I was lucky enough to be able to be part of a guided tour of Rolls Royce's Goodwood 'plant' (they don't refer to it as a factory, they say this is for environmental reasons, I think it's more because 99% of the parts are shipped in 
) yesterday.
The tour began with a Powerpoint presentation and chat, incorporating a brief history of the company and some plans for the future. Our host was very eloquent and answered all questions without batting an eyelid. We were also told that pre-production has started on a soft-top Rolls, along the lines of the '100EX' that some of you may have seen already, with insider betting favouring the name "Corniche". From here, we had to remove our jackets, don what one of our party described as "the poshest 'flasher macs' in the world", a 'RR' monogrammed coat and follow Dave, our guide into the plant.
A brief pause on a mezzanine floor above the palatial reception, looking down on a Phantom and the 100EX, gave opportunity for Dave to outline the design and objectives of the site. Surrounded by raised banks of grass and foliage and with the largest 'living roof' in the world, the plant is concealed brilliantly in the surrounding landscape. The Goodwood estate and the local council were very insistant that the site be as envrionmentally friendly as possible and as such there are no solvents used on site, all waste that can be recycled is and they have some very advanced systems for maintaining room temperature (not air-conditioning, you at the back...) which I won't go in to now.
Now it was in to the production line proper. Starting off on a raised walkway directly above it, you are afforded an excellent view of the 400 yards or so to the end of the assembly line. The cars' shells arrive unpainted from where they are pressed in Germany. RR have a paint shop on site (water based paints, naturally) where the shells are painted and then polished by two hard working chaps and left to gleam in the sunlight, which falls through the immense windows, at the start of the production line. We weren't allowed in to the paint room's viewing area because they had begun painting the pre-production models of the new soft-top.
Moving down on to the 'plant' floor was like any other hand assembled car factory that I've seen. Lots of padding on the car shells to prevent scratching, the car's ordered specification stuck to the side and the good lads and lasses of the company beavering away screwing/bolting/hammering things. Something of note at Rolls was that the car's doors are removed at the start of the line and put to one side, only to be reunited with the car at the last stage of assembly. At Ferrari, for instance, one car's parts follow it from start to finish as it progresses along the line. Removal of the doors allows the workers better access to the cars with less chance of damage.
The doors progress along their own line, being trimmed and fitted with the heated, double glazed glass in roughly the same time frame as the car takes shape on the other side of the pathway. In a little cheeky gesture, the lad who finishes the doors signs them with his initials, in an inconspicuous place of course, claiming it "adds value" to the car.
Into the leather shop, after a short stop outside the wood shop to discuss veneering technique, where Rolls use the same automatic leather cutting machinery I've seen elsewhere. First, one chap inspects each hide, stretching it over a bench and marking the imperfections with a pen. The hides are then passed on to what, at first glance, looks like a large dining table. The second chap now has a selection of shapes to position on the hide, using shapes outlined by a laser above the table. I think our guide said there are 94 pieces of leather in a Phantom, ranging from something the size of your hand to the large seat covers. Once the hide has been covered in the outlines of as many pieces as possible, avoiding the imperfections of course, the cutting stage kicks in and two blades move across the hide at great speed cutting the shapes as guided by the lasers. Certainly beats Rosaria with her scissors at Lamborghini.
We then headed down the second line, which runs perpendicular to the assembly line, which is where the finished cars head for their final checks. Perpendicular to this second line, about half way up, is the rolling road, the 'pulse room' (I think) and the room, the name of which I forget, where they chuck 450L of water a minute at a Phantom, to make sure it won't leak in case you get stuck in a particiularly severe shower.
After the cars have been subjected to these tests, its out on the road for "between 20 and 40 miles, depending how the [IAM approved] driver is feeling". Then it's back to the plant for its final polish, again two men rubbing the car down in a special enclosed booth where the car is bombarded with holograms to show up and dull spots they may have missed, before having a special film, almost like a shrink wrap, applied to the bodywork for proetction during shipping. Far be it from me to judge, but if you're tasteless enough to have chosen chrome wheels on your Phantom, these are also protected during shipping.
Passing the 'bespoke room' on our way out of the production line gave us a chance to see some of the amazing extras that people not only ask for, but Rolls Royce build, to be put in their Phantom. Dave, our guide, assured me that as long as whatever I had in mind didn't go against polite society's sensibilities or use materials of dubious morality, such as ivory, they'd be happy to make it happen.
And so concluded the tour. From the warm welcome in the car park, "very nice parking sir, welcome to Rolls Royce", to the cheery wave goodbye we were treated wonderfully and our tour guide was one of the best I've ever been lucky enough to have at an automotive plant. If I had £275,000 to spend on a cruiser, I'd have a Phantom in a heartbeat, having seen the care and enthusiasm with which they are created. I'm not so sure about the lilac coloured car, replete with lilac interior, that a middle-eastern man was having created as a wedding gift for his darling bride to be though...
) yesterday.The tour began with a Powerpoint presentation and chat, incorporating a brief history of the company and some plans for the future. Our host was very eloquent and answered all questions without batting an eyelid. We were also told that pre-production has started on a soft-top Rolls, along the lines of the '100EX' that some of you may have seen already, with insider betting favouring the name "Corniche". From here, we had to remove our jackets, don what one of our party described as "the poshest 'flasher macs' in the world", a 'RR' monogrammed coat and follow Dave, our guide into the plant.
A brief pause on a mezzanine floor above the palatial reception, looking down on a Phantom and the 100EX, gave opportunity for Dave to outline the design and objectives of the site. Surrounded by raised banks of grass and foliage and with the largest 'living roof' in the world, the plant is concealed brilliantly in the surrounding landscape. The Goodwood estate and the local council were very insistant that the site be as envrionmentally friendly as possible and as such there are no solvents used on site, all waste that can be recycled is and they have some very advanced systems for maintaining room temperature (not air-conditioning, you at the back...) which I won't go in to now.
Now it was in to the production line proper. Starting off on a raised walkway directly above it, you are afforded an excellent view of the 400 yards or so to the end of the assembly line. The cars' shells arrive unpainted from where they are pressed in Germany. RR have a paint shop on site (water based paints, naturally) where the shells are painted and then polished by two hard working chaps and left to gleam in the sunlight, which falls through the immense windows, at the start of the production line. We weren't allowed in to the paint room's viewing area because they had begun painting the pre-production models of the new soft-top.
Moving down on to the 'plant' floor was like any other hand assembled car factory that I've seen. Lots of padding on the car shells to prevent scratching, the car's ordered specification stuck to the side and the good lads and lasses of the company beavering away screwing/bolting/hammering things. Something of note at Rolls was that the car's doors are removed at the start of the line and put to one side, only to be reunited with the car at the last stage of assembly. At Ferrari, for instance, one car's parts follow it from start to finish as it progresses along the line. Removal of the doors allows the workers better access to the cars with less chance of damage.
The doors progress along their own line, being trimmed and fitted with the heated, double glazed glass in roughly the same time frame as the car takes shape on the other side of the pathway. In a little cheeky gesture, the lad who finishes the doors signs them with his initials, in an inconspicuous place of course, claiming it "adds value" to the car.
Into the leather shop, after a short stop outside the wood shop to discuss veneering technique, where Rolls use the same automatic leather cutting machinery I've seen elsewhere. First, one chap inspects each hide, stretching it over a bench and marking the imperfections with a pen. The hides are then passed on to what, at first glance, looks like a large dining table. The second chap now has a selection of shapes to position on the hide, using shapes outlined by a laser above the table. I think our guide said there are 94 pieces of leather in a Phantom, ranging from something the size of your hand to the large seat covers. Once the hide has been covered in the outlines of as many pieces as possible, avoiding the imperfections of course, the cutting stage kicks in and two blades move across the hide at great speed cutting the shapes as guided by the lasers. Certainly beats Rosaria with her scissors at Lamborghini.
We then headed down the second line, which runs perpendicular to the assembly line, which is where the finished cars head for their final checks. Perpendicular to this second line, about half way up, is the rolling road, the 'pulse room' (I think) and the room, the name of which I forget, where they chuck 450L of water a minute at a Phantom, to make sure it won't leak in case you get stuck in a particiularly severe shower.
After the cars have been subjected to these tests, its out on the road for "between 20 and 40 miles, depending how the [IAM approved] driver is feeling". Then it's back to the plant for its final polish, again two men rubbing the car down in a special enclosed booth where the car is bombarded with holograms to show up and dull spots they may have missed, before having a special film, almost like a shrink wrap, applied to the bodywork for proetction during shipping. Far be it from me to judge, but if you're tasteless enough to have chosen chrome wheels on your Phantom, these are also protected during shipping.
Passing the 'bespoke room' on our way out of the production line gave us a chance to see some of the amazing extras that people not only ask for, but Rolls Royce build, to be put in their Phantom. Dave, our guide, assured me that as long as whatever I had in mind didn't go against polite society's sensibilities or use materials of dubious morality, such as ivory, they'd be happy to make it happen.
And so concluded the tour. From the warm welcome in the car park, "very nice parking sir, welcome to Rolls Royce", to the cheery wave goodbye we were treated wonderfully and our tour guide was one of the best I've ever been lucky enough to have at an automotive plant. If I had £275,000 to spend on a cruiser, I'd have a Phantom in a heartbeat, having seen the care and enthusiasm with which they are created. I'm not so sure about the lilac coloured car, replete with lilac interior, that a middle-eastern man was having created as a wedding gift for his darling bride to be though...
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