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).
Noisy exhaust of the New Phantom and the urgent need for a new silencer to prevent losing orders.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 66\2\ scan0111 | |
| Date | 23th October 1925 | |
| To Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} from BJ. Copies to By.{R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} Sg.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} Wor.{Arthur Wormald - General Works Manager} X8230 BJ8/H23.10.25. SILENCER FOR NEW PHANTOMCodename for PHANTOM I. With reference to BY16/K21.10.25, our position is as follows:- 1. Rolls-Royce cars sell to a great extent on account of their great silence, as compared with other cars. 2. We and our agents are not able to give a silent demonstration run on the New PhantomCodename for PHANTOM I owing to the noisy exhaust, and we are losing orders thereby. The news is spreading that the New PhantomCodename for PHANTOM I is not so silent as the Rolls-Royce cars have been in the past. 3. We are anxious to correct this impression as soon as possible, and have therefore asked Wor.{Arthur Wormald - General Works Manager} immediately to include as standard the new silencer as fitted to and approved of on our demonstration cars in London. We understand you will in the meantime be testing your system for 10,000 miles, starting in a few days' time. 4. We are anxious to have this new exhaust system fitted to all our demonstration cars, and the demonstration cars of our agents at home and abroad as quickly as possible. Can you please let me know whether it is a big matter to alter the present standard noisy exhaust into the silent exhaust mentioned above. 5. We realise that West WitteringHenry Royce's home town are designing and that By.{R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} is supplying to you drawings of an entirely new exhaust system which may possibly be even more satisfactory than the above silent exhaust system, but from past experience we also realise that it may be a very long time indeed before this is passed as satisfactory and standardised, put into manufacture and supplied to our own and our agents' demonstration cars. In the meantime we are losing business and gaining a bad name. We want to prevent this. For that reason we are most anxious to adopt a silent exhaust as quickly as possible, without waiting. Will you kindly consult with Wor.{Arthur Wormald - General Works Manager} and By.{R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} to decide what is the best that can be done under the circumstances. We should also be interested to know what is likely to be the amount of work and cost of altering our present noisy exhaust cars to use the latest West WitteringHenry Royce's home town design. B.J. | ||