Rolls-Royce History: Quotations
Any study of Rolls-Royce will give you an impression of the ethos of the company and also leave you with an overall impression of excellence and perfection.
"Strive for perfection in everything we do. Take the best that exists and make it better. When it does not exist, design it."
"Accept nothing nearly right or good enough"
"Whatever is rightly done - however humble - is noble"
Sir Henry Royce
"I have only one regret, that I have not worked harder" Sir Henry said as he lay dying.
"Beware silent cars."
A warning notice displayed in the Rolls-Royce factory
"Our absolute priority, was to create a motor car that is clearly a Rolls-Royce even when the radiator grille is not in view."
Ian Cameron, Rolls-Royce Phantom Designer
"The Phantom is a first cousin only to the God of silence, and manners, and breeding. It is an exquisite car and I would have one tomorrow if it weren’t so bloody expensive."
"This car, then, is not a car at all. It is a fanfare. A blast of trumpeteering to silence the crowds when someone special is about to enter the room. The reason why there’s no advertising for this car is simple. It’s built to advertise you."
Jeremy Clarkson
"At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock."
David Ogilvy - 1958 Rolls-Royce Advertisement
An aristocratic lady once asked Sir Henry, "what would happen if the factory at Derby produced a bad car?" Sir Henry answered, "Madam. The man on the gate would not let it out of the works".
"From Albion's shore shall come a marvellous conveyance, a carriage silincieux bearing the arms of Rolles De Roi."
Nostradamus, 1548
"the motor beneath the bonnet might be a silent sewing machine…there is no realisation of driving propulsion; the feeling as the passenger sits either at the front or back of the vehicle is one of being wafted through the landscape."
Autocar review of Silver Ghost, 1907
"If automobiles had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get a million miles per gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside."
Robert Cringely