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).
Extract from a letter detailing a car's performance and necessary repairs after a long-distance journey.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 114\4\ scan0081 | |
| Date | 12th March 1937 | |
| 60 Extract from letter from Mr.Humphrey Symons received 12.3.37 The rear shock-absorbers are rotten, they need topping-up every 500 miles and are in constant need of repair - a poor contrast to the ordinary Luvax we had on the Morris, which never lost a drop of oil, and functioned without the slightest attention for 7,000 miles across the Sahara The brakes also are poor and need constant adjustment - even before we got to Marseille. Taken all round the car is extremely comfortable and very restful to drive. We should have done the journey to Nairobi feeling perfectly fresh but for those....tyres. The ground-clearance is adequate - a great achievement this - we actually crossed the Sahara WITHOUT ONCE GETTING STUCK IN THE SAND !! I should think this is a record in itself ! The coachwork is standing up splendidly - not a rattle to be heard - and the engine is running like a dream. Browning and Hamilton have both been splendid. I think Hamilton has had his eyes opened as to what long-distance motoring really means and if he is wise he will have learned a lot. He has had to work very hard on the shock-absorbers and was pretty-well "done" by the time we reached Kano. So we stayed there 18 hours so as to give him a rest and a chance of looking over the car. He is a most excellent mechanic and terrifically loyal to R.R. He is always tinkering with the car - I think that's his idea of paradise. The car keeps very cool inside, and the engine cooling is simple MARVELLOUS. Not a single drop of water has been put into the radiator since the car left Derby. Hamilton has taken the opportunity to go over the car. It is in excellent order bar the shock-absorbers, and he has discovered that the brakes are of an obsolete type which R.R. scrapped sometime ago and which ought never to have been fitted. | ||