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).
Proposal to rebuild a fire-damaged 3½ Litre Bentley with a new saloon body for experimental testing and development.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 84\1\ scan0233 | |
| Date | 26th January 1934 | |
| 204 To Eg. From HS.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} C. to Wor.{Arthur Wormald - General Works Manager} C. to L. C. to By.{R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} C. to En. C. to Ev.{Ivan Evernden - coachwork} 3½ LITRE BENTLEY. We are proposing to pass on to Mr. R.B.IV., the Green Saloon. This car was recently damaged by fire. The body has been sent to Park Wards and the chassis we are now preparing with one or two of the latest pieces. We should like your agreement for a new saloon body to be put in hand for an experimental car. The body on the open car was never designed for the present Bentley chassis. Open cars are not of much use to us and we should like to replace the open body with a saloon. The saloon will be made larger than the present dimensions. Roughly, the increase in size I imagine is 2" more room at the back, 1" higher roof, and 1" wider. We have got to resist making the Bentley car big because once it is increased in size it never gets smaller again. We should like this body to be put in hand at once so that we can run it on a 10,000 miles test on a Bentley car which might come into production after the first 400. We attach herewith a list of parts which we expect to get on to this car. This list will be modified as the job proceeds. From a customer's point of view all we should expect from this car is that the increase in power will just about look after the larger body and that the car will have approximately the same performance as the present Standard. It will have more tendency to detonate. The light alloy rods will enable us to go up 200 R.M. before we get on to the main crankshaft period. We want it to be realised that the development of the Bentley car is not going to go on like the development of the 20/25. We shall need some alteration in design before we can make any definite improvement in this car. HS.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} | ||