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).
Value and cost of 10,000-mile tests, referencing warranty repairs and model reputations.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 148\5\ scan0028 | |
| Date | 17th January 1928 | |
| To BJ. from Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} c. to Wcr. c. to BY.{R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} X3994 Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}3/LG17.1.28. 10,000 MILES TESTS. X3994 X3054 The following paragraph appears in BJ8/D211227. "It is considered that in view of the fact that it is now costing us £20,000 per annum to put our chassis right, free of charge to the customer, and that during the past few years the Phantom has obtained an extremely bad reputation for over-heating and that the numerous other items which have to be corrected on the chassis free of charge not only cost us a large amount of money but also considerably injure the reputation of the RR. cars, we cannot afford to discard the policy of testing any improved features for 10,000 miles practical test on the roads, but that we should increase rather than decrease our tests of new design or modifications". This has since been amended by the statement that "the bad reputation for over-heating was meant to refer to the Silver Ghost and not to the Phantom". As the instructions contained in this para. would mean a considerable increase in the cost of experimental work, and as with our experience we consider that most of this money would be entirely wasted, we think it is worth while stating our views as regards the value of 10,000 miles tests. If we analyse free of charge cards for the Phantom and the 20 HP. we find that every single item which we are replacing free of charge to the customer has run 10,000 miles in France. It can therefore be decided right away that a 10,000 miles test in France is no guarantee that these faults will not occur. Taking the three most expensive of the Phantom items : Steering, roller bearing throttle, and oil seal to the ignition tower - it can be proved conclusively that all these faults were [text crossed out] contd :- | ||