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 the editor of 'The Motor' magazine discussing the performance of large sports cars and proposing a road test comparison.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 160\5\ scan0118 | |
| Date | 6th January 1941 guessed | |
| The Editor of "The Motor", Bowling Green Lane, LONDON, E.C. 1. Dear Sir, I was most interested in the replies of Mr. Lycett and Mr. Clutton to my letter in your issue of 18th December. Mr. Lycett generously concedes my point that large cars are relatively slow over a road circuit. It is for exactly this reason that I believe that the modern version of his car, i.e. a 3 1/2 or 4 1/4 Rolls-Bentley, fitted with suitable coachwork, has now superceded his 8 litre as the world's finest sports car. After all, if average road speed with the minimum amount of driving fatigue and maximum reliability is not the criterion of merit for a sporting car, what definition should be used? And how is it possible to establish a right to the title without entering for a road race? Mr. Clutton is very dogmatic. He has driven the 8 litre and so is sure that he knows the real answer. Has he driven E.R. Hall's car fitted with its T.T. body? Does he really believe that the modifications carried out by Mr. Lycett to the 8 litre would make it 11 miles faster over the T.T. course than the fastest supercharged car ever entered in this race by the Bentley Company? Is he sure that none of these modifications will affect the re-liability of this car when driven to the limit? I still think that many of your readers would be vastly intrigued by a comparison of these two cars by a neutral observer. They should be driven as fast as is safe and comfortable over a course of say 200 miles of "give and take" road. The average speed, the pleasure obtained from the run and the welfare of the driver at the conclusion of the test would be the points for which the majority of the marks would be awarded. I think that the results would indicate the difference between superlative acceleration and superlative road performance. I cannot be sure, however, until the test is made. Yours faithfully, | ||