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).
Letter to High Duty Alloys Ltd. concerning the development of a post-war chassis using the maximum amount of light alloy.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 109\3\ scan0076 | |
| Date | 18th March 1941 | |
| Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}2/ML. A.Devereux,Esq., High Duty Alloys Ltd., 89, Buckingham Avenue, Trading Estate, SLOUGH. Bucks. Dear Devereux, Whilst at the moment we have very little spare time, one of the things we have recently completed is a specification for a post-war chassis, containing the maximum amount of light alloy. The production of this car presents few difficulties but one or two problems have to be solved experimentally. One of these is the best method of securing an extruded duralumin tube into an aluminium casting. We explained the problem to your Mr. Campbell and he said some experiments would be carried out, (see his letter reference JC/IG. of the 30th. December, 1940, from Redditch) but I understand that he has now left the Company. Naturally, the problem would not be diffi-cult if production costs had not to be considered. There are one or two other basic facts which we want to know before we can use aluminium to the best advantage. I expect a lot of these problems have already been dealt with by air frame manufacturers, but I am not sufficiently in touch with what is being done to know whether or not this is so. If you have anybody working on such problems I should be very glad to contact them. As a matter of interest, the car which we have designed has a body the same size as the new Mark V.{VIENNA} Bentley, and an estimated weight of 32 1/2 cwt. with a clutch h.p. of 200. The best we did before the war was 180 h.p. for 36 1/2 cwt. and the result of this was quite spectacular. Yours sincerely, | ||