Rolls-Royce Reviews

The best book of its type I have ever read. By the way, is the author also an actor who appeared in the cult movie Leon The Pig Farmer?

I thought it was an interesting insight into the world of aviation and not too difficult for a lay person to appreciate. I think one of the authors, Paul Simpkin, is also a comedy writer - and ex-Cambridge graduate. Obviously multi-talented.

This book, which I first read nearly 30 years ago, still fills me with awe as I turn the pages today. The line illistrations and photographs are so sharp and crisp that I have been able to identify the two models I have seen immediately I viewed them. It also gives an insight into the characters who developed, built and road these original Super Bikes long before the term came into modern vogue. From 2,3 and 4 wheels George Brough built only the best. This book is truely superior

A beautiful book, lots of color photos and useful info. A must have for any RR/B lover.

LJK Setright's book covers the period from pre Rolls Royce inception, to 1971, when this book was written.

The book is split into coherent sections, starting with when Royce was proprietor of an electrical equipment factory bought a Decauville car. He was so unimpressed by it, that he set about its improvement, then went on to producing his own cars'. These were brought to the attention of the Honourable Charles Stewart Rolls whom ran several car retail outlets'. The upshot of this you already know, and the chapter continues with the development of the early models'. Following on from the first chapter is the cars' in World War 1, and the military engine business including aircraft engines, then their post war developments. Next is the American Rolls Royce car factory at Springfield and its collapse after the stock crash, the developments in the cars, and the acquisition of Bentley by RR. The next chapter is on the development of engines, again mostly military aero engines, before and during the Second World War - see comment on Ellor below. The development of jet engines is the subject of the next chapter, and ends with the RB211 jet engine and it's problems. The final chapter is on the post Second World War cars and their developments' ending with the Corniche convertible.

Setright gives an interesting account of Royce's and the companies' cautious yet rigorous philosophy of technical development, commitment to the highest standards, and the unexpected benefits of over-engineering, all set in the context of their respective era's. Along the way amusing anecdotes illustrating these points, such as the companies' sideswipes at its competitors, prevent this book from becoming a tedious tome of facts and figures. Setright also brings out serious points' on how particular people, and technical developments, made great impact in history. Such as Mr Ellor a "supercharging genius" from whom Rolls Royce got a lead in supercharging technology for the Schneider trophy, later used in the Merlin engine of Hurricane, Spitfire, and Lancaster bomber. This is also used to illustrate the relationship the company had with the British government, and very interesting it was. All in all, despite the fact it came out in 1971, has only monochrome photographs, this is an excellent book. It is so readable, I can only hope someone can persuade LJK Setright to revisit this book, and bring it up to the modern day. With the recent events that have transpired, as of the year 2000, when Volkswagen acquiring the Crewe factory, plus the Bentley brand, while BMW retaining the Rolls Royce brand name.

If limited to one definitive book on Rolls-Royce and post 1931 Bentley this would be it. Very readable history as well as a comprehensive tecnical appendix. The idea format for a book on one make cars.

While not the largest reference on Rolls-Royce & Bentley, this book is one of the most pleasurable I've read on the subject. It is very well presented, concise, informative and readable.

Beginning with the first Royce cars of 1904, the book continues chronologically through the 1996 models. I most enjoyed the sections on the Silver Ghost & those on the later models which are given equal coverage with the popular middle year cars.

The numerous illustrations are very well selected. Especially nice are chassis line drawings for most models and many good interior photos. The color photo gallery in the center is beautiful.

Another useful feature is a technical specification chart, including chassis numbers, for each series. If you would like to invest in just one book to tell the story of Rolls-Royce & Bentley, this would be an excellent choice.

Interesting and informative about history and actual development of modern (after the Silver Cloud) Rolls-Royce and Bentley automobiles, without being overly technical.

This is a magnificent text on one of the most successfully designed and constructed cars ever built. Readers will be transported to the world of the late 1950's when against all tradition the world's finest car builder successfully questioned their strategy to produce chassis based vehicles and then spend the next 10 years developing the Silver Shadow and Bentley T1. You will gain an understanding of the boldness of the plans to build the worlds finest monocoque car, understand the influence of Mercedes Benz and General Motors and then see how the Silver Shadow was designed, manufactured and assembled in trully hand built form. Not content to leave the readers in a time capsule of the 1960's - there is extremely interesting information on the Shadow's derivatives - the mark 2, the corniche, camargue and other cars leading into the mid 1980's. This is an indespensable text on a motoring icon - but also learn about the economic conditions, the American market influences and the clarity and focus of the company that set out to build a pillar of motoring history. Not to be missed !!

I found this book to be helpful in obtaining more knowledge on the Rolls Royce and Bentley cars. I would have like to have seen charts on the number of cars produced how they got their names, and more technical information. The book has some beautiful pictures of these fine cars as well as some original factory sales information.

The book explains the detail that the builders go through to make each of these cars and how the evolution takes place from year to year.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is an owner or is an enthusiast of fine automobiles.

A nice looking book with fine color plates. The text is not bad, but contains many minor errors of fact as well as a few major ones, for example: 1)the Mark VI Bentley was NOT AT ALL 'identical' to the prewar Mark V; 2)the Company did not set up a plant next to the Crewe works to 'build' the standard steel bodies - they were shipped in from Pressed Steel Company and fine-tuned, painted and trimmed by Rolls-Royce. These are not critical for the casual reader, but are surprising in that Reg Abbiss, well-known and respected among Rolls-Royce enthusiasts, was involved with the author in development of the book. Nevertheless, apart from a few clangers like the above, it is a book worth having.