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).
Departmental memo discussing the suitability of vehicle components for hot climates.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 78\2\ scan0093 | |
| Date | 22th May 1912 | |
| ROLLS-ROYCE LIMITED, NIGHTINGALE ROAD, DERBY. TELEGRAMS: "ROYCAR," DERBY. TELEPHONES: 813 (Two Lines). DEPARTMENTAL MEMO. -3- 5. PANELS. Panels of bodies should be of aluminium instead of wood. Owing to the heat out here, the wood panels soon crack. 6. TYRES. Steel studded Tyres are not suitable. Tyres get very hot in the hot season. 7. WATER CIRCULATION. It would be an advantage to get our engines to run cooler if possible. The water boils, or is at boiling point after a car has run about 35 miles in the hot weather. Several makers of cars have this trouble out here in the hot season. It has been overcome in some cases by gearing up the fan. Increasing the radiator area, or by enlarging the water pipes, etc. 8. WHEELS. I have heard from different sources that wooden wheels are no good out in this country, especially up country, owing to the heat, that wire wheels are the most suitable. Personally, so far, I have found nothing against the wooden artillery wheels which we fit on our cars. L. Kirby, This sheet must be filed with the correspondence to which it refers. | ||