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).
Bentley bodies, chassis limitations, collaboration with coachbuilders, and the value of stock bodies.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 84\1\ scan0100 | |
| Date | 4th April 1933 | |
| SC. FROM DA{Bernard Day - Chassis Design}/EV.{Ivan Evernden - coachwork} 204, LID{A. J. Lidsey} DA{Bernard Day - Chassis Design}/EVL/M4.4.33. C. to WGR. HS.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} BI. F.{Mr Friese} BENTLEY BODIES. With reference to your suggestion that we should give you a list of dimensional and weight limitations for the coachwork fitted to the Bentley chassis, we are producing a chassis print for this car, and on it we are endeavouring to shew exactly what are the limitations we must insist on. When this is complete we will send you a print and a list of useful leading data. We thought you might like to send a print round to our more closely associated coachbuilders, together with drawings of our saloon, coupe, and open bodies, to give them an idea of what we expect, and to ask them to submit suggestions for bodies for cars at Olympia. Incidentally we might learn a few things about lines and shapes, and from people like Mulliner's and Gurney Nutting, something of what the taste of the old Bentley clientele was like. We are inclined to think it will be found to be rather advanced as compared with that represented by our Bentley cars, which have been rather moulded on RR. traditional lines. In spite of this we feel that our rather orthodox coachwork is the type to put down for our stock, and that the development work should be done on single bodies by coachbuilders, with any aid that we can give them. In the matter of price, value for money, and weight, we should always be able to beat the single body by our stock body. This is borne out by our stock 25HP. saloons as opposed to a single body to a special design, even by the same coachbuilder. DA{Bernard Day - Chassis Design}/EV.{Ivan Evernden - coachwork} | ||