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).
Urgent need to obtain more satisfactory electrical equipment, rejecting Lucas parts and suggesting US alternatives.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 48\3\ Scan257 | |
| Date | 13th June 1921 | |
| To Wor. {Arthur Wormald - General Works Manager} from R. {Sir Henry Royce} copies to Hs. {Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} Wd. {Mr Wood / Mr Whitehead} X4215 R18/H13.6.21. X.4215 X.3014b. X.295 X.4215 X.4172 X.4173 BJ. telegraphed to you to-day as attached. Every endeavour should be made immediately to obtain a supply of more satisfactory equipment. Please inform me what you intend to do. I never intended to stop output, but I was urging you not to accept any more equipment from Lucas, and to obtain from any source available a more satisfactory dynamo, cutout, switch and distributing board. The only ones approved by Mr. Clark and Mr. Hives are the Smith dynamo, the Bleriot cutout, the Rolls-Royce distributing board, switch board and locked ignition. These are what I prefer. If you cannot get these, or something equally satisfactory in England, we had better purchase from U.S.A. the same plant as Springfield will be fitting to their cars. I believe there are ample supplies of very much better appliances in the U.S.A. than the Lucas equipment which has proved so disastrous, and I expect the whole will have been scrapped at least on the U.S.A. cars. R. {Sir Henry Royce} | ||