Hello Volkswagen

In 1998 the company which built Rolls Royce and Bentley motor cars was on the brink of extinction. It's owner, Vickers, needed to sell quickly, preferably to BMW which built the engines for the latest models. Believing they had a done deal, BMW submitted a low ball bid for the company, but were outbid by Volkswagen.

In the early '70's Rolls Royce split itself into 2 companies; RR Limited which builds aircraft engines and RR Motors which builds RR and Bentley cars. Oddly, the aircraft company owned all rights to the name Rolls Royce, the Spirit of Ecstasy mascot, and the trademarked grill design, and leased them to the automobile maker. The car company owned the car factory, parts business and all the assets of Bentley Motors.

BMW didn't take losing to Volkswagen well, and got their evens. When the sale of Rolls Royce and Bentley to Volkswagen was announced, on this date in 1998, BMW approached their aircraft partner, RR LTD. with an offer to purchase the Rolls Royce name, logos, and trademarks, which was accepted, leaving Volkswagen with Bentley, an opportunity for selling parts for older RR cars and an old factory.

BMW won the name but not the heritage.

Today RR's are built by BMW at a new factory in England, Bentley's are built by Volkswagen at the site of the old RR plant in Crewe. Both are each doing very well thank you.

Toad

Another day at the beach

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I'm still playing grandpa, and hope to be back to normal sooner rather than later. In the mean time may your Rolls Royce have a full complement of Segway's to see you over life's bumps.

Toad

The White Rolls Royce

In some circles a wedding isn't a wedding without the shiny white Rolls Royce purring outside, available to squire the bride to the ceremony and later the happy couple off to begin their lives together. It wasn't always thus. A white Rolls Royce is a fairly modern conveyance.

Prior to WW2, a RR customer would first commission Rolls Royce to build a chassis, then they would hire a firm to build a body and all interior fitments and perform all that was necessary to assemble a finished car. North Americans may recall the "Body by Fischer" tags on their GM cars. It was the same sort of arrangement.

During the war, the body makers found their skills quickly transferred to air plane manufacture. Several coach builders were destroyed during the blitz, the skilled talent found more lucrative work or died, and the days of custom coach building quickly came to an end. After the war, RR manufactured their own automobile bodies and completed assembly in house.

Rolls Royce knew what their customers wanted, and built motorcars to suit. For the most part they were large, stately, conservative. Customers could customize to suit their requirements but nothing garish would ever be considered. Then along came novelist Barbara Cartland.

In 1963 her husband died and his employer reclaimed his company car, so Barbara needed new wheels. Being a successful author, politician and campaigner, a woman with an image to uphold, she went to Rolls Royce. "Make it white" she said. RR refused. "Make it white or I'll go elsewhere." Wanting her money RR eventually agreed.

Cartland was the first person in London to own a white car - a white Rolls-Royce - making quite vocal later on in her life, her utter disdain at the Rolls-Royce takeover by "foreign people". (BMW took over the RR name in 1998.) It was her only Rolls. While complaining of the foreigners, she was driven in a Mercedes.

Toad

Camilla

May I introduce another member of our family, the Hon. Camilla Parker Rolls.

Camilla is an 1977 Bentley T2, and has been my mistress for the past 8 years. I find her exceptionally discrete, elegant, but she can be dressed down and made very sporting, and to my eye very beautiful. She smells very good, doesn't object to my cigars, and like any mistress worth the title can be VERY expensive to maintain.

Unfortunately for her, I have been somewhat neglectful of her this past year. The toxic combination of $4 gasoline and her, at best, 8 miles per gallon bar bills has meant that she has seem very little road time this summer.

This afternoon though she does get to visit the salon, where a bit of primping will be sure to have her ready for the fall season. She does love to be out and about in the cool afternoons.

Toad