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).
Letter from the House of Commons providing detailed feedback on a test drive of a Phantom, comparing it to other marques.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 71\3\ scan0405 | |
| Date | 18th January 1928 | |
| House of Commons. 18th January 1928. W. M.{Mr Moon / Mr Moore} Cowen, Esq., Messrs. Rolls-Royce Limited, 14, Conduit Street, W.1. Dear Mr. Cowen, I cannot allow a moment to pass without at once writing to thank you most sincerely for the very great treat which you gave me extending over this last week-end; it is a very long time since I can remember enjoying myself so much. You will no doubt expect me to tell you my impressions of the car, and, while I do this, I hope at the same time you will remember that my remarks should be considered more in the light of a submission. I drove the car down to Brighton on Saturday, and on Sunday from Brighton to Bournemouth, where I arrived for lunch; from Bournemouth to Salisbury, on to Winchester, and eventually back to Brighton through Fareham and Chichester. Yesterday I drove the car from Brighton to Eastbourne and back, and this morning up to London. I purposely chose these particular roads because they are roads over which I have driven all the cars which I have ever had, and I was also able to accurately guage the performance of the PHANTOM in comparison with the two ROLLS which I had after the war, my BENTLEY, 30-98 VAUXHALL, Three-litre SUNBEAM, ISOTTA and BUGATTI. The running of the car and of the engine was a real treat, and there is no doubt, in my mind, that the car is a very great advance upon any of the ROLLS which I had. The car did not display the slightest tendency to wag its tail even when running at a high speed upon fairly highly cambered roads. The steering of the car at all speeds seemed to me to be very nearly perfect. At over seventy miles an hour I found that a bounce developed in the front wheels; this, I ascertained from the Chauffeur, was in all probability due to the make of tyres which had been fitted to the car, and is not experienced when Dunlop tyres are fitted to the front wheels and the front wheels have been properly balanced. The springing of the car appeared to be quite perfect at any speed within the capacity of the car. The Shock Absorbers were to me an absolute eye-opener, | ||