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).
Report discussing the potential development of an acquired engine, comparing it to the 4-litre Bentley and suggesting future prototypes.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 6\6\ 06-page017 | |
| Date | 21th July 1934 | |
| - 2 - E.1/HF.{H. W. Frost - Coachwork Inspector}21.7.34. in production at the time we took over this Company. We know this engine is very good normally aspirated and it naturally follows that it will respond to the boosting effect of the blower. We have not completed our investigation, but so far as we have gone we think we can get a very good arrangement which would suit both the normally aspirated and blower schemes. This type of engine would certainly put us in front of the Graham Paige on performance, and owing to the valves being located transversely across the cylinder block with the exhaust valve at the side and the inlet at the top it makes for a short engine and a simple inexpensive arrangement of valve gear. There is however an element of risk in the fact that we know very little about this engine. We can fairly quickly overtake this deficiency however because in the first place we have a 4 litre Bentley in these works on which we can carry out preliminary investigation. Secondly we have a single cylinder engine of this type schemed. Thirdly we have Ricardo to draw upon who has a number of engines of this type running, some of which are in the state of production in connection with outside firms. It might be pointed out that the 4 litre Bentley of this type was a "flop" but we know that the most glaring defect of this car was its ridiculously heavy chassis weight which was no fault of the engine, and that this spoiled the acceleration at low speeds, as well as the fact that the low speed torque had never been developed, and that the engine had been hurried into production purely on the results of a high speed power curve taken at Ricardo's. Taking all that we know at the moment of this type of engine we believe that it does offer the avenue of further development that we require, which after all amounts to getting more power for less weight and size, but we should not be prepared at the moment to go "nap" on it for the Wraith chassis. It occurs to me therefore that we ought to build two straight '8' engines, one a safety first and the other a high power design suitable for either normal aspiration or boosting by centrifugal blower. | ||