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).
Customer letter providing a detailed review and suggestions for improvement on a new 20hp car.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 47\5\ Scan244 | |
| Date | 31th December 1928 | |
| COPY OF LETTER FROM:- G.R.N.Minchin, Hotel Californie, Cannes (A-M) 31st December 1928. Messrs. Rolls-Royce, London. Dear Sirs, You asked me to let you know how I got on with my new 20 and to give you my opinion of it, it being my 59th car and 8th Rolls-Royce. I have only driven it 1000 miles so far, from London here, but I know the road Calais-Cannes so well with various cars that comparison over this route is easy. Straight away, I must say that this latest 20 is the most beautifully designed piece of mechanism I have ever come across, the whole chassis blending into one almost perfect machine, with each part exactly suited to the next. That is the cheif feature that strikes me. The detail work is that of an artist. The car runs more silently and sweetly than any other I know, the whole engine and transmission turning quietly and without vibration, whether in gear or not, just like a smooth running electric motor. The car runs in the indirect gears more silently and more sweetly than many another car on direct drive. I can find no trace of vibration in the engine at any speed, the gearbox, gear change, and back axle are ahead of any other make of car. The brakes are perfect, the springing is excellent and the steering is now very good indeed. It is the easiest possible car to handle and one can drive it all day long with less anxiety and fatigue than any other car I know, in fact, with no fatigue at all. So you can gather I am very pleased with it. Mere praise, I suppose, is not very helpful or useful to you. I take it, what you want to do is to improve it if possible, that being your constant endeavour. I will, therefore, set out the points where I think improvement is possible. The brackets carrying the rear number plate and tail lamps should be set more forward under the rear cross member so that the tail lamp is not the rearmost portion of the car, and if the car is pushed against a wall in a garage for example, the glass in the tail | ||