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 royalties, shock absorbers, power output, fuel quality, and competitor analysis of American cars.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 170\2\ img143 | |
| Date | 6th June 1933 guessed | |
| -2- done on it here so far, we still think it must be taken seriously as a long dated investment, but at present have little time for the design and development work necessary. I expect that you are a very long way ahead of us in this respect. We seem to be paying royalties to General Motors on quite a number of parts:- the syncromesh gearbox, and probably in the immediate future silent tappets and exhaust system. I should very much like your opinion on inertia shock absorbers - you, if anyone, should be able to say what they are worth. How have you gone on with your increased power output. We find that 33 HP. per litre is about as much as we can get if we are to sell a car which will slow run reasonably well and not suffer from excessive detonation after 10,000 miles road running. We cannot rely on car fuels of a No.1 grade having an octane rating of much higher than 71, and even our T.E.L. mixtures which are sold from road side pumps do not exceed 74 octane. We are astounded at some of the American car weights particularly the Ford V.8. and the Terraplane. Can you tell us whether the Terraplane stands up to the job in America? We believe that one solution for fender shaking is to push the engine forward and bring the dashboard nearer the front axle. Naturally this statement must be qualified with the type of body used and the overall stiffness of the frame torsionally, but it seems to work with our normal frame and coachbuilt saloon bodies. Naturally we have no cross in the frame, bitter experience made us think that crosses were undesirable. Kind regards to yourself and Mrs Olley, Yours sincerely, | ||