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).
Page detailing the operation and benefits of a preselector gearbox and potential future developments.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 136\4\ scan0136 | |
| Date | 9th February 1937 guessed | |
| -5- and this action also causes the selector pawl to turn the selector shaft to select 1st gear, the latter being engaged by the return movement of the pedal. Depressing and releasing the pedal selects and engages each gear successively until top gear is reached, the preselector lever keeping in step with each change and always indicating the gear in use. When in top a touch of the finger puts the preselector lever back in its normal position and normal control is restored. It should be noted that flicking the preselector lever up and down, between short limits, is a very easy action and is done before and after the actual getaway. On the getaway the driver has not to bother with any kind of gear lever so he can keep both hands on the steering wheel and give the whole of his attention to the road and traffic at a time when extra caution is often needed. If, during a getaway, it should be desirable to change down this can be done both easily and rapidly as the lever springs back on the fixed quadrant at the lightest touch. A point to note is that the preselector lever is always in register with the notch of the gear in use and, in consequence, there is no confusion when normal control is resumed. General Remarks. Very little development should be necessary to produce a good preselector self-change control on these lines. The mechanism can be arranged at one side of the gears and, by getting rid of the usual top members of a gearbox, we can lower the top of the box appreciably and so obtain a lower floor in the front compartment which, incidentally, is made more comfortable and useful by the elimination of the ordinary type gear lever. "All-synchro-mesh" Gear. A good gear of this type is available for use with the preselector with 'check' synchronisers on all speeds. | ||