for Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars. ( BMW) (Bavarian Motor Works is an independent German automobile manufacturer founded in 1916 Bentley Motors Limited is an English manufacturer of luxury Automobiles and Grand Tourers Bentley Motors was founded in England Their final offer of £340m was outbid by Volkswagen, who offered £430m.

However Rolls-Royce plc, the aero-engine maker, decided it would license certain essential trademarks (the Rolls-Royce name and logo) not to VW, but instead to BMW, with whom it had recently shared joint business ventures. Rolls-Royce plc ( is a British Aircraft engine maker and the second-largest in the world behind GE Aviation. A trademark or trade mark, represented by the symbols ™ and ®, or mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual VW had bought rights to the "Spirit of Ecstasy" mascot and the shape of the radiator grille, but it lacked rights to the Rolls-Royce name in order to build the cars. The Spirit of Ecstasy is the name of the mascot ( Hood ornament) on Rolls-Royce Cars. The term mascot – defined as a term for any person animal or object thought to bring Luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common Likewise, BMW lacked rights to the grille and mascot. BMW bought an option on the trademarks, licensing the name and "RR" logo for £40m, a deal that many commentators thought was a bargain for possibly the most valuable property in the deal. VW claimed that it had only really wanted Bentley anyway, and in sales terms this was the stronger brand, with Bentley models out-selling the equivalent Rolls Royce by around two to one.

BMW and VW arrived at a solution. From 1998 to 2002 BMW would continue to supply engines for the cars and would allow use of the names, but this would cease on January 1, 2003. New Year See also New Year The Ancient Romans began their consular year on January 1st since 153 BC Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. On that date, only BMW would be able to name cars "Rolls-Royce", and VW's former Rolls-Royce/Bentley division would build only cars called "Bentley". Rolls Royce's convertible, the Corniche, ceased production in 2002. See also Rolls-Royce Corniche for other models sharing this name The 2000 Rolls-Royce Corniche was a two-door four-passenger Automobile

Cars

• 1965-1980 Silver Shadow — the first Rolls-Royce with a monocoque chassis; started with a 6. Monocoque, from the French for single ( mono) and shell ( coque) is a construction technique that supports structural load by using an object's external 23 L V8 engine, later expanded to 6. 75 L; shared its design with the Bentley T-series
• 1968-1991 Phantom VI
• 1971-1996 Corniche I-IV
• 1975-1986 Camargue styled by Paolo Martin with a Pininfarina body
• 1980-1998 Silver Spirit/Silver Spur — design shared with the Bentley Mulsanne

Bentley models were produced mostly in parallel with the above cars. The Bentley T-Series was the Bentley badged version of the Rolls Royce Silver Shadow. See also Rolls-Royce Phantom for other models sharing this name The Phantom VI was an ultra-exclusive Rolls-Royce model produced The Corniche was Rolls-Royce's Coupé and Convertible version of the Silver Shadow produced between 1971 and 1996 The Rolls-Royce Camargue is a two-door Coupé introduced in March 1975 Paolo Martin styled the following cars and many others (see Paolo Martin's gallery on behalf of Pininfarina:- Fiat 130 Coupe Rolls-Royce See also Battista Farina, founder of the company his son Sergio Pininfarina and grandson Andrea Pininfarina. The Silver Spirit, introduced by Rolls-Royce in 1980 was the first of a new generation of models for the company The Bentley Mulsanne was a performance Luxury car produced by Bentley Motors Limited from 1980 through 1992 though derivative models like the Continental The Bentley Continental coupés (produced in various forms from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s) did not have Rolls-Royce equivalents. Very expensive Rolls-Royce Phantom limousines were also produced.

VW era

• 1998-2002 Silver Seraph — This shared its design with the Bentley Arnage, which sold in much greater numbers. The Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph, produced from 1998 to 2002 was first unveiled on March 3, 1998 at the Geneva Motor Show. The Bentley Arnage is a Luxury car produced by Bentley Motors in Crewe, England.
• 2000-2002 Corniche V — This two-door convertible shared its design with the Bentley Azure and was the most expensive Rolls-Royce until the introduction of the 2003 Phantom. See also Rolls-Royce Corniche for other models sharing this name The 2000 Rolls-Royce Corniche was a two-door four-passenger Automobile The Bentley Azure is a large four seater convertible built by Bentley Motors Limited at their factory in Crewe, England.

Rolls-Royce cars timeline

See also

• Bentley
• Rolls-Royce of America
• Luxury vehicles
• Brewster

Further reading

• Richard Feast, Kidnap of the Flying Lady: How Germany Captured Both Rolls Royce and Bentley, Motorbooks, ISBN-7603-1686-4

External links

• Video (RT 05:02) Showcasing 1988 Silver Spur.