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).
Strategy for a high-speed endurance run and the Le Mans race, considering competitors like Lagonda.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 160\3\ scan0120 | |
| Date | 26th January 1939 | |
| -2- If this is fitted in with current work, it will take quite six weeks to get the car ready and suitably adjusted for the event. The weather is then always liable to prove awkward for a few days which means the end of March at an optimistic estimate for the attempt. Our latest results from Montlhery indicate that one or two modifications may be necessary to keep the oil temperature down at the power outputs necessary to guarantee continuous lapping @ 110 M.P.H. (2) Lagondas will be alarmed at the results we achieve with the Projected press run. We understand from Sleator that some time ago they were making enquiries in France to get someone to build them a replica of the Paulin. Obviously by now they have such a car under construction. When it is finished they will almost certainly go for an officially observed high speed endurance run as getting the maximum publicity with the minimum danger. If we get our run in first, it will give them the task of beating our result by a considerable margin to create public interest, a most difficult and expensive feat if we achieve what we are aiming at. We cannot help feeling that, had we done 105 miles in the hour (as we could without difficulty) on the Paulin Bentley before last motor show, Lagonda's Brookland's effort would have fallen quite flat, and they would not have annexed as many of our sales as they have done during the last three months. (3) We should like to induce Lagondas to enter for Le Mans. We think it would take up a lot of their time and energy and we doubt if, with the present weight of their 12-cyl. chassis, their petrol consumption and their brakes, they would do much good. If we did the 24 hour run and entered a Bentley for Le Mans they would almost certainly come in, but to give them time we want the publicity as soon as possible. RM.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} | ||