Rolls-Royce

Rolls-Royce is a name that carries two distinct but equally storied legacies. The first is Rolls-Royce Holdings, a British multinational aerospace and defense company that stands as one of the planet's largest manufacturers of aircraft engines. The second is Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the ultra-luxury automotive division owned by BMW since 2003. Both trace their roots to the same 1904 meeting in Manchester between Charles Rolls and Henry Royce, a partnership that produced what would become the most famous engineering brand in Britain.

The original company, Rolls-Royce Limited, was formed in 1906. Its early cars, like the Silver Ghost, earned a reputation for quiet, refined power that set the standard for luxury motoring. But World War I pushed the company into aero-engine production, and by World War II, Rolls-Royce engines powered the Spitfire and the Lancaster. The Merlin engine alone became a legend. That aerospace focus deepened after the company was nationalized in 1971 following financial trouble, and in 1987 the aerospace business was privatized as Rolls-Royce plc. Today, Rolls-Royce Holdings supplies engines for the Airbus A350, the Boeing 787, and the Eurofighter Typhoon, and its power systems run everything from naval submarines to oil rigs.

Meanwhile, the car business went its own way. Sold to Vickers in 1980, then to Volkswagen in a bizarre bidding war in 1998 that BMW ultimately won (BMW kept the rights to the Rolls-Royce name and the Spirit of Ecstasy, while VW got Bentley), Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has built every car since 2003 at a purpose-built factory on the Goodwood Estate in West Sussex. Models like the Phantom, Ghost, and Cullinan continue the tradition of hand-built opulence, each car taking months to complete. The Spectre, launched in 2024, marks the brand's first fully electric vehicle, signaling a new chapter for a company that has always balanced heritage with engineering ambition. [edit]