• Rolls-Royce Motor Cars celebrates the primary autos ever commissioned within the Goodwood period
• Two hand-built gravity racers took half within the 2001 and 2002 Soapbox Challenges on the Goodwood Festival of Speed, earlier than the corporate had formally relaunched
• A workforce of Rolls-Royce Apprentices have labored collectively to refurbish the automobiles
• The racers have now been loaned to the Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts’ Club, and are proudly displayed at their Northamptonshire headquarters

“It has been a great privilege to reminisce on the first vehicles ever produced at the Home of Rolls-Royce. Not many will know that, before any of the first Phantoms were handed to clients, a pair of hand-built gravity racers took part in the Soapbox Challenge at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Having been retired from racing activities and subsequently displayed in our headquarters, we are delighted to announce that they have been refurbished by our Apprentices, who have worked tirelessly to restore them to their former glory. Over two decades on from their first outing, these priceless artifacts act as a pleasant reminder of how far we have come in the last 20 years at the Home of Rolls-Royce. We are confident that they will be cherished by our friends at the Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts’ Club, where they will add to an already vast archive of Rolls-Royce’s rich and storied history.”
Andrew Ball, Head of Corporate Relations and Heritage, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars

Today, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars commemorates the primary autos of the Goodwood period. Contrary to widespread perception, this was not the primary new Phantom handed over to its commissioning shopper at 00.01 on 1 January 2003; in reality, Rolls-Royce’s trendy renaissance started two years prior, on the Goodwood Festival of Speed Soapbox Challenge.

Before Spectre, Cullinan, Ghost or Phantom, there have been the Rolls-Royce Close Coupled Drophead Gravity Racers. A teaser to the marque’s Goodwood resurgence, these four-wheeled, motorless autos – codenamed RR-0.01 and RR-0.02 – had been true one-of-one commissions, constructed by the identical expert fingers that will quickly relaunch the model within the West Sussex countryside. With ‘Project Rolls-Royce’ nonetheless in its infancy – planning permission for the brand new facility had solely simply been granted – the racers had been commissioned to take part within the Soapbox Challenges on the 2001 and 2002 editions of the Goodwood Festival of Speed, a gruelling downhill race for gravity powered autos.

The traces on RR-0.01 provided tantalising clues to the design of the primary Goodwood Phantom. Built from carbon and glass fibre, composite honeycomb plates and precision aluminium parts, its monocoque shell bore a hanging resemblance to Phantom VII, profitable the award for the perfect design on the 2001 Festival of Speed. It was adorned with a novel, ‘March Hare’ mascot on its bonnet; the redesigned Spirit of Ecstasy wouldn’t make its debut on Phantom till the newly constructed Goodwood website formally opened its doorways in 2003. In the 2001 Soapbox Challenge, it was pushed by Ian Cameron, Rolls-Royce’s first Design Director of the trendy period, who was capable of overhaul the Bentley racer on the ultimate nook.

RR-0.02 was impressed by the Silver Ghost, winner of the 1911 London to Edinburgh Trial and the 1913 Alpine Trial, accomplishments which cemented Rolls-Royce’s place as creators of the ‘best car in the world’. Like its illustrious predecessor, RR-0.02 was constructed with pace in thoughts, with its system racing-style steering racks combining with its slick, tubular tyres to minimise rolling resistance; in a becoming tribute, Ian Cameron led the workforce to victory within the pace problem on the 2002 Soapbox race, lifting the Newton Apple award for the quickest racer. It was additionally bestowed with the Merit of Excellence by the ‘Wazir’ of Goodwood, a discretionary award for racers of explicit distinction, incomes the honorary title of Grand Soap Wazir. Made from aluminium and carbon fibre, with a painted wooden aft deck and leather-based trim, it was emblazoned with a one-of-a-kind, double-question mark monogram above its pantheon grille, providing additional hints to the marque’s Goodwood revival.

Following these triumphs, the racers had been proudly displayed in the primary reception space of the newly accomplished Home of Rolls-Royce, attracting consideration and admiration from curious shoppers and guests for a few years. A testomony to the Goodwood website’s youth, they’d have their racing swansong within the fifth and last Soapbox Challenge in 2013. Once once more, they efficiently accomplished the course, with RR-0.02 reaching a prime pace of 72mph on its method to the end line simply exterior Goodwood House.

These outstanding autos have now been faithfully restored to their former glory by the subsequent era of expert artisans and craftspeople on the Home of Rolls-Royce, prepared for the subsequent chapter of their fascinating historical past. The racers not too long ago underwent a full-body and mechanical restoration, managed by a workforce of Rolls-Royce Apprentices. This included a fancy restore to the entrance grille on RR-0.01, and a hand-crafted substitute front-screen veneer on RR-0.02, each having been initially broken throughout their racing exploits.

From Goodwood, the racers travelled to the headquarters of the Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts’ Club at Hunt House in Northamptonshire. Here, they take pleasure of place within the Club’s unrivalled assortment of Rolls-Royce data and memorabilia, over 20 years since they kicked off a brand new daybreak for the marque.