There was a lot of truth to this slogan: impressively, a Silver Ghost accomplished an uninterrupted drive of 20,000km without a single breakdown, which was an almost impossible feat at the time.
But Rolls and Royce were not given much time to enjoy their success. With his love of speed, Rolls had turned to flying. He was the first man to cross the English Channel both ways by air. Soon afterwards he was the first Briton to die in an aircraft accident.
He crashed during an air exhibition on July 12, 1910 aged only 32.
He did not even live to see the emblem of Rolls-Royce unveiled in 1911. Through John Scott Montagu, a friend of Rolls and Johnson, Royce got in touch with the artist Charles Sykes, asking him to design a figure symbolizing the quality of the vehicle.
Sykes sat down and asked Montagu's secretary, Eleanor Thornton, to stand as a model. From that sketch came the famous radiator grille figure with outspread arms -- "The Spirit of Ecstasy."
Meanwhile the firm moved to a new factory in Derby. But the decades of hard work were taking their toll on Royce. His health failing, he spent most of his time on the French Riviera because of the more favorable climate.
Royce did not live to see the second move of the car production facilities to the legendary works at Crewe in 1947. He died in 1933. The myth lives on.
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