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).
The advantages and operation of a semi-automatic, all-gears preselective gear control system.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 147\3\ scan0132 | |
| Date | 24th August 1938 guessed | |
| SEMI-AUTOMATIC GEAR CONTROL. All Gears Preselective. Preselection of the gears - with a momentary depression of a pedal to effect the actual change - is now so popular and well established that no detailed reference need be made to its advantages. A glance into the front compartment of any car using this form of gear control will show how much neater, and how much more useful, a front compartment can be made by replacing the usual obstructive lever by a small lever on the steering column - the one position in which the gear lever is least in the way and most handy for using. As this semi-automatic control eliminates all the usual top members of a gearbox we reduce the height of the box to approximately that of the largest gear wheel and so obtain the lowest possible floor. This and the absence of any obstructing levers, on either floor or dash, gives the neatest and most roomy driving compartment that can be provided. The strong simple character of the mechanism, with its robust parts and compact arrangement at one side of the gears, will be clear from the print. Gear changing is very simple and requires far less effort than is required with the usual gear lever. A driver can preselect the desired gear by a finger touch on the lever and then engage it, either rapidly or more deliberately, as easily as he now operates the clutch and without removing a hand from the steering wheel. To make a getaway still easier and even more rapid the driver has only to flick the preselector lever upwards to a small extent and he can then accelerate through the gears - from neutral to top - without using the lever, flicking the latter down again at leisure when in top. Methods of Operation. The mechanism can be operated by any power means available (Vacuum, Electricity, etc.) but a cheap and simple method is to employ the "Clutch-pedal" control described on the next sheet. | ||