Englishman Frederick Henry Royce had established an electrical engineering firm in 1884 but, by the start of the twentieth century, he was facing increasing competition from German and American manufacturers. In response he turned his attention to designing his own motor car, and he completed the first of three two-cylinder Royce 10 prototypes at his Manchester factory in 1904.
Based on a 1901 two-cylinder Decauville, one of the cars was sold to Henry Edmunds who was friends with Charles Rolls of the C.S. Rolls & Co. car dealership in London. Despite specialising in imported French and Belgian vehicles, Rolls was impressed by the Royce 10 and Edmunds subsequently arranged for him to meet Royce at the Midland Hotel. This led to an agreement on 23 December through which Rolls would sell every car Royce manufactured. These ranged from the original 10 hp two-cylinder up to a 30 hp six-cylinder model.
The manufacturer-salesman partnership between the two men proved to be an incredible success and, on 15 March 1906, they formalised their relationship with the establishment of Rolls-Royce Limited. With increased sales thanks to the combination of Royce’s high quality engineering and Rolls’ business expertise, the company soon opened a dedicated factory in Derby in 1908.
It was from this base that Rolls-Royce later established a reputation for the development of aero engines. In the Second World War their V-12 Merlin engine powered the iconic British Supermarine Spitfire and Hawker Hurricane, while modern Rolls-Royce jet engines are fitted to aircraft such as the Airbus A380.
