MALCOLM BOBBITT
Chronology
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. Derby days
2. Crewe: from aero-engines to Cars
3. Standardizing the marques
4. Continental departure
5. Gathering clouds
6. Emerging from the Shadows
7. Nothing suceeds like sucess
8. An unlikely alliance
9. Oil in Troubled Waters
10. Mediterranean interlude
11. Keeping up the spirit
12. The Millennium and Beyond
Index
In 1998 Rolls-Royce celebrates the 60th anniversary of the opening of its Crewe factory, the home of the company's car production since the Second World War. Malcolm Bobbitt's fascinating new history gives a revealing account of the marque's postwar past, looks at its unique approach to car-making and assesses the extraordinary cars that have confirmed its long-standing reputation for excellence.
His narrative explains the move of the company's car production from Derby to Crewe just after the war and takes the story through the successful 1950s and 1960s. He recalls the near bankruptcy of the company in the 1970s and its subsequent recovery, and finishes with a description of the company and its remarkable cars today.
The author concentrates on the evolution of the characteristic models - the Bentley MkVI and the R-Types, the Silver Wraith and Silver Dawn, the Silver Cloud and Silver Shadow and Silver Spirit, and the recent revival of the Bentley marque which recaptures the spirit of the cars' prewar sporting history.
The book also remembers the notable individuals who played a vital part in the creation of these famous vehicles, and it describes the company's organization and its meticulous methods of design, testing and construction.
