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).
Continental vehicle testing, the challenges of German autobahns, and the temporary closure of the experimental department due to war.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 160\5\ scan0362 | |
| Date | 28th October 1941 | |
| - 7 - Experience shows that if the bearings of a car will stand up to 20,000 miles of this Continental test, they will have a life of 50,000 miles in the hands of the ordinary British customer, who only crosses the Channel occasionally. The German motor-roads have presented an entirely new problem which has been dealt with by the production of the "Corniche" - the evolution of which was recently described in "MOTOR SPORT". If customers take standard Bentley cars on to the autobahnen, they must restrict their sustained maximum speed to about 80 m.p.h. if they do not wish to reduce the life of the engine considerably. We do not apologise for this state of affairs. The winding roads of Britain require a rather specialised type of vehicle and until they are brought up to date, the standard British car is bound to be much under-geared for modern automobile highways. As may be imagined, the records of a million miles of Continental motoring provide an immense store of knowledge for future design-work. The incidents - humorous and otherwise - which occurred during this testing would fill a book. For the time being, the overseas test section of the Rolls-Royce experimental department has, of course, had to close down. As soon as the war comes to an end, however, it will re-open because we believe that, in the past, it has been in a large measure responsible for such degree of reliability as we have attained with our products. W. A.{Mr Adams} ROBOTHAM. 28th October, 1941. | ||