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).
Difficulties with gear-changing and proposing a free-wheel device.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 18\3\ Scan054 | |
| Date | 16th January 1930 | |
| from F.H. Copy to Mr. Hives. Mr. [illegible] GEARBOX. CHANGING & SILENCE. Referring to DA{Bernard Day - Chassis Design}/HBY1/M.15.1.30 gear-changing on Rolls-Royce cars has I think, always been a quite simple and pleasant thing to do for any driver who has found no difficulty in acquiring the knack of double-declutching. Some people get this very quickly, others appear to find the greatest difficulty in being sure of themselves, especially on an emergency hill - whilst others again become so frightened of making a blunder and such noise with an otherwise silent running car that they have to forego much of the decent acceleration and high average running which the car would otherwise give. In these days when attempts on various sides have been made to make gear-changing very easy so that even those that have no aptitude could manage sufficiently well, such as with the "Armstrong Siddeley Wilson" scheme, the question is likely to be very frequently asked by enquirers as to whether we have also tried to be sympathetic with the owner of this type, and I think that our Sales talk and Propaganda would be very greatly helped by being able to explain to enquirers that our system of gear-changing had been in certain respects modified so that a perfectly simple and delightfully quick, easy change can be effected without any skill under nearly all conditions likely to be met. I would greatly like to have a free-wheeled device on the general lines of that now fitted to 12-04, available for the next Olympia Motor Show without having to wait for any more elaborate, perhaps complicated device which may be considered better for the purpose - a very much longer time ahead. In my opinion a free-wheel on the cars is better for not including the direct drive, and so long as a convenient lever or other device is arranged enabling the free-wheel to be cut out at the driver's wish, I am all in favour of such a scheme being fitted as soon as possible. F.H. | ||