People
Henry Royce is born in Alwalton
Frederick Henry Royce is born in the Huntingdonshire village of Alwalton, near Peterborough. His schooling is brief: at 10 he is selling newspapers for W. H. Smith, and at 13 he is delivering telegrams.
Goodwood Edition · Origins
The Rolls-Royce story, from the first sketch to today.
Every model, the versions that mattered, the races that made the name and the people behind them. Scroll through the years, filter what you care about and open any moment for the details and sources.
147 moments · 38 model generations · 163 years
Before the name
A boy who sold newspapers becomes an electrical engineer in Manchester, while a lord's son in London falls for motor cars and balloons. They have not met yet.
1863
1877
PeopleCharles Rolls is born in London
The future partner comes from the opposite end of society: the third son of John Allan Rolls, 1st Baron Llangattock, born near Berkeley Square. He goes to Eton and then Trinity College, Cambridge.
1878
PeopleRoyce starts an apprenticeship on the railway
A great-aunt pays for him to train at the Great Northern Railway's works in Peterborough. It lasts about three years, until her money runs out.
1884
CompanyF. H. Royce and Co opens in Manchester
With £20 of savings and a partner, Ernest Claremont, Royce sets up in a workshop at Cooke Street, Hulme, making small electrical fittings. This business, rather than any car firm, is where the Rolls-Royce story starts.
1896
PeopleA teenage Rolls buys a car in Paris
While still a Cambridge student, 18-year-old Rolls goes to Paris to buy a second-hand Peugeot Phaeton. Its first trip with him runs from London to Cambridge.
Rolls meets Royce
One meeting in Manchester joins an engineer to a salesman. In three years they have a company, a Tourist Trophy and a car people call the best in the world.
1904
New modelThe first Royce car runs
Having bought a used two-cylinder Decauville and set about improving on it, Royce finishes a 10 hp car of his own at Cooke Street. On its first day he drives it 30 miles to his home in Knutsford and back.
- People
Rolls meets Royce in Manchester
Henry Edmunds arranges the introduction at the Midland Hotel. Rolls, who imports French cars to sell in London, is impressed enough by Royce's car to start talking about selling it.
- New model
The first Rolls-Royce is shown in Paris
The two-cylinder 10 hp is unveiled at the Paris Salon, sold at £395 through Rolls's dealership. Just 16 are built, and a 1904 survivor makes £3.2 million at Bonhams in 2007.
- Company
Rolls agrees to take every car Royce can make
The deal gives C. S. Rolls and Co all of Royce's output, to be sold under one combined name. Claude Johnson, who left the Royal Automobile Club to join Rolls's agency in 1903, is part of the arrangement.
1905
New modelThe V-8 built to obey the speed limit
Royce designs a quiet V-8 and, in the Legalimit version, governs it to Britain's 20 mph limit. Only three cars are made, and it is the one Rolls-Royce model of which none survives.
- New model
The three-cylinder 15 hp: six cars and one survivor
Sold as a £500 chassis, this is the rarest of the early line after the V-8. Only the second car built still exists, and it lives in the Grampian Transport Museum in Scotland.
- New model
The 30 hp brings six cylinders
Claude Johnson pushes for a six because rivals are adding them. Royce makes it from three two-cylinder blocks on a seven-bearing crank. About 37 are built, and one is known to survive.
- Racing
Second place at the 1905 Tourist Trophy
Two 20 hp cars run on the Isle of Man. Percy Northey finishes second, averaging 33.7 mph, while Rolls is out after a few miles when his gearbox breaks. He will come back for it.
1906
CompanyRolls-Royce Limited is registered
The company is formed to take over car-making from Royce Ltd, with Royce as chief engineer and Johnson as commercial managing director. The firm later dates its birthday from 1904, so both years are often quoted.
- Racing
Rolls wins the Tourist Trophy
A year after his gearbox failure, Rolls starts fourth on the Isle of Man in a Light 20 hp and takes the lead on the opening lap, with Eric Platford as riding mechanic. He finishes in 4 hours 6 minutes.
- New model
The 40/50 H.P. appears at Olympia
Royce's new six-cylinder chassis is shown at the London motor show. The model is the 40/50 H.P.: "Silver Ghost" belongs at first to just one car, and only later spreads to the whole model.
- Company
A nervous share issue pays for growth
New shares are offered to raise capital to £200,000 and expand the works. Arthur Briggs buys £10,000 worth and joins the board, which rescues an issue that had been struggling.
1907
DesignChassis 60551 becomes "The Silver Ghost"
Claude Johnson has the 12th 40/50 painted aluminium with silver-plated fittings, and names it to stress how quietly it runs. Registered AX 201, the car gives its name to the whole model.
- Racing
The Silver Ghost runs 15,000 miles without giving up
After the Scottish Reliability Trial, AX 201 carries on for about 15,000 miles of long-distance runs in Britain, a world endurance record. That sort of durability is what the firm's reputation is built on.
- Company
The Autocar coins "the best car in the world"
Within a year of the 40/50's debut, the British magazine gives it the line that will follow the marque for decades. It comes from the press, not from the company's own advertising.
Derby and one model
The firm moves to Derby and bets everything on the 40/50. It loses Charles Rolls in a flying accident, gains a mascot and proves its car on Alpine passes.
1908
PeopleErnest Hives joins the company
A garage hand who once fixed one of Rolls's cars, Hives comes to Rolls-Royce after three years at Napier and becomes chief test driver. He will end up running the whole company.
- Company
Johnson's one-model policy
Claude Johnson persuades the board to drop the earlier cars and build only the 40/50. It is a big bet for a young firm, and it holds until the Twenty arrives in 1922.
- Company
The Derby works opens
Production leaves Manchester for a new factory on Nightingale Road, designed by Royce himself. Derby's offer of cheap electricity helps win the move, and John Montagu performs the opening.
1910
PeopleRolls flies the Channel both ways non-stop
By now aviation matters more to Rolls than cars, and he has stepped back from his managing role. His double crossing takes 95 minutes and is the first non-stop one by aeroplane.
- People
Charles Rolls dies at Bournemouth
The tail of his Wright Flyer fails during a flying display at the Bournemouth meeting. Aged 32, he is the first Briton killed in a powered aircraft. His name stays on the cars; Royce goes on without him.
1911
RacingLondon to Edinburgh, locked in top gear
Chassis 1701, driven by Ernest Hives, makes the run with its gearbox locked in top. Later that year, with a streamlined body at Brooklands, it becomes the first Rolls-Royce over 100 mph.
- Design
Charles Sykes makes the Spirit of Ecstasy
Johnson asks for a more dignified mascot for all the cars, and sculptor Sykes presents a figure he first calls The Spirit of Speed. The design is registered as company property in 1911.
1912
PeopleRoyce is given only months to live
His health collapses in 1911, and in 1912 he has a major operation in London. Doctors expect little, yet he lives another 21 years and keeps designing, from now on mostly away from the factory.
1913
RacingSilver Ghosts conquer the Austrian Alpine Trial
After James Radley's three-speed car struggled on the Katschberg in 1912, a works team with four-speed gearboxes returns and sweeps the event. Rolls-Royce never enters a works team in it again.
- Racing
Silver Ghosts run in the first Spanish Grand Prix
Hives prepares a Silver Ghost for the inaugural race, and Eric Platford brings his home third in a race won by Carlos de Salamanca.
War and America
A car maker reluctantly builds aero engines, and they carry the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic. Peace brings a factory in Massachusetts and a smaller car.
1914
VersionSilver Ghosts go to war as armoured cars
All available 40/50 chassis are requisitioned for armoured cars, first for the Royal Naval Air Service. T. E. Lawrence uses them in Arabia and rates them above rubies. The Army still has 76 in 1939.
1915
TechnologyThe Eagle: Royce's first aero engine
After tendering to build Renault engines, an unimpressed Royce designs a V12 instead. It first flies in a Handley Page bomber and starts the business that will one day overshadow the cars.
- People
The likely model for the mascot drowns
Eleanor Thornton dies when a U-boat torpedoes the SS Persia south of Crete. Lord Montagu, travelling with her, survives after days adrift.
1919
TechnologyTwo Eagles carry Alcock and Brown over the Atlantic
A converted Vickers Vimy leaves Newfoundland and comes down in a bog near Clifden, Ireland, the next morning. It is the first non-stop transatlantic flight, and Royce's engines power it all the way.
1921
CompanyRolls-Royce builds cars in Massachusetts
A factory opens in Springfield, run by Rolls-Royce of America, and completes its first Silver Ghost in January. It goes on to make about 1,700 of them, plus New Phantoms from 1926.
1922
New modelThe Twenty ends the one-model policy
Falling post-war sales push the firm into a smaller car, the first it designs to be driven by its owner. Many buyers fit heavy limousine bodies and hire a chauffeur anyway, which blunts its performance.
Phantoms and Bentley
The Phantom name arrives, racing seaplanes break world records, and a secret bid buys Bentley. Royce dies in 1933, and the first V12 follows three years later.
1925
New modelThe New Phantom is announced
A notice in The Times introduces the 40/50's successor, with overhead valves in place of side valves. Rolls-Royce never calls it Phantom I: enthusiasts add the number later, once there is a second one.
1926
VersionThe Phantom goes into production in America
Springfield starts building left-hand-drive New Phantoms for North America, and reaches as many as 12 chassis a week before the 1929 crash. About 1,240 are made there.
- People
Claude Johnson dies
The man who named the Silver Ghost and commissioned the mascot dies in London after a short illness. His brother Basil succeeds him as managing director.
1929
New modelThe 20/25 sees the firm through the Depression
The Twenty's successor debuts at Olympia and becomes the best-selling Rolls-Royce between the wars, with 3,827 built. Its sales help keep the company alive through the slump.
- New model
The Phantom II gets a new chassis
The engine is a refined version of the New Phantom's, but the underslung chassis is all new. Royce wants something sportier for the drive to his winter home at Le Canadel, which leads to the short Continental.
- Racing
The R engine wins the Schneider Trophy
Royce starts on the design in late 1928, reportedly sketching on the beach at West Wittering. A year on, a Supermarine S.6 with the engine wins at Cowes, flown by Richard Waghorn at 328.63 mph.
1930
PeopleRoyce becomes a baronet
The apprentice whose money ran out becomes Sir Henry Royce, of Seaton in Rutland, for his work on aero engines. It follows an OBE in 1918.
1931
CompanyA secret bid buys Bentley
With Bentley in receivership and Napier close to a deal, a £125,000 sealed bid from the British Central Equitable Trust wins. The trust is a front for Rolls-Royce, and not even W. O. Bentley knows until it is done.
- Racing
Over 400 mph in the air
George Stainforth takes an S.6B to 407.5 mph. Earlier that year, Britain won the Schneider Trophy outright with a third straight win, thanks to £100,000 from Lady Houston. Campbell and Eyston later take R engines to land records.
1933
PeopleSir Henry Royce dies at West Wittering
He dies aged 70 at Elmstead, his Sussex home, 21 years after doctors had given him months. Until then he has had a hand in the concept of every mechanical part of every Rolls-Royce car.
- New model
The Derby Bentley: "The Silent Sports Car"
The first Bentley under the new owner is the 3½ Litre, a sporting relative of the 20/25 built at Derby alongside the Rolls-Royces. W. O. Bentley himself says he would rather own it than any other car with his name.
1935
PeopleW. O. Bentley walks away
Unhappy in his role under Rolls-Royce, he leaves when his contract ends in April and joins Lagonda, whose new owner Alan Good has just outbid Rolls-Royce for the firm.
1936
New modelThe Phantom III brings a V12
Announced in The Times, this is the first V12 Rolls-Royce car and the last that Royce worked on, with independent front suspension too. Just 727 chassis are made by 1939, and no other V12 Rolls-Royce comes until 1998.
- New model
The 25/30 takes over from the 20/25
A bigger bore takes the six up to 4,257 cc. It lasts only until 1938, with 1,201 made.
1938
New modelThe Wraith closes the inter-war years
The last new Rolls-Royce before the war has a welded chassis and independent front suspension, modelled on Packard's. War disrupts it: a few chassis are bodied years later, and the final car is delivered in 1947.
- Company
Work starts on a factory at Crewe
With war approaching, a shadow factory rises on potato fields to build Merlin aero engines. The first engine comes off the line just five months later. After the war it becomes the home of the cars.
From Merlin to Crewe
War turns the company into a major force in aero engines. Peace sends the cars to a former Merlin plant at Crewe, where Rolls-Royce starts to build its own bodies.
1939
CompanyRolls-Royce takes over Park Ward
Rolls-Royce buys the remaining capital of the London coachbuilder, so the chassis maker now owns a body builder.
1940
TechnologyThe Merlin powers the Battle of Britain
Hurricanes and Spitfires fly on the V12 that began as a company-funded private venture, the PV-12, first run in 1933. From 1939 to 1945 the firm makes only aero engines.
- People
John Blatchley joins from Gurney Nutting
The coachbuilder's young chief designer joins Rolls-Royce during the war, starting on aero work at Hucknall. He goes on to shape the Silver Cloud and the Silver Shadow.
1944
TechnologyRolls-Royce turns to the jet
The company takes over Frank Whittle's jet engine from Rover, alongside its Merlin work, and its own jet production begins.
1946
CompanyThe cars move to Crewe
The motor car division leaves Derby for the former Merlin plant, leaving aero engines behind. The first car off the line there is a Bentley, the Mark VI, the first Bentley with a standard steel body.
- New model
The Silver Wraith: first post-war Rolls-Royce
Still supplied as a chassis for coachbuilders to body, usually as formal limousines. It stays until 1958, with 1,883 built, 639 of them on the long wheelbase announced in 1951.
1949
New modelThe Silver Dawn: the first complete Rolls-Royce
For 45 years the firm has sold rolling chassis. The Silver Dawn comes with a factory body in pressed steel, shared with the Bentley Mark VI. At first it is for export only, and Britain has to wait until 1953.
1950
New modelThe Phantom IV: for royalty and heads of state
Made to the order of Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh, with the only straight-eight ever fitted to a Rolls-Royce car. Just 18 are built by 1956, sold only to buyers the firm deems worthy.
- People
Hives becomes chairman and a baron
The test driver who joined in 1908 and later oversaw the Merlin has been managing director since 1946. He now moves up to the chair, which he holds until he retires in 1957.
1951
CompanyRolls-Royce starts building diesels
Diesel engine production begins, after design of the C series started in 1948. In 1956 the firm buys Sentinel at Shrewsbury for its factory, which becomes the diesel plant.
1955
New modelThe Silver Cloud
John Blatchley's body is a clean break from the pre-war look, and the Bentley S1 is the same car with a different grille. Power steering arrives as an option in 1956, on a car still built on a separate chassis.
V8, Shadow and collapse
A V8 and a monocoque remake the cars just as a jet engine bankrupts the parent company. The car business comes out alone, and on the stock market.
1959
TechnologyThe Silver Cloud II swaps six cylinders for a V8
The new 6.2-litre light-alloy V8 raises top speed from 166 to 183 km/h, though reviewers find it less silent than the old six. Developed versions stay in use with Rolls-Royce and Bentley into the 1990s.
- New model
The Phantom V, a limousine for the famous
A long V8 chassis with bodies by Park Ward, James Young and H. J. Mulliner. Elizabeth II takes two, named Canberra I and II, and Elvis Presley and John Lennon are among other owners.
- Company
H. J. Mulliner joins Park Ward under Rolls-Royce
After financial troubles, Mulliner is taken over and combined with Park Ward, which Rolls-Royce has owned since 1939. Mulliner Park Ward, at Hythe Road in Willesden, has up to 750 workers at its peak.
1963
VersionThe Silver Cloud III gets four headlamps
The last Cloud moves to a four-headlamp layout, which the Silver Shadow keeps. It is shown at the Motor Show, and steel saloon bodies are still bought in from Pressed Steel and finished by hand.
1965
New modelThe Silver Shadow abandons the separate chassis
Planned since 1954, Blatchley's monocoque is the first Rolls-Royce sold only as a complete car. It has all-round independent suspension, disc brakes and hydraulics licensed from Citroën, and is smaller outside yet roomier.
1966
VersionThe two-door Silver Shadow arrives
Coachbuilt two-door saloons appear alongside the steel car. Mulliner Park Ward builds most of them, while James Young makes just 35 before stopping in 1967.
- Company
Rolls-Royce buys Bristol Siddeley
The deal brings in a Bristol-based group formed from several British engine makers, and widens Rolls-Royce's military engine range.
1967
DesignJohn Lennon's Phantom V turns psychedelic
Delivered all black in June 1965, his car comes back from a repaint based on a gypsy wagon he owned, with artwork by Steve Weaver. In 1985 it makes a then record US$2,299,000 at Sotheby's.
1968
New modelThe Phantom VI, last of the separate chassis
A close relative of the facelifted Phantom V, now with separate air conditioning front and rear. It stays on sale for over two decades, 374 are made, and it is the last body-on-chassis Rolls-Royce.
1969
VersionA longer Silver Shadow
A long-wheelbase saloon adds 4.5 inches, going on sale first in the United States. British buyers get it in early 1970.
1971
CompanyThe cars are split off as Rolls-Royce Motors
The receiver puts the profitable parts in a new company: cars, diesels, Bentley and the coachbuilders. The aero engines go to a separate state-owned firm.
- New model
The two-door Shadow becomes the Corniche
The Mulliner Park Ward saloon and convertible get a new name, taken from the French for a coast road and first tried on a 1939 prototype. Crewe prepares the bodies, and London finishes them.
- Company
The RB211 bankrupts Rolls-Royce
The cost of developing the RB211 for Lockheed's TriStar pushes the company into receivership. The Heath government nationalises the aero business so that the engine can be finished.
1973
CompanyRolls-Royce Motors goes on the stock market
Tenders fail to bring high enough offers, so the car business is floated as a public company. The response is disappointing, and underwriters are left holding over 80 per cent of the issue.
1975
New modelThe Camargue, costing twice a Shadow
Styled by Paolo Martin at Pininfarina, it is the first Rolls-Royce with a grille that leans back, by seven degrees. At about £30,000 it is the new flagship and costs twice as much as a Silver Shadow.
The Shadow’s last chapter
Now a stand-alone company, Rolls-Royce Motors keeps refining the car it already has: sharper steering, cleaner air and a new name for the long-wheelbase saloon.
1977
New modelThe Silver Shadow becomes the Silver Shadow II
After twelve years the best-selling saloon gets a new suffix, earned above all by rack-and-pinion steering. Black rubber bumpers, a thicker grille and a new dashboard mark it out.
- Version
The long-wheelbase car gets a name: Silver Wraith II
The stretched Shadow had never had its own title. Now it borrows a name from the post-war coachbuilt chassis, with 10 cm more behind the B-pillar and a smaller rear window.
- Version
A spring facelift for the Corniche
The two-door gets the same treatment as the saloon: rack-and-pinion steering and rubber-faced alloy bumpers, plus a bi-level air-conditioning system.
The Vickers years
A defence group buys the company and the Silver Spirit replaces the Shadow. Turbos and airbags arrive, while the last coachbuilt Phantom slips away.
1980
CompanyVickers buys Rolls-Royce Motors
Seven years after the car business was separated from the nationalised aero-engine maker, the defence and engineering group Vickers takes it over. It will own Rolls-Royce and Bentley for nearly two decades.
- New model
The Silver Spirit replaces the Shadow
The first car of the SZ generation keeps the Shadow’s 6.75-litre V8 and much of its basic design under a body that follows the Camargue’s styling.
- Technology
The Spirit of Ecstasy learns to duck
The Silver Spirit is the first car whose mascot sinks into the radiator shell on a spring if knocked. American cars are the exception, because the retracting mascot is not offered there.
- Version
The Silver Spur stretches the Spirit
A long-wheelbase sister car joins the range from the start. It will outlive the Spirit, staying in production until 2000.
1982
VersionA stretched Spur for those who want a limousine
A much longer Silver Spur appears, developed with Robert Jankel Design of Weybridge. The first cars for delivery are finished by Aston Martin Tickford.
1986
VersionThe Corniche II is America’s first, then everyone’s
The convertible gets a numeral, reaching America in 1986 and other markets from 1988. Anti-lock brakes follow for 1988, though airbags have to wait for the next series.
1987
PeopleThe Queen takes delivery of a second Phantom VI
Codenamed “Lady Norfolk”, it joins “Oil Barrel”, the high-roofed Phantom VI with a clear rear dome. Elizabeth II owned both, and they stayed with the Royal Mews.
1989
VersionThe Spirit II learns to read the road
Shown at the Frankfurt show alongside the Spur II, it brings Automatic Ride Control, adjusting the dampers at all four wheels in real time. ABS and fuel injection become standard everywhere.
1991
New modelThe last client-commissioned Phantom VI
Its 117 bespoke features include a solid silver fruit bowl held in place by concealed magnets. Hard-to-find parts from the Silver Cloud era finally end the car’s long run.
1993
VersionThe Spirit III brings twin airbags
New cylinder heads and an intake manifold lift power, and airbags arrive for both front occupants. The passenger’s hides behind a veneered panel.
1994
VersionThe first turbocharged Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce had left turbos to Bentley for a dozen years. The Flying Spur takes the Turbo R’s drivetrain and puts it in a Silver Spur III.
- Technology
Rolls-Royce signs up for BMW engines
Project P600, the Silver Spirit’s successor, gets the go-ahead for 1998 with a 5.4-litre BMW V12. The choice will shape what happens to the company four years later.
1995
VersionThe Silver Spirit that was never called IV
The final revision arrives late in 1995 as a 1996 model with a Garrett turbo on every car. Its name drops the numeral, because “four” sounds like “death” in some Far Eastern languages.
- Version
Twenty-five turbocharged farewells for the Corniche
The last 25 Corniche IVs are Corniche S models with a turbo engine, a front spoiler and a red badge on the grille. All of them are left-hand drive and sold in the United States.
- Version
An old name returns as an American special
The Silver Dawn revives a 1949 name for a special Silver Spur III with a lower radiator and a smaller mascot. For its first two years it is sold only in America.
1996
VersionThe Park Ward name returns on a limousine
A Silver Spur stretched by 24 inches and with a taller roof replaces the Touring Limousine. Seventy are built by 1999, the last factory-extended cars of the line.
The great split
Volkswagen buys the factory, BMW gets the name, and a five-year truce sends Rolls-Royce and Bentley their separate ways.
1998
CompanyVolkswagen outbids BMW, and buys only half of it
BMW was the favourite and supplied the engines. Volkswagen’s £430 million beats its final £340 million for Rolls-Royce Motors, buying the Crewe factory, the mascot and the grille.
- Company
The truce: a handover set for 1 January 2003
After two tense months the rivals agree. Volkswagen may build Rolls-Royces at Crewe until the end of 2002, using BMW engines. From the first day of 2003 only BMW may use the name, and Crewe builds only Bentleys.
- New model
The Silver Seraph, a V12 at last
Shown at Geneva after 14 years of development, it is the first twelve-cylinder Rolls-Royce since the 1939 Phantom III. It is also the first Rolls-Royce designed with computers, and its 5.4-litre engine comes from BMW.
- Company
BMW takes the name for £40 million
The aero-engine maker, which had recent joint ventures with BMW, licenses it the Rolls-Royce name and logo for a fraction of what Volkswagen has paid. One German group now has the car’s factory, the other its name.
1999
CompanyThe aero-engine company buys Vickers
Rolls-Royce plc pays £576 million for the group that had just sold the cars carrying its name. It is after the marine engineering businesses, not automotive history.
2000
New modelThe only new Rolls-Royce of the Volkswagen years
The new Corniche debuts on the platform of the Bentley Azure, a Rolls-Royce derived from a Bentley rather than the reverse. A low-pressure turbo gives its 6.75-litre V8 325 bhp.
- Version
Silver Seraph Park Ward stretches for the rear seats
A long-wheelbase Seraph debuts at Geneva for owners who want extra legroom and a car tailored entirely to their taste. It remains in production until 2002.
2002
CompanyThe last Rolls-Royce built at Crewe
A Corniche closes 56 years of Rolls-Royce production at Crewe, and the factory turns entirely to Bentley. The car stays with the factory.
Goodwood, from a blank sheet
A new company, a new factory under a living roof and one car, delivered a minute into 2003. Experimental cars soon point to what comes next.
2003
CompanyA factory you cannot see from the road
Nicholas Grimshaw, architect of the Eden Project, designs the £65 million plant on the Goodwood Estate. A 3.5-hectare “living roof” of sedum helps hide it, and 400,000 plants surround it.
- New model
A minute past midnight: the first Goodwood Phantom
At 00:01 on New Year’s Day the keys of the first Phantom VII are handed to its owner, the first moment BMW may use the name. Shipped to Perth three months later, it is driven 4,500 miles across Australia.
2004
Technology100EX: a V16 for the centenary
A century after Rolls met Royce, a one-off drophead appears at Geneva with a 9-litre V16 and a teak deck inspired by racing yachts. It revives the “EX” name that engineers used until the 1950s.
2005
VersionA longer Phantom for the back seat
Unveiled at Geneva, the Extended Wheelbase adds 250 mm of space behind the front seats. Clients who prefer to be driven take to it at once.
2006
Design101EX and the first Starlight Headliner
This experimental coupé with a carbon-fibre body has a roof lining of hundreds of fibre-optic “stars”. It proves one of the marque’s most lasting ideas, and is now among its most commissioned Bespoke features.
2007
New modelThe Phantom Drophead Coupé reaches production
The 100EX’s design returns with a V12, rear-hinged coach doors and a teak tonneau inspired by a racing yacht’s deck. In its first year, 253 are sold worldwide.
2008
DesignPininfarina builds the Hyperion
Collector Roland Hall commissions the Italian house to turn a Phantom Drophead into a two-seat roadster. Shown at Pebble Beach, the one-off revives an old Rolls-Royce habit, independent coachbuilding, in a new century.
- New model
The Phantom Coupé arrives at Geneva
Its pillarless construction makes it a true hardtop two-door, the first Rolls-Royce of the type in more than two decades. It is the production version of 101EX.
2009
Technology200EX previews a smaller Rolls-Royce
Unlike 100EX and 101EX, this Geneva car is openly meant for production. Client feedback has asked for a more approachable, driver-focused Rolls-Royce for a younger audience.
- New model
The Ghost returns
The production car is unveiled at Frankfurt, named in honour of the Silver Ghost and known during development as RR04. It gives Goodwood a second model after six years with the Phantom alone.
Younger buyers, darker badges
The Ghost becomes the best seller in the marque’s history, a one-off electric Phantom tours the world and Black Badge gives Rolls-Royce an alter ego.
2010
PeopleTorsten Müller-Ötvös takes over
He stays 14 years, longer than any chief executive since Claude Johnson. Sales rise sixfold, the average price doubles to around €500,000 and the average client falls from 56 to 43 years old.
2011
VersionThe Ghost gains rear legroom
Clients who are driven rather than drive ask for more room, and an Extended version keeps the car’s focused handling while adding comfort in the rear.
- Technology
102EX: the electric Phantom
A one-off Phantom, shown at Geneva, swaps the V12 for a 71 kWh battery and two electric motors. Then it tours the world, less to prove the technology than to ask owners what they think of it.
2012
VersionThe Phantom gets a Series II
Announced for model year 2013, this update keeps the original Goodwood Phantom and its two-door derivatives going until their replacement in 2017.
2013
New modelThe Wraith: the most powerful Rolls-Royce so far
This fastback coupé at Geneva takes a name from 1938 and aims at owners who want to drive. It has 624 bhp, a 0–100 km/h time of 4.6 seconds and a gearbox guided by GPS.
2015
New modelThe Dawn: a convertible for four
Unveiled at Frankfurt, it borrows the Silver Dawn name and the idea of la dolce vita. Its roof folds in silence in 22 seconds, nicknamed “the Silent Ballet”, at up to 50 km/h.
2016
Design103EX: no driver, no engine, a sofa
For BMW’s centenary, each brand imagines the future. Rolls-Royce’s 5.9-metre vision has an electric powertrain, autonomous drive, a floating sofa and a glass Spirit of Ecstasy lit from below.
- Company
A logistics centre at Bognor Regis
Goodwood’s growth requires space, so a 30,000 m² Technology and Logistics Centre opens eight miles away, combining a parts warehouse, a distribution centre and a workshop.
- Design
Black Badge: the alter ego
Darker versions of the Wraith and Ghost debut at Geneva, with more torque, retuned air suspension and a sharper gearbox. A company built on discretion invents a subversive streak.
Coachbuilding returns, and an SUV
One-off commissions revive a craft thought lost, while the Cullinan takes the marque off the road and to record sales.
2017
DesignSweptail revives coachbuilding
Four years after a yacht and aircraft specialist commissions it, this one-off coupé based on the Phantom Coupé is shown at Villa d’Este. At about £10 million, it is the most expensive new car in the world at the time.
- New model
Phantom VIII, on an all-new architecture
The eighth generation is the first car on the aluminium “Architecture of Luxury”, which will carry every later model. It has a twin-turbo 6.75-litre V12 and the marque’s first four-wheel steering.
2018
New modelCullinan: the SUV nobody expected from Rolls-Royce
The first Rolls-Royce SUV takes its name from the largest gem-quality rough diamond ever found. Its options include a rear “Recreation Module” to carry the kit of an owner’s hobby.
2019
VersionBlack Badge reaches the SUV
A more powerful V12, black 22-inch forged wheels and the first painted brake callipers ever fitted to a factory-delivered Rolls-Royce give the Cullinan its darker side.
- Company
5,152 cars: a record, thanks to the SUV
Deliveries jump 25% on the 2018 record, to customers in more than 50 countries, with the Cullinan driving the surge. The figure is the highest in the marque’s 116 years so far.
2020
New modelThe new Ghost and “Post Opulence”
The second generation adds all-wheel drive and rejects “superficial expressions of wealth” with a minimalist design. It follows what the maker calls the most successful product of its 116 years.
2021
CompanyA record, 49% up in a year
Rolls-Royce delivers 5,586 cars, the highest in its 117 years. All-time records fall in Greater China, the Americas and Asia-Pacific.
- Design
Boat Tail: three cars and a picnic
Rolls-Royce’s new Coachbuild department reveals the first of three commissions, whose rear deck opens to reveal a parasol, cocktail tables and fridges matched to Armand de Brignac champagne. Its price, never confirmed, is speculated at US$28 million.
- Company
Rolls-Royce announces its first electric car
The chief executive names the Spectre, confirms that testing has begun and promises the car for the fourth quarter of 2023. The maker frames it as fulfilling a prediction Charles Rolls made in 1900.
The electric promise
The Spectre arrives more than a century after Charles Rolls predicted electric cars. The promise to go fully electric by 2030 lasts until 2026, when the firm drops it and the V12 stays.
2022
CompanyPast 6,000 for the first time
Sales of 6,021 cars, up 8%, pass 6,000 for the first time in the company’s 118 years. The next year inches higher still, to 6,032.
- Version
Phantom Series II, with a light touch
Client feedback produces only small changes to the flagship: a new garnish above the grille, revised daytime lights and “starlight” headlamp bezels, plus a link to the Whispers app.
- New model
The Spectre is unveiled
The first fully electric series Rolls-Royce is an ultra-luxury coupé and a spiritual successor to the Phantom Coupé. It is the most aerodynamic model the marque has built, with a drag coefficient of 0.25.
2023
VersionBlack Arrow: the last V12 coupé
Twelve final Wraiths recall Thunderbolt, the 1930s land-speed car. Rolls-Royce presents them as the end of its V12 coupés, ahead of its electric era.
- New model
The Dawn fades
Rolls-Royce ceases production of its four-seat convertible after a run that began at the 2015 Frankfurt show.
- Technology
2.5 million kilometres to the finish
The Spectre completes the toughest test programme in the marque’s history, in temperatures from −40 °C to +50 °C, ahead of first deliveries in the last quarter of the year.
- Design
Droptail: the roadster returns
At Monterey Car Week, the first of four two-seat commissions appears: La Rose Noire, named after the Black Baccara rose. Its 1,603 wood pieces take almost two years, and estimates put the price above $32 million.
- People
Chris Brownridge takes over
After 14 years Torsten Müller-Ötvös retires, and the former chief executive of BMW UK succeeds him. The announcement comes in October, the handover on 1 December.
2024
VersionThe Cullinan gets its first major update
The Series II brings a new design and technology to the marque’s most sought-after SUV while a Black Badge version arrives alongside.
- Version
Ghost Series II, still a V12
Client demand keeps a twin-turbo V12 at the heart of the facelifted Ghost, presented as the most technologically advanced and driver-focused V12 Rolls-Royce yet.
2025
CompanyMore than £300 million for Goodwood
The largest investment in the site since 2003 will build a 40,000 m² extension to expand Bespoke and Coachbuild. The 2024 result, 5,712 cars, is the third highest in the marque’s history.
- Version
A hundred years of Phantom
The nameplate turns 100, and a Private Collection of 25 cars tells stories from its first century inside the cabin, after more than 40,000 hours of work.
2026
DesignProject Nightingale, the first Coachbuild Collection
This open two-seater is a series of 100 cars, first of a new programme mixing coachbuilding and electric power. It is named after Le Rossignol, the house for designers and engineers near Royce’s winter home on the Côte d’Azur.
- Version
Spectre Series II goes further
The first update of the electric coupé adds up to 18% more range, to as much as 390 miles on the WLTP cycle, 1,015 Nm of torque and up to 14% shorter charging.
Every model, at a glance
Production years of each road-car generation. Tap a bar to see its notable versions.
Early cars
Silver Ghost
Small Horsepower
Phantom
Silver series
Silver Shadow
Corniche
Camargue
Silver Spirit & Spur
Silver Seraph
Ghost
Wraith
Dawn
Cullinan
Spectre
Coachbuild
EX experimental cars
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