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).
Publicity for W.O. Bentley and a potential Bentley V car loan to the editor of 'the Autocar' magazine.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 160\5\ scan0002 | |
| Date | 12th October 1940 | |
| 1379 To Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} from Sg.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} Sg.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD}4/KW.12.10.40. re W.O. Bentley - Publicity. Thanks for Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}17/ML.9.10.40. I had noticed the letters in the Autocar to which you refer, and I thought it looked rather suspiciously like a definite campaign, and the same thought occurred to me as that mentioned in the last paragraph of your memo. You will have seen Cx.{Major Len W. Cox - Advertising Manager}1/KW.10.10.40. The position, as you know, is that at the start of the war the Bentley V was on the secret list, and the full publicity was to have been obtained at the time of the Show. We have not made any effort to obtain it since, because, as Cx.{Major Len W. Cox - Advertising Manager} says, we did not think that the time was propitious. However, in view of the publicity to which you refer I spoke to C. on the telephone yesterday, and told him that I thought we ought to lend a Bentley V to the Autocar and get it written up. He also said that Geoffrey Smith, who as you know is the Managing Editor of the Autocar, would like to have a Bentley V in exchange for his present Bentley. I understand there is one available, and I told C. that I thought that so far as we were concerned he could go ahead. I will have a word with you on the telephone about the matter on Monday. Sg.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} | ||