Internal noise issues with a specific car, the attempts to fix it, and the potential impact on the company's reputation.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 47\1\ Scan102 | |
| Date | 5th February 1925 | |
| XC417 To Mr. for C.S.O. O.F. [struck through] Kor. [struck through] Hs. {Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} BJ1/H5.2.25. Re 11-TM - Mead. 68-AU - Hogan. Secret [handwritten] 11-TM is a car for Spain. It was completed at the coachbuilders in the middle of October, [and was found to be so noisy inside that it was returned to the Works. - struck through] It was returned to Barkers on account of the noise. They tried for three weeks to overcome the noise and effected some considerable improvement. We realised that it was still too noisy for delivery, but as it had to go to the Works in any case for front wheel brakes, we kept it at Lillie Hall and sent it to the Works early in December and asked them to try and overcome the noise. They have tried ever since and have returned the car to us saying that it is the best they can do. We still find that sitting in the back seats there is very considerable noise at certain speeds. We cannot very well keep the customer waiting longer whilst we go on experimenting, but we expect there will be trouble over this car, as the representatives in London of the customers in Spain have been to Barkers in our six trials landaulet and even complained that that was a boomer. They are therefore wide awake to what noises are. We hear that the Works are experimenting with 68-AU still and are hopeful this week that they may come to [the - struck through] a conclusion with regard to the possibility of making cars more silent. We shall therefore wait until Monday to hear the result, as it is possible we may be still able to put off delivery of 11-TM car to Spain if the Works can hold out a good hope of our making it more silent. The point we wish the C.S.O. please to consider is whether, under the circumstances, even if this type of body may be our best seller, we should run the risk of damaging the Rolls-Royce reputation by ordering any more until we definitely know that Barkers can build a body and Rolls-Royce can build a chassis which, when combined, are reasonably silent. Spinney tells CWB. that Barkers have no wish to make any more of these bodies, but we insist on ordering them. Whether this be so or not, does not much matter. The point is a policy for us to decide. It seems that at least 75% of the cars that give real trouble with interior noises are of this type. The matter is therefore very serious, as we do not wish Rolls-Royce to | ||
From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).