History
in the Making
At Rolls-Royce - Mulliner Park Ward Division, hands
and eyes are still the most important tools, time the most precious resource.
Modern technology has it's place, but as an aid to craftsmanship, never a substitute.
Thus the track, along which the body shells of the Rolls-Royce and Bentley progressively take shape, has the latest in welding equipment and the most up to date measuring devices which ensure perfect accuracy.
However
sub-assemblies are still welded by hand. Microscopic flaws in panel surfaces
continue to be sought out by finger-tips sensitive to almost a micron and
persuaded back into shape by a deft tap
from
the panel-beaters hammer. Gaps between doors (loaded with weights to simulate
their fully assembled condition) and apertures are still hand filed to
thousandths of an inch.The result is a body constructed to the highest
standards, seamless, entirely free of visible panel joins.
During the course of the assembly process, the body will become a medium through which other crafts are displayed.
Crafts like that of the coach painter for example.
Over a period of days, a perfect finish is produced seemingly fathoms deep,
founded on many layers of
primers, fillers and anti-corrosion treatments. The work is crowned by
the application of decorative coachlines, every one hand painted with an
artists fiche.
Crafts like that of the coach trimmer. Creator of
that uniquely sumptuous interior ambience which comes from the bringing
together of fourteen fine
blemish-free hides (the suppliers have long since learned not to send any
other sort), precisely fitted Wilton carpet and rugs of luxurious depth.
It is also the coach trimmer who painstakingly arranges,
glues and hand sews the woolcloth lining, layers of wadding and fire-resistant
covering which constitutes the hood on convertible models, each one requires
forty man-hours to complete.
Crafts
like that of the cabinet maker, Constructor of interior fittings; an artist
in wood.
Mulliner Park Ward are justly proud of the great
richness of their choice burr
walnut veneers. They are no less proud of the skill with which veneer,
cross-banding and inlays are combined to produce facias, door waist rails
and other fittings which are so symbolic of the quality permeating the
whole motor car.
Finally, the crafts of the engineer and electrician. Those who endow the car with all major mechanical components.
Such are the skills of hand and eye and the time lavished on every car, that the rewards of ownership come from much more than the fact that they are exceptionally fine and exclusive, they are also works of art.