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).
Driver vision issues caused by new steering wheel positions.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 67\3\ scan0065 | |
| Date | 19th December 1924 | |
| X.8430 Der C. Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} STEERING WHEEL POSITIONS. We are somewhat alarmed by the fact that the new diameter wheel with the increased incline of the steering column, that is, the more acute angle the steering column makes with the horizontal, seems to interfere with the driver's line of vision. The matter has been brought up particularly because Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} has just modified the steering from "A" type 40/50 to a "B" type EAG.II, keeping the bottom of the wheel in precisely the same position relative to the top of frame and dash, with the new wheel as with the old, but the modified inclination and the increased diameter makes it appear almost impossible from a steering point of view. The seating was not quite in accordance, on the particular car, with the exact requirements of West WitteringHenry Royce's home town designs, but we are putting this right. We would, however, like you to look into the matter and weigh it up carefully from your point of view. The effect in any case appears to be that the driver is being hoisted up bodily out of the car in order to keep his line of vision, mainly owing to the incline of the column and the increased diameter of the wheel. BY.{R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} | ||