When World War I ended, there was great pent-up demand for new cars, and the Rolls-Royce factory could not keep up with demand for the first couple of years after the Armistice.

The Managing Director of Rolls-Royce, Claude Goodman Johnson, had visited the USA as part of R-R’s war effort, and he was most impressed with what he saw.

The USA auto market was much larger than the rest of the world combined, and it was not a market that Rolls-Royce was penetrating very effectively.

Johnson knew just how to attack the US market – Rolls-Royce needed a factory in the USA.

After the war, he set about establishing a manufacturing operation on Yankee soil, having looked at a plant site in New Jersey but finally choosing Springfield, Massachusetts, because there was suitable real estate available, a large pool of skilled workers and a history of good labor relations.

A factory property was acquired in 1920 and work began.

Fifty-one foreman sailed over from Britain and set about hiring the res...