Rolls-Royce Limited its unreliable Rolls-Royce Vulture engines), Vickers Wellington (twin-engine); it also transformed the American North American P-51 Mustang into a competitor for the best fighter of its time, its engine a Merlin engine built by Packard under licence. Over 160,000 Merlin engines were produced, including over 30,000 by the Ford Motor Company at Trafford Park, Manchester. During the war most Rolls-Royce flight testing of engines was carried out from Hucknall Aerodrome. The Merlin crossed over into military land-vehicle use as the Meteor powering the Centurion tank among others. Many Meteor engines used engine blocks and parts that failed requirements for high
Rolls-Royce–Bentley L-series V8 engine the car manufacturing business, and Rolls-Royce plc were not prepared to allow Volkswagen to license this crucial intellectual property. Three way negotiations between Volkswagen Group, BMW and Rolls-Royce plc resulted in BMW purchasing the rights to the Rolls-Royce brand and badge from Rolls-Royce plc for £40m. Rolls-Royce plc, who had been involved in an aero engine joint venture with BMW since 1990 consistently supported their long time business partner during the bidding process for Rolls-Royce and Bentley Motors. German politicians brokered a deal between Volkswagen Group and BMW to ensure BMW would continue to supply engines, transmissions and key components