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).
Private and confidential letter from Hooper & Co. to Rolls-Royce detailing numerous serious faults on recently delivered cars.
Identifier | ExFiles\Box 131\4\ scan0344 | |
Date | 1st July 1937 | |
COPY. HOOPER & CO. LTD. 54, St.{Capt. P. R. Strong} James's Street, Piccadilly, S.W. 1. GLSB/C. July 1st, 1937. A.F. Sidgreaves, Esq., Messrs. Rolls-Royce Ltd., 14/15, Conduit Street, W.1. Private & Confidential. Dear Sidgreaves, I am very much alarmed by the troubles that we are experiencing at the moment with Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars, and a number of Phantom III's we have delivered have developed trouble. My last car blew twenty seven fuses in the first few weeks I had it, until I got a second issue of fuses, which, when fitted, gave no further trouble for the life of the car, thereby proving that the fault was not in the electrical circuit of the car, but that the fuses were of the wrong amperage. I had two new petrol pumps, and in connection with this trouble, I was once brought to a complete standstill at the side of the road. Although I never had clutch trouble, it was a very bad clutch, and on demonstration almost impossible to get a clean take away. The control to the carburetter came off, which necessitated my having to drive two miles with no control over the engine, the only control I had over the car being to switch off, and using my brakes - very bad for the car, but it had to be done. The shock damper control gave up, and had to be re-done before it would work again. When I first had the car, the offside front brake gave trouble. I came to a standstill in Chiswick High Road, with all the traffic hooting behind me, because the slow running gave up, and it was impossible to start the car. It took me ten minutes to get going again, after which the car had to go back to Cricklewood. I had to get out of the car on two occasions, when it was new, in order to move the gear lever to change gear at all. The car went back to Lillie Hall twice for this, it being first thought that the leather gaiter was the cause of the trouble, but it was subsequently found to be in the actual mechanism itself. | ||