CarBrandLogos archive · Rolls-Royce · 1904

Rolls-Royce10 hp

Sixteen cars from a Manchester works, and the start of a hundred-year partnership.

The story

A defining chapter in Rolls-Royce history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Rolls-Royce 10 hp, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

Henry Royce bought a secondhand French car, disliked how it was made, and built three of his own at his electrical works in Cooke Street, Manchester. The result was a two-cylinder car of 1800cc, later enlarged to just under two litres, with a three-speed gearbox and a standard of assembly that was unusual for 1904.

Rolls-Royce · Terry Whalebone · CC BY 2.0

Design and engineering

Charles Rolls sold expensive cars in London and was looking for a British machine worth his name. The two men met at the Midland Hotel in Manchester in May 1904, and agreed that Royce would build and Rolls would sell, under the name Rolls-Royce. The 10 hp was shown at the Paris Salon that December.

In production

Sixteen were made before the model was superseded by larger multi-cylinder cars, and only a handful survive; the earliest of them is among the most valuable veteran cars in existence. The company that became Rolls-Royce Ltd was formed in 1906, and everything it did afterwards grew from these few quiet, well-finished two-cylinder cars.

At a glance