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).
From 'R' outlining concerns about the design of wheels, rims, tyres, and body hinges on cars from Springfield.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 42\4\ Scan158 | |
| Date | 27th June 1923 | |
| CJ. } BM. } FROM R.{Sir Henry Royce} Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} } EP.{G. Eric Platford - Chief Quality Engineer} } OY. } X3894 X.3614 X.3894 R3/M27.6.23. I have received several photographs of finished cars from Springfield. The following features appear doubtful practice :- (1) The Sankey type of welded steel wheel has very few spokes both in the front and the back wheels. The lateral strength of such wheels would appear to be quite inadequate. We do not know whether this particular pattern of wheel has been tested and compared in strength with the Sankey type wheels we found defective some years ago. (2) The second point noticed is that the wheels are not detachable, but have detachable rims - Michelin pattern. We believe that in England we trun out all our cars with detachable wheels either by serrated hubs (Dunlop) or the multiple stud and nut type (Sankey-Michelin). (3) The third point is that the rims and wheels do not appear to be arranged for straight sided tyres, which we understood had been agreed were desirable and should be used whenever possible. (4) This is a small point in connection with the hinges on the doors of the bodies which appear to stand out from the body an unusual amount. R.{Sir Henry Royce} | ||