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).
Proposed design modifications to the radiator and bonnet, known as the Segrave Experiment, to address coachbuilder feedback.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 14\4\ Scan078 | |
| Date | 13th February 1930 guessed | |
| (2) To counteract this, coachbuilders are cutting down the headroom by 1.000 ins. and so cramping the rear seats. Secondly, we have always been inferior in this respect to many other people due to the shape of our radiator top tank, which forces the side hinge of the bonnet to be at a much greater depth below the top of the bonnet than is the light line on such cars as Daimler, Isotta, Hispano. Thirdly, our rear upsweep of the frame is greater than that of our competitors due to our flexible springing. Coachbuilders are always bringing this feature to our notice, and so are Paris and Spain. It is the reason which leads our customers to demand higher radiators. We cannot agree to raising the radiator as a whole any more, or the visibility will be destroyed. In view of all this we are proposing to make certain modifications to what is known as the Segrave Experiment. For the present we propose to leave the revised radiator as drawn, and to find a suitable bonnet and dash to go with it. We shall send the schemes to Derby and ask them the build up a model in the cheapest way possible. The Segrave Experiment has taught us a great deal, and we believe that we can now produce something that will meet with the difficulty and not lose the R.R. appearance. EV.{Ivan Evernden - coachwork} | ||