Rolls-Royce : "World's best car"

Sir Frederick Henry Royce (1863 - 1933) was a self made electrical engineer and was involved in making electrical fittings and electric cranes through his own company Royce Ltd. In 1902 , he bought a second hand Decauville car and was not satisfied with its performance and quality. He went about building his own car based on the Decauville car and created a 2-cylinder Royce 10 car in 1904  -

Charles Stewart Rolls (1877 - 1910) was form a rich family. In 1903 , he founded the C S Rolls and Co to import and sell Peugeot cars from France and Minerva cars from Belgium,  in England.

Charles Rolls was introduced to Henry Royce and they created Rolls- Royce Ltd in 1906 with an agreement that C S Rolls and Co will sell the entire production of Rolls-Royce Ltd. By 1907 , C S Rolls and Co was integrated in to Rolls-Royce Ltd.

The first and the most famous car from Rolls-Royce was Silver Ghost , launched in 1907 and continued in production till 1925.

The Silver Ghost did a non-stop 14371 miles gaining the name - "The best car in the world". 

Henry Royce was a perfectionist and the Rolls-Royce cars were known for their smoothness , reliability and quality. The company followed its founder's dictum of - "Take the best that exists and make it better".

1927 , the Silver Ghost gave way to the next generation of famous Rolls-Royce , the Phantom -

In 1931 , Rolls-Royce acquired Bentley Motors.

During the war , Rolls-Royce was forced to manufacture aero engines and were excelling in aircraft engines, creating successive airspeed records.

In 1971 , financial trouble led to nationalization of Rolls-Royce Ltd. In 1973, it was again de-nationalised , forming Rolls-Royce Motors for Automobiles and Rolls-Royce plc for aircraft engines.

In 1980 , the company was taken over by Vickers, an engineering company.

Rolls-Royce continued to manufacture classic cars which were used by the British Royalty and movie stars.

Some of the Rolls-Royce cars -

A 1979 Silver Shadow -

In 1998 Vickers sold off the Rolls-Royce Motors to BMW and Volkswagen in a complex deal. As per the deal, Volkswagen got the Rolls-Royce factory and the patented radiator grill design and BMW got the Rolls-Royce name and logo. This led Volkswagen not being able to use the Rolls-Royce name. After sustained negotiations , in 2003, the entire Rolls-Royce rights were transferred to BMW and now BMW owns Rolls-Royce.

Some of the Rolls-Royce cars , post BMW ownership -

2012 Rolls-Royce Ghost

2013 Rolls-Royce Wraith

The Rolls-Royce logo and hood ornament - the spirit of ecstasy.

ARROL-JOHNSTON - The Antarctican

George Johnston (1855 - 1945) was a Scottish Locomotive Engineer. In 1894 , Glasgow tramways had awarded him the contract to design a steam tram for them. Unfortunately the steam tram developed by him was destroyed in a  fire and the project was dropped.

Johnston, then concentrated on making a motor car powered by internal combustion engine. In 1895, along with Sir William Arrol (1839 - 1913), a famed Bridge Engineer, formed the company Mo-Car Syndicate Ltd.

The 1895 Mo-car  Dogcart , with two rows of seats placed back to back -

Mo-car dogcart was popular and was made till 1905. More models with different engine options were also introduced. A 1901 and a 1905 , Arrol-Johnston cars -

In 1905 , the company was renamed as Arrol-Johnston Car company.

In 1907 , one Arrol-Johnston car participated in the attempt of Ernest Shackleton  to reach Antarctica. Even though the car was used in the expedition, it could not  travel much due to tyres sinking in loose ice. An Arrol-Johnston car used in the Antarctica base camp -

This car was fitted with 12-15 HP , aircooled , 4-cyl engine. 

During the WWI , Arrol-Johnston shifted to manufacturing aircraft engines. Owning to financial troubles, in 1927,  the company was taken over by Aster Engineering company and the cars were branded as Arrol- Asters.

A 1929 Arrol-Aster -

Finally the Arrol-Aster car company shut its doors by 1931

Arrol-Johnston logo -

SUNBEAM - Racer

John Marston (1836 - 1918) was a tin plate worker and was working in a factory making household articles. In 1859 , he created his own company John Marston Ltd to make household articles and black enamel lacquer. 

John Marston was a keen bicycle enthusiast and expanded in to manufacture of bicycles in the year 1887. He sold his bicycles under the brand "Sunbeam". It is told that his bicycle was finished with high quality black enamel and golden strips that it was reflecting sunlight and hence the name sunbeam. Many new innovations followed int he next few years - chain slack adjusting mechanism, oil bath lubrication for chains, to name a few.

As a logical extension, John Marston started working on motorcycles. Death of an employee in motorcycle accident made Marston to move away from motorcycle ,  terming it as dangerous.

In 1899 , he started working on motor cars and along with the help of Maxwell Mabley- Smith created the first Motor. A 1901 Sunbeam-Mabley -

This car had unique design of seats facing in opposite directions on either side of a belt drive. More than 100 units of this cars were sold between 1901 and 1904.

A 1902 , Sunbeam -

By 1904, Marston started importing Berliet chassis and building bodies over it. In order to expand fully in to car business the car division was renamed as Sunbeam Motorcar Company, in 1905. The bicycle business remained with John Marston Ltd. Slow down in car business between 1907 and 1910 forced Marston to look in to Motorcycle business again and the motorcycle division was created in 1912.

In 1920, owning to financial troubles, Sunbeam Motorcar Company merged with Automobile Darracq to form STD Motors ( Sunbeam - Talbot - Darracq). The cars were branded as Sunbeam -Talbot.

STD Motors participated in racing and a Sunbeam with a 350 HP aircraft engine set the land speed record in 1920.

In 1924, Sunbeam introduced a 3-litre sports car with a six-cylinder engine , with twin overhead camshafts and dry sump lubrication , a major innovation of that time.

A 1924 , Sunbeam 3-litre -

A 19332 , Sunbeam 20 -

By 1935, STD Motors was in financial trouble and was taken over  by Rootes group. Rootes group was a major automobile group with many British marques - Hillman, Humber, Singer, Commar , Karrier etc, They integrated Sunbeam, Talbot in to the group and did badge engineering to bring out cars with various combinations.

Some of the famous Sunbeam cars under Rootes group were -

A 1948 , Sunbeam - Talbot -

A 1964 , Sunbeam Tiger -

Between 1964 and 1967, Rootes group was slowly taken over by Chrysler and formed Chrysler UK, which later became Chrysler Europe. Sunbeams and Talbots continued under Chrysler Europe.

By 1978 , the Sunbeam and Talbot marques were taken over by PSA Group (Peugeot) and the Sunbeam marque disappeared after 1981.

The Sunbeam Logos -

The original Bicycle logo with Black enamel and Golden stripes -

DODGE - Dependable

Brothers John Francis Dodge (1864 - 1920) and Horace Elgin Dodge (1868 - 1920) were excellent machinists and had developed a name for their ability to mass produce precision parts. In 1900, they created Dodge Brothers Company and were supplying to Engine and chasis components to many automobile companies. They earned a reputation of being dependable.

In 1902 , they received an order to supply  3000 transmissions to Old Motor Works. Later they received and order for 650 Engines and transmission from Ford Motor Company. As time progressed , they were supplying most of the parts to Ford Motor Company and were fully dependent on the Ford Motor Company for survival.

Dodge brothers realised this dependence on Ford and wanted to move out and manufacture their own car. In 1914, they formed Dodge Brothers Inc to manufacture cars and introduced their first car - Dodge Model 30 in 1915.

A 1915  Dodge Model 30 - 

The model 30 had many features which were not available in other cars as well as Ford's car - All Steel body, 12V electrical system and 3-speed sliding gear transmission to name a few.

In 1917 , Dodge expanded in to manufacturing "commercial cars" - Ambulances, fire trucks, panel vans, delivery vans and later full size trucks. A fleet of 1920 Dodge delivery trucks -

The word RAM was first used in the early 1930s and later popularized in the 1970s to brand the Dodge turcks.

In 1920 , both the Dodge brothers died suddenly,  within a year of each. The management of the company passed to their wives. In 1928 , the Dodge Brothers Inc was sold to a consortium who sold it to Chrysler Corporation.

Some of the well known Dodge cars are -

A 1939 Dodge Luxury Liner -

Dodge Challenger -

Dodge Durango - 

A 1989 Dodge Ram -

High Performance car - the Dodge Viper

In 1998 , Chrysler Corporation merged with Daimler to form Daimler- Chrysler. In 2007, Daimler divested Chrysler to a consortium which was later bought by Fiat.

The Dodge Logos -

ROVER - "Set the Pattern to the World"

In 1877, John Kemp Starley (1854 - 1901) and William Sutton (1830 - 1888) created the Starley & Sutton Company to manufacture Bicycles. They were concentrating on making the bicycles safer to ride as compared to the "Penny-farthing" bicycles of those days. In 1883 , they introduced tricycles and were selling those tricycles under the Rover brand name.

In 1885 they introduced the revolutionary Rover safety bicycle and can be considered as the father of the modern bicycle. A 1889 Rover safety bicycle -

In 1889, after the demise of his business partner , the company was renamed as J. K. Starley & Company.  In 1896 , with the bicycle business at its peak, the company was renamed as Rover Cycle Company. Starley also experimented with electric cars unsuccessfully and did not pursue further.

After the sudden death of John Starley in 1901 , Harry Lawson (of Daimler) took over the reins and steered the company towards motorisation - Motorcycles in 1903  and later cars in 1904. An 1903 Rover Motorcycle -

Rover continued in Motorcycle business till 1925 after which production creased.

In 1904, Rover introduced their first motorcar. A 1905 Rover car -

Rover became the well know British marque , across the world and continued to make famous car. In 1905, the company was renamed as Rover Company. Some of the famous cars of Rover are -

A 1910 . Rover Six

A 1929 , Rover Light Six

A 1940's Rover P3 -

A 1950, Rover P4 "Cyclops" - third light in the grill -

A 1960 , Rover P5 -

In the 1950s , Rover experimented with gas turbine engines and introduced the Rover Jet1, unsuccessfully.

In 1948, inspired by the U S Army's Willy's Jeep, Maurice Wilks built  the Land Rover literally from the parts of a discarded Willy's Jeep. Owing to steel shortage after the war and abundant availability of aluminium from aircraft construction, the body was made of light weight aluminum. The paint was military green as this was available in abundance after the war. One of the earliest Land Rovers built based on a Willy's Jeep , a 1948 Land Rover -

 

Land Rovers continued to make vehicle with ladder frame till recently, when they shifted to monocoque construction.

Owning to financial difficulties,  post the 1960s, the Rover company changed many hands.

In 1967 , Rover Company was taken over by Leyland Motor Corporation and integrated as Rover - Triumph division. In 1968, Leyland Motor Corporation merged with British Motor Holdings to become British Leyland Motor Company(BLMC). In 1975, BLMC was nationalised  to form British Leyland (BL). In 1978, Land Rover was made as a separate brand. In 1981, in an internal reorganisation, Austin Motors and Rover Company were merged to form the Austin - Rover group. 

A 1984 Austin Montego. This car was made and sold in India as Rover Montego by Sipani Motors.

In 1986, the parent company , British Leyalnd was renamed as Rover Group. The Rover group was taken over by British Aerospace in 1989 and later sold off to BMW in 1994. In 2000, in view of financial difficulties, BMW sold off the Rover brand to a consortium who named the company as MG Rover, the MG brand coming from the Morris Garages and Morris Motor Company.

A 2004 MG Rover -

Further , in 2007 , Nanjing Automotive Group of China purchased the MG brand and SAIC of China purchased the product rights of Rover car but not the Rover brand. The Land Rover brand was purchased by Ford and integrated in to their Premium Automotive Group (PAG), along with Jaguar. In 2008, Tata Motors of India purchased Jaguar - Land Rover from Ford. Currently the Land Rover brand is with Tata Motors. In China, SAIC makes Rover cars but cannot use the Rover brand name and hence these cars are being sold under Roe We brand.

The Rover Logos -

The original Rover logo is of a Viking ship.

Land Rover Logo -

Austin Rover Logo -

MG Rover Logo -

Roe We Logo (China) -