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).
List of design criticisms and suggestions for improvement on a vehicle.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 89\3\ scan0106 | |
| Date | 7th October 1937 | |
| -2- 7/10/37. (1) I think you ought to put in your handbook the address, telephone number, etc., of your Paris, or any other, office which you may have. (2) The headlamps should be so made that the dipping arrangement can be turned over to dip as much to the right as they do normally to the left. You will find that the maximum position you can reach is the vertical one, and this causes considerable annoyance abroad. (3) The oil level gauge is a ridiculous contraption. It is completely invisible in the usually dark garage, and is situated so low down that even with a good light it is difficult to read. I would suggest that it is either brought to a more convenient place or substituted by an ordinary dip stick; after all, a dip stick can be taken out to a place where it can be seen. You do not always feel inclined to get down and feel it with your finger, as it is usually oily and greasy down there. (4) You cannot get at the filling plug for the shock absorbers on the side of the gear box without removing the ramp board; it is so near that I think that with a very small alteration this could be rectified (the one marked "W" in your handbook). As your shock absorbers invariably leak oil, it is necessary from time to time to top these up; I do not think it would tax your ingenuity very much to put this right.!! (5) You place the petrol filters in just about the most inaccessible place in the car. I know the reasons for doing it, but I do not think they are justified, and if I bring my car to Derby I shall be pleased to hear that you will put them in a more reasonable place. I cannot think that it is necessary to lie on your back in a wet road to clean your petrol filters; even if you suffered all this disadvantage the petrol only falls in your face. Cont. W.Rowbotham, Esq. | ||