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).
Correspondence page from a 1941 motoring magazine with reader letters and a book advertisement.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 160\5\ scan0133 | |
| Date | 10th January 1941 | |
| January 10th, 1941 The Autocar 41 Correspondence is radiated from the earth and the swallow skims the earth to catch him. But the best forecaster of all, in my opinion, is the humble goose. When these birds take flight and "kank" loudly, depend upon it bad weather is ahead. No notice must be taken of little flights of fifty yards or so, but look out if the flock "kank" loudly and fly 100 yards or more—they have been known to take wing suddenly and fly over the hedges for nearly a mile. I remember seeing some geese do this a few years ago, a heavy breed, too, and one flew clean over the main road telephone lines to the next farm. This was followed by extremely rough, bad weather. They must be descended from seagulls. T. JESSE WADLOW. cannot compare with smaller, modern, high-quality sports cars for performance under modern traffic conditions from point to point. TOURIST TROPHY. Buxton. WHITE LINES Marking the Roads Rapidly and Economically [49930.]—Your remarks under the title “Life-lines” (“Disconnected Jottings,” December 20th) are very timely in view of the fact that we have recently learned that 1,146 people were killed on the roads of Britain in November last. At the beginning of the war we realised that the black-out was going to cause a certain number of problems in so far as road traffic and pedestrians were concerned, and we quickly appreciated that white-lining the roads and also the kerbs was going materially to assist the motorist to keep a straight course on the road and avoid accidents during the black-out. We developed a machine which is operated by a one h.p. air-cooled engine. This automatically marks the road either with one long line or with broken lines, at a speed of anything from a quarter of a mile up to three miles an hour. These machines are now being used by nearly two hundred municipal and urban councils. The cost is very small and the upkeep is negligible. It has been proved that our machine, known as the Rytecraft “Safeti-Line” road marker, with one man operating it, can do the same amount of work as eight men with brushes. So we rightfully claim that shortage of manual labour should not prevent the roads being kept prominently white-lined at all times. J.{Mr Johnson W.M.} W. SHILLAN, Managing Director, British Motor Boat Manfg. Co., Ltd. London, W.C.1. T.T.-Type Blown Austins [49932.]—All these discussions about famous old cars, and others not so famous, make one nostalgic for some old friend of one's own. The Austin mentioned in the December 27th issue of The Autocar under this heading reminds me of the Austin I once had, and which I sold to Gordon Brettell when I handed over the C.U.A.C. secretaryship to him a few years ago. I suspect I also sold him some of the bits he seems to have passed on to J.{Mr Johnson W.M.} B. Jesty (the present secretary). The car I refer to (I had another one before) was a genuine T.T. Ulster blown Austin. I think it was one of the T.T. cars for 1931. In 1934 or '35 Belleroche had it, and he and W. C. Cuthbert, of Guildford, used to motor round the Mountain at great speed. I bought it from Cuthbert and tried to run it a few times at Brooklands and Donington, but I was too ambitious with the fuel—pure alcohol—and burnt cylinder heads. Then I sold it to Brettell, who had it made into a fine little single-seater weighing about 6¼ cwt.—speed 110 m.p.h. After he had the distinction of shooting over the top of the banking on the Mountain circuit I don't know what he did to it, but I believe it still lies at Watford waiting for more suitable occasions! I know George Chaplin had another of the four orange Austins, but I don't know what happened to the other two. Does anyone? Incidentally, I would be glad to find a blown 'Ulster.' Warrington. H.{Arthur M. Hanbury - Head Complaints} C. CONWAY (ex-secretary C.U.A.C., 1935). TALKING OF SPORTS CARS Comparison Between Cars of Yesterday and Modern Types [49931.]—The correspondence in your columns between Mr. F.{Mr Friese} Lycett and Mr. C. W. P. Hampton has been exceedingly interesting, and it is with some regret I observe that it has now been discontinued. Whilst admiring Mr. Lycett's car, I do feel that it requires more than superlative acceleration to produce the ideal sports car, and that whereas the 3.3-litre Bugatti on many occasions won road races, I can find few records of 8-litre Bentley successes in similar events even prior to 1930. Even at Shelsley Walsh, an event where one might expect moderate roadholding to be counterbalanced by an abnormal power/weight ratio, the only record I can find shows that Mr. Lycett's Bentley has a best time of 50.44 sec., whereas E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} R.{Sir Henry Royce} Hall, on a Bentley having a displacement of only 3¾ litres, put up a figure of 46⅗ sec. In other words, I suggest that these big cars of yesterday Another 1932 Frazer Nash and a 1927 Aston Martin [49933.]—I have followed with great interest the details of various Frazer Nashes that have appeared in these columns. I own a 1932 car, registration number MV3057, and I was under the impression that it was the car, built for Mr. Aldington, that he ran in the 1932 Alpine trial. I forget the engine and chassis numbers at the moment, and as I am stationed many miles from home I cannot obtain them readily. This car has a four-cylinder push-rod engine; fuel feed by hand or electric pumps at will. It is painted racing green and has two mysterious holes in the already crowded instrument panel that have at one time held additional instruments. I bought the car just before the war and have spent quite a lot of time and money on rebuilding it. The performance is very potent, even on Pool petrol. The engine keeps its tune fairly well, but very frequent attention is necessary to ensure adequate lubrication of the transmission. To me, of course, there is no other car like it! I also own a 1927 Aston Martin, which I completely rebuilt over a period of three years, and which has not been used since. The registration number is NK6611. These cars rest under their covering of grease and dust sheets, and I hope that it will not be too long before they take the road again after the war. I should be very interested to hear from anyone who has owned either of these cars in the past. J.{Mr Johnson W.M.} V.{VIENNA} HUDSON. Home Forces. BOOKS for MOTORISTS Issued in conjunction with "THE AUTOCAR" Net Price. By Post. The Autocar Guide for the "L" Driver ... 1/- ... 1/2 Look After Your Car... ... ... 2/6 ... 2/9 The Motor Vehicle ... ... 10/6 ... 11/1 Know Your Car ... ... ... 1/6 ... 1/8 The Autocar Handbook ... ... 2/6 ... 2/11 Motor Driving Made Easy ... ... 2/6 ... 2/10 More Sketches by Casque ... ... 2/- ... 2/3 Automobile Electrical Equipment ... 10/6 ... 11/1 The Modern Diesel ... ... 3/6 ... 3/11 The Autocar Register ... ... 3/- ... 3/5 By P. M.{Mr Moon / Mr Moore} Heldt, U.S.A. : High Speed Combustion Engines ... 42/- ... 42/7 Motor Vehicles and Tractors ... 42/- ... 42/7 Fuels and Carburettors ... ... 18/- ... 18/7 High Speed Diesel Engines ... ... 27/- ... 27/7 "The Autocar" Motorists' Diary for 1941. Price, 2/-. By post, including Purchase Tax, 2/7. Full particulars of any of the above books will be sent on application. Obtainable from Leading Booksellers and Railway Bookstalls or direct (remittance with order) from ILIFFE & SONS LTD., Dorset House, Stamford Street, London, S.E.1. 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