The third instalment of the 'Models of the Marque' series celebrates the Rolls-Royce 20 H.P. - the 'Twenty'. Launched in 1922, this transformative motor car was the first Rolls-Royce expressly designed for owner-driven motoring.
PRESS CONTACT.
Tel: +44-1243-384-064
send an e-mail
AUTHOR.
DOWNLOADS.
Attachments(1x, 84.03 KB)
Photos(2x, 16.74 MB)
A brief history of the Rolls-Royce 20 H.P. - known as the 'Twenty' - launched in 1922
A transformative motor car for the marque, it was the first Rolls-Royce ever designed expressly to be owner-driven rather than chauffeured
Third in a series celebrating landmark models from each decade of the marque's history, from its foundational years in the 1900s to the contemporary Goodwood era
Year-long retrospective marks the 120th anniversary of the first meeting between
'The legendary 20 H.P., known simply as the 'Twenty', was launched on
A CHANGED WORLD
Even before the Armistice was signed in 1918,
THE 'TWENTY'
On
The 'Twenty' quickly became a firm favourite both with established Rolls-Royce owners and those new customers for whom, as Royce had predicted, purchase price and ongoing running costs were more important considerations than they had been a few years earlier.
In letters to the motoring press, one happy owner praised it as 'a charming piece of mechanism' while another declared, 'I have never handled anything as sweet-running'. A company advertisement quoted an expert assessment of the car as 'everything a motorist can want... motoring with a high degree of refinement and its simplicity of construction will delight the driver'. After taking delivery of his car, a contented customer wrote to the company from his home in
WEIGHTY ISSUES
Like all Rolls-Royce models of the era, the 'Twenty' was produced as a 'rolling chassis', on which owners commissioned bespoke bodywork from an independent coachbuilder. Royce had always intended that it should primarily be an owner-driver car and hoped coachbuilders and customers alike would embrace this by keeping their creations as svelte and lightweight as possible.
However, he was unable to change the habits of a lifetime among some customers. Many owners persisted in specifying their preferred style of solid, formal coachwork that was both heavier and produced greater wind resistance. To Royce's understandable irritation, these massive, overbuilt bodies inevitably compromised performance.
Ever the pragmatist, Royce knew there was only one way to improve the weight-to-performance ratio. In 1929, the 'Twenty' was replaced by the 20/25 H.P., powered by an enlarged capacity engine, followed in 1935 by the 25/30 H.P. with a 4.25-litre powerplant. The 'small horsepower' era finally came to an end with the Wraith of 1938. These later iterations, all direct developments of the 'Twenty', add further lustre to its record and reputation.
A LASTING INFLUENCE
The 'Twenty' had a profound influence on Rolls-Royce long after production ceased in 1929, by which time no fewer than 2,940 examples had been built. In particular, the straight six-cylinder engine - with detachable cylinder head and overhead valves - would provide the template for Rolls-Royce engines for years to come. Open the bonnet of any six-cylinder Rolls-Royce right up to the Silver Cloud model (1955-9) and their shared heritage is clear to see, albeit with many internal improvements. And when the by-then venerable
(C) 2024 Electronic News Publishing, source