May 4, 1904
The two of them could not be more different: O Henry Royce he was only nine years old when the impoverished father he died, leaving him to sell newspapers to survive. Charles Rolls was an aristocrat, the third son of a Welsh Baron who lived in Mayfair, one of the most expensive areas of London.
That’s why the chances of even ever meeting them were slim. Much more, to work together.
But Henry Royce and Charles Rolls met like today at the Midland Hotel in Manchester to talk about business. After the meeting, Rolls exclaimed: “I met the best engineer in the world». H Rolls-Royceone of the most emblematic and coveted car brands in the world, was founded in 1906. But just four years later, Rolls dies in a plane crash.
The African Royce
Henry Royce was one of five children of a financially disadvantaged miller. He was just nine years old when his father died for it and he was forced to drop out of school and start selling newspapers to contribute to the house expenses.
An aunt paid him to take him as an apprentice on the railroad, wherever discovered his love of engineering. And later he managed to start his own electrical applications company.
In 1903, at the age of 40, Royce bought a Decauville car, made in France.
Dissatisfied with his purchase, he redesigned the engine and chassis and slowly expanded his business into car manufacturing.
Dirty Rolls
Meanwhile, several years younger Charles Rolls studied Mechanics and Applied Physics at the University of Cambridgewhere he was known by the nickname “Dirty Rolls”, since every now and then he was found with his sleeves raised to “tease” a machine. After graduation, he set up a car repair business.
One of its shareholders, o Henry Edmundsadvised him to meet with Royce, believing that their cooperation would be beneficial for both men.
That’s how Rolls-Royce was born.
The ad that gave birth to a legend
For years, sales of the luxury car company went well, but in 1957 it would take off, thanks to the intelligence of the advertising tycoon, David Ogilvy.
Ogilvy, the founder of the advertising Ogilvy & Mather and the man who is considered the “father of advertisingWon the Rolls-Royce account.
And he was the one who thought of it legendary slogan of the automotive industry: “At 60 mph, the loudest noise you hear in the new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock».
«It’s the best slogan I’ve ever written“, Ogilvy would say later. Undoubtedly it was effective.
Although in 1957 the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II cost $ 15,655 (i.e. $ 156,600 in current money), next year, Rolls-Royce sales increased by 50%.
In practice, Ogilvy “played” with the claim of Rolls and Royce that their car is “the best in the world». However, he changed the statement to a question: “What makes the Rolls-Royce the best car in the world?». And he gave a list of its assets, so that there are no doubts. The first of the reasons was that “at 60 miles per hour, the loudest noise you hear comes from the electric clock».
Somehow, Rolls-Royce became status symbol for pop music stars and the big screen, but also for businessmen and millionaires. In January 1961, when Elvis Presley signed a five-year film contract, he celebrated by buying a Rolls-Royce Phantom V.
And in 2021, the Beyoncé and her husband Jay-Z bought a Rolls-Royce Model Boat Tail for $ 23 millionacquiring the most expensive car in the world.
The 5.8 meter long Boat Tail is made to reminiscent of a boat. Among other things, it has special place for caviar and a refrigerator that freezes the bottles at 6 degrees Celsius, ie at the ideal temperature for Armand de Brignac champagne.
Money Review
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