9781422269671

A LASTING VISION Born in 1853, businessman and financier Henry Edmunds seemed more of a big brother in age to Royce. Since he was 22 at the time of Rolls’s birth, he was more of a surrogate father figure to the young man whom he knew from their mutual membership in the Automobile Club of Great Britain. Edmunds convinced Royce to attend a meeting of the Auto Club with him, at which he introduced Royce to Rolls. While some sources claim that the rest is history, the two younger men did not immediately embark on a business venture together. Edmunds and Rolls convinced Royce to join the Auto Club, and the three men spent two years becoming close friends. Edmunds had purchased stock in Royce Ltd., while Rolls’s dad had bankrolled his auto sales company. Called “The Godfather of Rolls Royce,” Edmunds earned the moniker for his fostering of the two young men’s friendship and his investment as a shareholder in Royce’s firm. Although separated by 14 years in age and from vastly different backgrounds, the two men agreed on striving for perfection. Both saw no reason to accept less than ideal. As Royce famously said,

A Lasting Vision

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