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).
The road test and characteristics of a 1.5 litre Alfa Romeo with a 4-seater fabric body.
| Identifier | WestWitteringFiles\T\November1928\ Scan022 | |
| Date | 3rd November 1928 | |
| To R.{Sir Henry Royce} from Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rn.{Mr Robinson} c: to BJ. Wor.{Arthur Wormald - General Works Manager} c: to E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} DA.{Bernard Day - Chassis Design} c: to By.{R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} SG.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} ORIGINAL Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rn{Mr Robinson}2/LG1 3.11.28. 1 1/2 LITRE ALFA ROMEO. X4482 75770 2.44" X 3.22" 6 cyl. 5 main bearings - top gear 5.4/1 We spent last week trying the latest model of one of these cars fitted with a 4-seater fabric body. This was the property of Mr. G.{Mr Griffiths - Chief Accountant / Mr Gnapp} Summers, a Phantom owner. Mr. Summers is an engineer and has a most extensive knowledge of the performance and characteristics of modern cars. His views are interesting because he is not a speed fanatic and cares nothing for high speeds per se. His first consideration is comfort and road holding, manoeuverability and braking. His cars usually display the optimum performance for touring from point to point in comfort and silence. The 1 1/2 litre car we tried had two O.H.V. camshafts with dampers on the front. The whole car was very low, the ground clearance was insufficient at the rear under tank and exhaust pipe. A double Zenith carburetter was fitted. No crankshaft damper. The valve gear was noisy when idling but surprisingly silent once the engine reached a reasonable rate of revolutions on the road. The features which immediately impressed themselves upon us were :- (1) Feeling of security in the car. The car was so low and small, though it would hold four people without acute discomfort, that in spite of the contd:- | ||