Frederick Henry Royce built his first car, which he simply called the “Royce”, in his Manchester electrical/mechanical factory in 1904. Later that year he would be introduced to Charles Stewart Rolls. An agreement was struck whereby Royce would produce vehicles to be sold by Rolls. On March 15, 1906 Rolls-Royce was formed.
In the early years Rolls-Royce made most of their money building aircraft engines. In fact approximately 50% of the engines used by the allies in WWI were Rolls-Royce engines, including the engine of the P-51 Mustang, arguably the finest fighter of the era. It was due to income from the war that Rolls was able to withstand the Great Depression and in 1931 purchased rival company Bentley, whose cars for the next fourty years were essentially rebadged Rolls-Royce autos.
Today Rolls-Royce has been split into two different companies - Rolls-Royce plc, the second largest producer of aircraft engines in the world - and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, who in 2003 released the new Rolls-Royce Phantom, a supremely luxurious sedan which also became available as a coupe in 2007. Although the company has endured many changes, the old slogan still rings true: “At sixty miles an hour the loudest noise in the new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock.”