Rolls-Royce Twenty celebrates 100 years

ROLLS-ROYCE has this week marked the centenary of its legendary 20 H.P., known simply as the ‘Twenty’. Launched on October 6, 1922 – and designed by Sir Henry Royce himself – the Twenty ranks among the most important and influential models ever produced by the marque.

The Twenty was the first model specifically intended for the owner-driver, rather than predominantly for chauffeured use. Rolls-Royce says it is a direct ancestor of today’s Ghost, Wraith, Dawn and Cullinan, and set the mechanical template for generations of Rolls-Royce motor cars that followed.

The Twenty emerged four years after the end of World War I into an entirely new world, one that had been utterly transformed socially, economically, politically, and culturally. The war effort also meant Rolls-Royce had a massive excess of capacity at its Derby works, which in 1919 employed some 8000 workers.

Even before the Armistice, Henry Royce foresaw the need for a smaller car to take on this new world, predicting that sales of the larger 40 and 50 H.P. chassis would diminish. His vision was accurate, and with a reduced workforce of 2000 men, he set about building a car that was better suited to some customers' post-war needs.

Mr Royce also understood that despite the circumstances, Rolls-Royce buyers expected the same levels of excellence for which the brand was known. The company therefore went to great lengths to ensure that “the standard of excellence of production was maintained”.

At its launch, the “small horsepower” Twenty offered a 3.1-litre six-cylinder engine developing 20hp (15kW) and weighed about 30 per cent less than the brand’s Silver Ghost. The Twenty represented a huge technical leap forward for Rolls-Royce’s pre-war cars, with lighter controls, greatly improved steering, brake and suspension, and a lower purchase price with running costs to match.

Like many cars of the era, the Rolls-Royce Twenty was produced as a rolling chassis on which owners commissioned bespoke bodywork from an independent coachbuilder. Mr Royce intended that, as an owner-driver car, coachbuilders would help keep the size and weight of their creations as low as possible, though many largely ignored this request.

Ever the pragmatist, Mr Royce supplanted the Twenty with the 20/25 H.P. in 1929, and later with the 25/30 H.P. in 1935. The ‘small horsepower’ era finally came to an end in 1938 when the first Rolls-Royce Wraith was introduced.

Between 1922 and 1929, 2940 examples of the Twenty were produced. Its in-line six-cylinder engine with detachable cylinder head and overhead valves would provide the template for Rolls-Royce engines for the next 20 years, right up to the Silver Cloud (1955-59).

The legacy of the Twenty lived on in other ways. Up to the final Phantom VI of 1992, Rolls-Royce maintained the two-model policy it had launched with the Twenty 70 years earlier. Rolls-Royce said the policy allowed it to meet the needs of those who prefer being chauffeured and the owner-drive, just as the Twenty had decades earlier.

“Every Rolls-Royce is both evolutionary and revolutionary: true to our essential design and engineering principles, while taking technology, comfort, and the driving experience to a new level,” said Rolls-Royce Motor Cars chief executive officer, Torsten Muller-Otvos.

“But during our long history, there have been certain defining models that have permanently altered the wider automotive landscape. The ‘Twenty’, launched 100 years ago, is one of them.

“We join with owners and enthusiasts around the world in marking this very special occasion and celebrating the lasting legacy of this legendary and much-loved car.”