On this day in auto history – March 15th

Mon 15th Mar 2021

It was on this day in 1906 that Rolls-Royce Ltd was officially registered with Charles S. Rolls and F. Henry Royce listed as its directors.

Cambridge graduate Rolls - the son of a Baron and owner of one of the UK’s first motor dealerships - first met Royce, a self-made engineer of great repute, after they were introduced to each other by a mutual friend at the Royal Automobile Club at the Midland Hotel in Manchester in 1904.

Initially Rolls agreed to sell cars produced by Royce at his dealership in Fulham and by 1906 the Rolls-Royce company had been born, specialising in producing high-end vehicles noted for quality and reliability from a factory in Derby.

In 1910, Rolls was tragically killed at the age of just 32 in one of Britain’s first flying accidents.

Royce lived to see the company flourish until he died in 1933 at the age of 70.