BMW and Rolls-Royce: Enemies Now Allies

While the title of this post may seem confusing, in fact it highlights a point of bitter contention between Britain and Germany that continues to this day. During World War II the British fighters, as well as the P-51 Mustang, were powered by Rolls-Royce engines. The Germans, on the other hand, powered their aircraft by, among others, BMW engines.

Both BMW and Rolls-Royce made cars before the war and during the war their production lines were outfitted to make war materiel. After the war, Rolls-Royce went back to making cars but the BMW plants were almost all leveled over the course of the war. It wasn't until the mid 1950s that BMW even started  to make cars again. However, in Britain after the war up to the present day almost all of the British car companies either went out of business or were bought up by other companies. Among these companies bought, Rolls-Royce is now owned by BMW, whose engines power the new Rolls-Royces, a point of contention between two countries decades after the war's end. Until next time take care, and thanks for reading.