Contents: Current / Pre-War Era (1919-1939) / Post-War Era (1946-2002) / Recent BMW Era (2003 - Present)

Full List of Ever Rolls-Royce Car Ever Made

Henry Royce and Charles Rolls founded Rolls-Royce Limited on March 15th, 1906. The two men hit it off after being introduced to each other and not long after decided to merge their efforts and companies under the banner of Rolls-Royce with the goal of producing the world’s best car.Despite their modern reputation for opulent luxury, Rolls-Royce built its initial reputation on superior engineering, performance, and durability. Commercial Marketing Director Claude Johnson took the 13th 40/50 ever made on the 774-mile Scottish Reliability Trial 1907, winning a gold medal in the process. Johnson dubbed the car the Silver Ghost and the name stuck for all subsequent 40/50s. That same year, Autocar magazine named the Rolls-Royce 40/50 “the best car in the world.” Since then Rolls-Royce has created some of the most luxurious, technically advanced and top-tier cars on the planet. This page is dedicated to those cars. We take you through a full list of ever Rolls-Royce ever made as well as an in-depth look at some we personally love.

New Rolls-Royce Models

The most famous Rolls-Royce – the Phantom – retains its spot at the pinnacle of the lineup since 2021, but it is the Cullinan SUV that will really move the needle in terms of sales numbers. The Rolls-Royce Ghost was redesigned from the ground up for the 2020 model year so it remains largely unchanged for the 2023 model year. For more information about the current range of Rolls-Royce cars, please check out our current Rolls-Royce model guide.

Rolls-Royce Models (Pre-War)

The first Rolls-Royce was a twin cylinder car of 10HP made from 1904 to 1906. This was shortly followed by a three-cylinder 15HP and a four-cylinder 20HP which came in both a heavy chassis form for carrying Limousine coachwork and light chassis form for a more sporting Tourer. There was also a V8 and the six-cylinder 30HP. From 1907 to 1923 Rolls-Royce had a one model policy, making what was known initially as the 40/50 and later as the Silver Ghost. The car was an immediate advance on its contemporaries with pressurized engine lubrication, dual ignition and advanced carburation giving the car both a very flexible and smooth power delivery, and great reliability and longevity.

A Phantom I is very similar to a later type Silver Ghost as the main change was to the engine, leaving the chassis, suspension, gearbox and braking just as they were on the later Ghosts. The Phantom I, or New Phantom as it was originally known, proved popular although it had quite a short production run from 1925 to 1929. Coachwork evolved in the 1920s from the rather upright style suitable for the wearing of top hats to something lower and more elegant by the end of the Twenties. The Phantom I benefited from this trend and often received very elegant coachwork from the best British coachbuilders.

The success of the Phantom I had given Henry Royce time to redesign completely the large horse-power car; so when the Phantom II was announced in 1929 the car made a tremendous impact. The whole appearance of the car was changed by redesigning entirely the chassis and springing. The Phantom II entered production in 1929 and the last unit was produced in 1935. The Wraith introduced in 1938 was the last model made by Rolls-Royce in the inter-war years. It received a significantly strengthened cross/braced chassis and independent front suspension.

Rolls-Royce Models from 1946 - 2002

The original Rolls-Royce Limited had been nationalized in 1971 due to the financial collapse of the company, caused in part by the development of the RB211 jet engine. In 1973, the British government sold the Rolls-Royce car business to allow nationalized parent Rolls-Royce (1971) Limited to concentrate on jet engine manufacture. In 1980, Rolls-Royce Motors was acquired by Vickers. The below cars cover the post-war era, including ownership during the Vickers era.

Two companies with a long-held interest in Rolls-Royce were German manufacturers Volkswagen and BMW. This interest came to fruition in 1998, when BMW was outbid by Volkswagen in an attempt to acquire the Rolls-Royce brand. The outcome of this bidding war was that BMW owned the Rolls-Royce name and logo, while Volkswagen had rights to the mascot and grill. This stalemate was broken when a deal was made that, from 2003 on, BMW was allowed to produce the complete car under the Rolls-Royce name. The 2003 Phantom VII was the first Rolls-Royce built completely under BMW and it is credited with reviving the Rolls-Royce reputation as a luxury car manufacturer. Indeed, for a period of time, it was the only car produced by Rolls-Royce, such was the power and importance of the Phantom VII to the company’s success. There are two models listed below that were built during this Volkswagen Group years, is the Silver Seraph (1998-2002) and the Corniche V (2002 - 2002).

Rolls-Royce Models (the BMW Ownership Era)

BMW licensed the name and logo from Volkswagen who received both fees and rights to Bentley and thus began a new era for the Rolls-Royce brand. BMW formed the new Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. A new version of the Rolls-Royce Phantom (VII) was the first car produced by the BMW owned company in 2003. The Phantom VII helped revive the brand and re-establishing the luxury icon and Rolls-Royce’s reputation. It came available as a saloon/sedan (with suicide doors no less) and as either a drophead (convertible) or standard coupe. Today, Rolls-Royce continues to occupy the upper-end of the market, with the most luxurious cars on the planet, including an SUV known as the Rolls-Royce Cullinan.