It might seem like any other day this week in 2002, as a silver Rolls-Royce Corniche rolls off the assembly line in Crewe, England, where all Rolls-Royce cars have been built since 1946. But this one was different; it would be the last Rolls-Royce built in Crewe, and one that marked a turning point for the highly regarded luxury brand. 

How it started

What would grow to become the most prized of motorcar marques began in 1884 by Henry Royce as Royce Limited, a mechanical business building electric cranes. It would be another two decades before he built his first car.

Fortuitously, once he did, he happened to meet Charles Rolls that same year, whose company, C.S. Rolls & Co., had been selling Panhards in London. They agreed that Rolls would exclusively sell Royce’s cars, which resulted in the establishment of Rolls-Royce in 1906. It would lead to the launch of the Silver Ghost the following year.

Originally named the 40/50, its new name is derived from its quietness. It would be built through 1926. But even then, production of Rolls-Royce cars moved around. Production started in Manchester, before transferring to Derby in 1908. From 1921 through 1926, it was also built in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Later, in 1931, Rolls-Royce bought Bentley, which was suffering from financial woes following the failure of its 8.0-liter models ­as well as its 4-cylinder models. By that time, Bentley held five victories at Le Mans. Two years later, the same year that Henry Royce died, the first Bentley appears powered by a Rolls-Royce engine. Its time at Le Mans is through ­— for now.

But Rolls-Royce prospered, its new Merlin aircraft engines becoming essential in the Battle of Britain during World War II.

By 1947, the company is back in car production with the Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith, assembled at its new factory in Crewe, with Bentleys becoming little more than lower-priced Rolls-Royces. It would also mark the beginning of bodies being built in-house; until that time all Rolls-Royce cars were finished by third-party coachbuilders. 

A change in ownership

In 1969, problems with a Lockheed Aircraft contract forced Rolls-Royce to file for bankruptcy. It was nationalized in 1971 with automaker Rolls-Royce Motors in Crewe being separated from aerospace manufacturer Rolls-Royce Limited at Derby. Rolls-Royce Motors went private in 1973, becoming part of British engineering conglomerate Vickers PLC in 1980. Rolls-Royce Limited is privatized in 1987 as Rolls-Royce PLC. 

However, by 1994, Rolls-Royce Motors needs help. Its technology antiquated, it turns to BMW for assistance in engineering engines and other key components that same year. By then, Rolls-Royce PLC had a working relationship with BMW since 1990 building jet engines. 

The wrinkle came four years later. 

In 1997, Vickers announces it is selling Rolls-Royce Motors, followed shortly thereafter by the announcement that Volkswagen AG had acquired Rolls-Royce Motors from Vickers for $780 million. But while Vickers owned the rights to the factory, its contents, its workers and its materials, it didn’t own the rights to the Rolls-Royce name. That belonged to Rolls-Royce PLC, which preferred BMW.

In a humiliation of gigantic proportions for Ferdinand Piech, the imperious chief executive of VW, Rolls-Royce PLC sells the Rolls-Royce name and trademarks to BMW for a mere $65 million. An agreement is reached where Volkswagen retains the Rolls-Royce name through the end of 2002. Thereafter, BMW will produce a new Rolls-Royce in a new factory, while Volkswagen will maintain the right to build Bentleys in the Crewe factory.

This week in 2002, the last Roll-Royce rolls off the line Crewe, the silent spectator to an end of one era and the beginning of another. Costing £250,000 at the time, the last Corniche was resold by Bonham’s at its Goodwood Revival auction in 2018 for £189,750.

Given that German automakers now own both Rolls-Royce and Bentley, who really won the Battle of Britain?