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).
Driver's feedback report on a vehicle's performance, covering the fuel system, suspension, headlamps, and bodywork.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 71\3\ scan0407 | |
| Date | 18th January 1928 guessed | |
| -3- fact that the Autovac header tank had run dry. I had to stop the car and wait, with the engine ticking over slowly, while the tank filled up again. The chauffeur who was with me was inclined to attribute this to the possibility of water in the petrol; I do not, however, consider that it was water because when the tank had been allowed time to fill up the trouble did not recur owing to the fact that the remaining portion of the road was not sufficient to enable the car to travel at a high speed, and so empty the tank. As you probably know - the ISOTTA, in the latest Sports Model, has a duplicate Autovac and header tank, which enables the car first of all to run for a much longer period without any danger of draining the tank, and enables it to fill up very much quicker if one's foot is just removed from the accelerator for a minute or two. I am not quite sure in my own mind whether the addition of a pair of Hartford Shock Absorbers on the front wheels might not be an advantage. I only wondered with regard to this because all the bouncings which I experienced were on the front wheels from the tyres, and the front Absorbers, super excellent as they are, did not seem to be able to deal with them owing to the extreme frequency of the movement, which was so severe as to shake the whole front part of the car to such an extent that if the car were driven with these tyres fitted for long distances the spokes of the front wheels would be loosened, if not broken. I was much interested in the headlamps fitted to the car which I was told were of the most recent pattern - LUCAS; I was extremely disappointed with them. On most of my cars I have a STEPHEN GREBEL lamp, which of course gives a far better light, but on my BUGATTI I have MARCHAL head-lamps, about eight inches in diameter, and I should say that the light given by the MARCHAL lamp of eight inches diameter is about fifty to one hundred per-cent better than the light given by the LUCAS lamps fitted to the car. I was much interested in the body work as I observed that the body was produced by Messrs. Hooper. On the run down to Brighton on Saturday, owing to rain, side curtains were fitted. I do not like to criticize too severely the work of Messrs. Hoopers, but I thought they were easily the worst side curtains that I have ever struck on a car; they did not fit, they rattled very badly indeed, and the flaps on the side curtains insisted upon opening themselves out, and so giving a sort of wind scoop for the back draught. I do not know whether Messrs. Barkers can improve upon | ||