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Technology Stocks : COMS & the Ghost of USRX w/ other STUFF -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: David Lawrence who wrote (14352)	3/29/1998 9:00:00 PM
From: Lost in New York	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 22053

This guy's worried about post 4,000,000? I bet we hit 5,000,000 before the end of July. That's the one I'd like. Dave My Guess at 4,000,000 is April 10 at 11:57 PM

To: David Lawrence who wrote (14352)	3/30/1998 7:19:00 AM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Respond to of 22053

*****OT***** Rolls-Royce sale marks end of British-owned breed Reuters Story - March 30, 1998 06:58 %AUT %DE %FRX %GB %US %MAC BMWG.F VICK.L F V%REUTER P%RTR By Edna Fernandes LONDON, March 30 (Reuters) - The sale of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars to Germany's BMW AG marks the end of the British-owned breed of major carmakers, as the most illustrious name of all falls into foreign ownership. After a fierce fight to the finish the German luxury carmaker realised its ambitions to take-over the most famous name in British motoring from Rolls-Royce owners the British engineering company Vickers Plc . This latest BMW deal will add to its already impressive list of British motoring brands which include Rover, Land Rover, the Sixties icon -- the Mini and the MG. Another luxury name, the Jaguar, is now owned by U.S. car giant Ford Motor Co , making Rolls-Royce the most obvious remaining take-over target. Rolls-Royce was established 92 years ago in a partnership between an aristocratic car salesman, Charles Rolls and engineer Henry Royce, a miller's son. The two set up the most prestigious marque in world motoring which is still a byword for luxury and style, producing the Bentley range of luxury cars as well as the Rollers. During its history Rolls-Royce introduced only nine Rolls models, unveiling the latest Silver Seraph at its northern England plant in Crewe last month. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars chief executive officer Graham Morris said the Seraph marked "the dawn of a new era." The Seraph , priced at 155,000 pounds ($260,000), took its inspiration from the classic flowing lines of a past Rolls favourite -- the Silver Cloud. Its first car was the Silver Ghost which was built in 1906 and described at the time as "the best car in the world." Ever since then, the description has stuck. Royce was once quoted as saying "The quality remains long after the price is forgotten." Another of his corporate credos, still displayed at the Crewe plant today, is "Take the best that exists and make it better. When it does not exist, design it." But the group's history was not as smooth as the car's ride. Tragedy struck in 1910 when Charles Rolls was killed in a flying accident at the age of 33, leaving his older partner to develop the business and its reputation for unmatched luxury and power. That image was helped by the company's move into aero-engines at the start of the First World War which led to its Eagle engines powering the first non-stop transatlantic flight a Vickers' plane in 1919. This first link was strengthened over the years. The relationship with Vickers, once Britain's biggest defence manufacturer, culminated in 1936 with production of the Merlin engine which powered Vicker's legendary Spitfire fighter planes in the Second World War. But Rolls-Royce had a rougher ride in the Seventies when it was rescued from bankruptcy by the British government in 1971 after buckling under the financial strain of developing its RB211 aircraft engine. Under the rescue deal, the car business was split from the aero-engines side which was nationalised, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars was eventually floated on the stock market in 1973, only to be hit by an oil crisis and economic recession. It was not until 1980 that the car company was taken over by Vickers for 38 million pounds. During its decades of ownership, Vickers overhauled the product range, including relaunching the Bentley. But the company was still losing money and in 1991 Vickers set about a radical cutback in capacity and rationalisation of production, halving the workforce to 2,400 people. The company was back in profit two years later. But Vickers said last autumn it was divesting. "We have done all we can (for Rolls-Royce), we saved it, we nursed it back to health, we got it in good shape ... this is the right time to divest," Vickers chairman Sir Colin Chandler said last month. ($ = 0.594 British Pounds)