RE: Roller Blind
Monday 20th January 2003
Roller Blind
Robert Farago on the best of Germanic Englishness
Discussion
Basically what is being said is that the British are such cretins that it can't make a car without foreign help. I would much rather have any "proper" Rolls than that monstrosity.
The Rover 75 was BMW funded only, it is Rover designed and engineered.
>>> Edited by cerbman on Monday 20th January 14:14
The Rover 75 was BMW funded only, it is Rover designed and engineered.
>>> Edited by cerbman on Monday 20th January 14:14
Don't know who writes this stuff? I reckon he/she/it is trying to be controversial in a post-modern-Clarkson’esque type of way but the writer simply misses the point of irony.
Whereas with Clarkson we find ourselves quietly agreeing and chortling behind our newspaper - Farago attempts to be funny but gets it "wrong".
So he suggests that "...an Anglo-German alliance was the only way to restore Rolls Royce to its rightful place etc. etc.. The Japanese would have made the Phantom… The French would have given it Gallic flair. The Americans would have given it, um, a Ford engine."
Well forgive me but when I think of Gentlemen's Automobiles I think of Bristol, Bentley, Rolls, Alvis, Mk VII Jaguars etc. All exquisitely carriages of their ilk built and crafted, to have that subtle smell of oil, stale petrol and leather and waft you along in all the style of the reading room of the RAC Club.
Sadly his first paragraph is so wide of the mark that lost any interest in reading further, so tell me chaps, what's the rest of his piece like? Rich...
Whereas with Clarkson we find ourselves quietly agreeing and chortling behind our newspaper - Farago attempts to be funny but gets it "wrong".
So he suggests that "...an Anglo-German alliance was the only way to restore Rolls Royce to its rightful place etc. etc.. The Japanese would have made the Phantom… The French would have given it Gallic flair. The Americans would have given it, um, a Ford engine."
Well forgive me but when I think of Gentlemen's Automobiles I think of Bristol, Bentley, Rolls, Alvis, Mk VII Jaguars etc. All exquisitely carriages of their ilk built and crafted, to have that subtle smell of oil, stale petrol and leather and waft you along in all the style of the reading room of the RAC Club.
Sadly his first paragraph is so wide of the mark that lost any interest in reading further, so tell me chaps, what's the rest of his piece like? Rich...
When I first saw this car a few weeks ago on PH, I thought it looked ghastly. Although it is now growing on me.
In the last few decades Rolls Royce ("RR") and Bentley saloons have been similar. Now following the splitting of the marques they are not aiming at the same markets. Bentley are continuing with simliar dimensioned vehicles in the same market they've been beating RR in. RR are now pitching themself in a new market against the Maybach monstrosity. I just wonder how many cars RR are actually going to sell, and will the marque end up a money pit for BMW.
DAZ
In the last few decades Rolls Royce ("RR") and Bentley saloons have been similar. Now following the splitting of the marques they are not aiming at the same markets. Bentley are continuing with simliar dimensioned vehicles in the same market they've been beating RR in. RR are now pitching themself in a new market against the Maybach monstrosity. I just wonder how many cars RR are actually going to sell, and will the marque end up a money pit for BMW.
DAZ
Its laughable.
Who cares how well it is built - the main point is that it is built in friggin Germany and then `finished` in the new plant in the UK.
Err so basically the germans build it and we stick a badge on it and give it a wash.
Its a travesty that they are not made in Crewe with exactly how many generations of passed down skills with Rolls Royce craftsmen making them for what they are - Rollers built by Roller craftsmen as it has been for decades and nigh on a century.
Fritz, Helmut and Dieter may be nice chaps but they are not the skilled men (in the wood and leather sense) that work at Crewe - all those skills lost :-(
£240k! I wouldn't buy one if it was half that because in my eyes its a 7 series in a frock - its about as much a RR as the MINI is a Mini.
No amount of marketing BS will convince me otherwise.
Who cares how well it is built - the main point is that it is built in friggin Germany and then `finished` in the new plant in the UK.
Err so basically the germans build it and we stick a badge on it and give it a wash.
Its a travesty that they are not made in Crewe with exactly how many generations of passed down skills with Rolls Royce craftsmen making them for what they are - Rollers built by Roller craftsmen as it has been for decades and nigh on a century.
Fritz, Helmut and Dieter may be nice chaps but they are not the skilled men (in the wood and leather sense) that work at Crewe - all those skills lost :-(
£240k! I wouldn't buy one if it was half that because in my eyes its a 7 series in a frock - its about as much a RR as the MINI is a Mini.
No amount of marketing BS will convince me otherwise.
There is simply no rationale behind the Bentley and RR experience.
One traditionally bought into ownership in the same way a Saville Row tailored codpiece was acquired.
Logic has no place here.
Clearly, as an engineering 'tour de force,' this monstrosity could certainly beguile even the most steadfast Bentley Boy. Roberto ably conveys this effect.
But therein lies the rub. It has to be more than token Albionism.
And this is as British in essence as the Vichy regime was gallic in spirit to Le France.
We don't need no S class imposter and this is what we have here.
Munchen: Bugger orf.
One traditionally bought into ownership in the same way a Saville Row tailored codpiece was acquired.
Logic has no place here.
Clearly, as an engineering 'tour de force,' this monstrosity could certainly beguile even the most steadfast Bentley Boy. Roberto ably conveys this effect.
But therein lies the rub. It has to be more than token Albionism.
And this is as British in essence as the Vichy regime was gallic in spirit to Le France.
We don't need no S class imposter and this is what we have here.
Munchen: Bugger orf.
just got back from NAIAS. that rolls is intimidating. If I was mad enough to blow a wad of cash on something in this category, there is no question I'd want it to be obvious how nuts I am from a mile away. The Maybach doesn't do it for me. Gimme the rolls. Farago, everyone else has said what I was going to about your article. And the bit about german cars being soulless couldn't be further from the truth.
These cars are going to sell rather well for exactly the reasons Farago has suggested. Although there is absolutely nothing technologically ground breaking going on here, it is a well engineered car with the styling of a typical RR. The target markets are of course the USA and the Middle East. BMW have been quite clear that this can be no loss leader. The entire project must make money or it will be canned. I'm pretty sure they will suceed without any problems.
If you want an excentrically built, poorly engineered car, buy a Morgan. Drive it to Crewe if you like. For those who wish to be patriotic, why no try to be positive about the new RR as a lot of UK jobs now depend upon its success.
If you want an excentrically built, poorly engineered car, buy a Morgan. Drive it to Crewe if you like. For those who wish to be patriotic, why no try to be positive about the new RR as a lot of UK jobs now depend upon its success.
If the BMW 3-series (or most any quality german car) was made by anyone other than the germans - say the italians or the brits, motoring journalists would be falling over themselves to write odes to how beatiful and soulful the car is. Instead we get the old cliches about teutonic efficiency etc. Maybe they could write seperate articles - one about cars and another about how much they hate/envy the krauts. By the way I have noticed german cars are rather popular in Britain. I'd have thought the soulful and teflon coated British would distain cars in which evil conspiracies are ripe for hatching. Comments?
david99 said: If the BMW 3-series (or most any quality german car) was made by anyone other than the germans - say the italians or the brits, motoring journalists would be falling over themselves to write odes to how beatiful and soulful the car is. Instead we get the old cliches about teutonic efficiency etc. Maybe they could write seperate articles - one about cars and another about how much they hate/envy the krauts. By the way I have noticed german cars are rather popular in Britain. I'd have thought the soulful and teflon coated British would distain cars in which evil conspiracies are ripe for hatching. Comments?
David, I broadly empathise with your sentiments but for my own part, can only conclude that normal rules do not apply (as I've indicated above) when traditionally looking at Bentleys or Rollers; that quintessential English totality remained relatively undiluted (ok, box aside) until this takeover and whilst I share your call to arms, as it were, for the sake of jobs in Crewe, tears have to be shed for the end of the era this heralds.
For my own part, I guess, given time, I could be less displeasantly disposed to Lady Penelope's conveyance but for now, I might as well buy a Maybach SWB or an uber S class.
Illogical, as I said but maybe a non-BMW lump up front would help restore some faith? I speak as an eminently illogical idiot who has run a couple of the more traditional behemoths and did so in no small part from a gut felt desires which included the avoidance of both the associations and connotations of overtly heavy foreign influence.
This is a phenomenal car, for sure. But it IS a big BMW and that's not, well, entirely cricket.
Sorry.
Gassing Station | Motoring News | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff