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).
Letter discussing the pros and cons of various fuel pump and delivery systems.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 40\3\ Scan093 | |
| Date | 11th February 1929 guessed | |
| - 2 - They admit this scheme is in its infancy, but consider that eventually all cars will have something like it, because it has qualities of supplying a true gas to the engine which any carburetter must lack. Distribution trouble is therefore out of the picture. It is already standard on a small car in Chicago, Only. It cannot be a true gas or they would not need damping on the air valve, but it probably comes closer to it than anything else. The mechanical vacuum and fuel pumps are regarded I gather, rather as makeshifts, but the design is close enough to the A.{Mr Adams} C. to fit on the same flange, so that they can make a lot of money by selling them through service-stations. The fault of the mechanical pump is said to be starvation on a cold start, and difficulty if one runs out of gas with engine cold. It appears to me that having got away from mechanical pumping systems on the Phantom as compared with the Silver Ghost (to every-one's great relief) it would be well to stay clear of them and avoid their expense, weight, complication and service troubles meanwhile trying out perhaps the electric fuel feed and the "Direct" fuel-feed idea. Kindest regards. Yours faithfully, ROLLS ROYCE OF AMERICA, INC. Maurice Olley | ||