Here are nine of Rolls-Royce’s greatest hits

After meeting in May 1904 to discuss a potential business deal, Charles Rolls and Henry Royce were all ready to unveil their car by Christmas. The 10 hp became the first car to be given the Rolls-Royce badge. Built in Manchester and sold exclusively in London, it was priced at £395.

Sold in both coupe and convertible form, the Corniche arrived in the early Seventies as a two-door iteration of the Silver Shadow. Handbuilt by Mulliner Park Ward, it really was the height of luxury. The Bentley version was the precursor to today’s Continental GT.

In 1981, Thierry de Montcorgé and Jean-Christophe Pelletier took on the Paris-Dakar Rally in this. With a Chevrolet V8 under the lengthy bonnet and the chassis from a Toyota HJ45 Land Cruiser, not much of the original Corniche was left, but just look at how cool it is.

Originally called the 40/50 hp, just one car (AX201) was actually known as the Silver Ghost before the motoring press decided to apply the moniker to all 40/50s and Rolls eventually followed suit. This was the Rolls first described as “the best car in the world”.

The replacement for the Silver Ghost introduced what is now a rather iconic nameplate. The Phantom arrived in 1925 with a straight-six engine and an array of coachbuilders waiting to design your perfect body style. It was built both in Derby and Springfield, Massachusetts.

The third-generation Phantom was the last of the big pre-war Rolls-Royces. Launched in 1936 (and curtailed by war), it was also the last Rolls to be powered by a V12 engine until the Silver Seraph arrived in 1998. It was the last car that founder Henry Royce worked on before he died.

The seventh-generation Phantom was the first car of the new BMW era at Rolls-Royce and helped cement the future of the company. It was also the first car to be built at the newly built Rolls-Royce factory in Goodwood, as Volkswagen got custody of the Crewe facility.

A sort of luxury grand touring version of the Phantom limo, the 2007 Phantom Drophead Coupe was a two-door (rear-mounted, like on the Phantom), four-seat convertible with a V12 engine and enough wood in the interior to raise a barn. Naturally we absolutely loved it here at Top Gear.

Launched in 1946, the first post-WW2 Rolls-Royce was the Silver Wraith. It was related to the shorter Bentley Mark VI and used a 4.3-litre straight-six engine. It was one of the last R-Rs to be offered as a chassis only, on which coachbuilders would do their thing.