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).
Cost analysis of a Jaguar car to investigate its value and low cost compared to Rolls-Royce's own B.50 chassis.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 126\5\ scan0085 | |
| Date | 15th September 1938 | |
| 1070 also 1260. Sg.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} from Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} c. By.{R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} c. Da.{Bernard Day - Chassis Design} c. MHC. c. MX.{John H Maddocks - Chief Proving Officer} c. Roy{Sir Henry Royce}/Les.{Ivan A. Leslie} Rml/R.15.9.38. JAGUAR. COST ANALYSIS. The primary object in purchasing the Jaguar was to investigate the value given to the customer for £450, and to determine whether this low cost was attributable to a very abbreviated specification, extreme simplification of design, poor quality materials, or good manufacturing technique backed up by sound purchasing of fabricated parts. We are mainly interested in the comparison between the Jaguar chassis and the B.50 chassis which it is hoped will make the £900 car possible, and our remarks refer to such a comparison. Assuming that the respective costs of the chassis will be proportional to the selling price of the complete cars, it is clear that we have to account for the fact that the R.R. product will be 100% more costly than that of the S.S. Factory. Dealing in order with the possible sources of cost reduction - (1) Abbreviated Specification. The only items of any consequence which we provide and which are not incorporated in the Jaguar specification are - (a) Servo operated brakes (b) One shot lubrication (c) Lubricated road springs. On the other side of the balance sheet, we do not have an adjustable steering column. It is clear that these items represent less than 2% of the chassis cost. | ||