RR-0.01 and RR-0.02 competed in the Goodwood Soapbox Challenge, and were the first vehicles Rolls-Royce made under BMW ownership
Pop quiz: What’s the opposite of a hill climb? A soapbox race, of course, and between 2000 and 2013, the Goodwood Festival of Speed hosted a race that saw automakers such as Rolls-Royce field high-speed, gravity-fed racers. Now, the UK brand has restored the winning racers that presaged its modern revival.
RR-0.01 and RR-0.02 were built for the 2001 and 2002 Goodwood Soapbox Challenges, and both vehicles won their races with Ian Cameron, Rolls-Royce‘s design director at the time, behind the wheel. And these racers were no joke. In the final year of the challenge, 2013, Cameron reached a top speed of 72 mph (116 km/h) on his way down the hill.
The soapbox cars were good enough to earn the company silverware, like the Newton Apple trophy, but that’s not why Rolls-Royce decided to restore them. The one-off commissions are important because they were the first vehicles made by the company after it came under the ownership of BMW.
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Back around the turn of the millennium, the German automaker was involved in a heated bidding war with Volkswagen over the rights to the Rolls-Royce automotive brand. The multi-year negotiations eventually left BMW with British brand, and it handed its first modern automobile, a Phantom, to a customer on January 1, 2003, at 0:01 a.m.
However, the negotiations took some time, meaning that the Phantom wasn’t the first vehicle Rolls-Royce made in its modern guise. Now known as “Goodwood Era” because of the location of its headquarters, it’s only fitting that these Goodwood racers were the first modern vehicles the brand made.
As is only fitting for a Roller, the vehicles are quite well-made. As is only fitting for a racecar, they were also damaged in competition, giving the restoration team, made up of apprentices, a lot to do. RR-0.01 is made of fiber glass and carbon fiber, as well as aluminum, and its design was inspired by the Phantom VII.
Meanwhile, the second racer, RR-0.02, used the Silver Ghost that won the 1911 London to Edinburgh Trial as its muse. It features a formula racing style steering rack, tubular tires that minimize rolling resistance, and it’s made of aluminum and carbon fiber with leather trim.
Now that they have been brought back to as-new condition, the soapbox racers will leave Rolls-Royce’s Goodwood headquarters, where they have been on display. They are now headed to the home of the Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts’ Club in Northamptonshire, where they will be displayed among its collection of memorabilia and records.
