Everyone knows Rolls-Royce is a luxury and expensive car manufacturer. The price can reach tens to tens of billions. Not surprisingly, only rich people can own it.
Even though it is synonymous with luxury and rich people, not many people know that the creator of Rolls-Royce was not from an elite circle. But, instead he came from a poor family living in the English countryside.
That person was Henry Royce. When he was born, Royce actually came from a fairly well-to-do family. Both of his parents were flour mill owners. However, when Royce was 4 years old, the factory went bankrupt.
The bankruptcy of his parents’ business forced Royce to live in limbo, requiring him to work.
In The Magic of a Name, the Rolls-Royce Story (2000), Royce is known to have been assigned to chase away birds on a farm. This was done when he was 5 years old, despite earning only 5 cents. Then, when he grew up, he chose to work as a newspaper seller instead of going to school.
However, the struggle to earn money does not make family life fulfilling. Instead, his family was in huge debt. As a result, he was left to be entrusted to an elderly home. He was cared for by an elderly person named George Yarrow.
The turning point in Royce’s life occurred in 1879. At that time two strokes of luck came to him. First, he was able to join an internship at a technical school because he got money from his aunt. Second, he was taught directly by George about carpentry techniques.
According to the official website, these two things will make Royce have a good work ethic and strong technical skills that will be useful when making cars. Regarding cars, Royce first came into contact with four-wheeled vehicles in the 1900s.
At that time, he, who was already in the dynamo business but was not selling well, swerved into the car industry. He sees that the industry will be bright because there are minimal competitors. As a result, he made his first car called the Royce 10 in 1904.
Unexpectedly, the car prototype was noticed by a car-loving English nobleman, namely Charles Rolls. Rolls first saw the Royce 10 at Henry Edmunds’ car dealership. He glanced at the car because the Royce 10 had a two-cylinder engine.
He who likes speeding immediately wanted to try out the car. Sure enough, when I tried it, the Royce 10 was quite fast for its time. As a result, the two of them collaborated to make a car with the criteria of being fast and luxurious.
On the way, the collaboration was quite good. Rolls is a businessman, rich man and has connections to the British elite class. He can absorb the very high market desire for luxury and fast cars. Meanwhile, Royce has excellent brains and skills. He, who came from a poor family and had no money, immediately worked on the car properly.
These two figures later gave birth to the Rolls-Royce company in December 1904. Its first car had a 2,000 cc two-cylinder engine. Since then, the two of them have produced various other cars in the Phantom series, all of which were sold at high prices and could only be purchased by British aristocrats.
On this basis, Rolls-Royce cars are synonymous with the cars of the royals. Apart from that, thanks to Royce’s hard work, the manufacturer produced a jet engine for the plane. Until now, the company still exists and is famous for producing luxury, fast and expensive cars.
Resource : https://www.cnbcindonesia.com/
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