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).
Road test report critiquing various aspects of a car's design and features.
Identifier | ExFiles\Box 117\3\ scan0010 | |
Date | 3rd May 1940 | |
- 3 - very wet and dirty, and so does that side of the bonnet. Exactly where the water comes from I am not sure, but it is very unpleasant feature, and the car arrives at the end of its journey looking rather disreputable from that cause. I think it is a great pity that the nearside wing is not visible when sitting normally in the driving seat. I have always felt that it is nice to see the nearside wing of any car, but on a fast sports car I think it is even more desirable. The cause appears to be the use of 16" wheels instead of 17" on the previous 4 1/4 and 18" on the original 3 1/2, and may be wrapped up with gear ratio matters, but as to why this method of getting the gear ratio lower was adopted, instead of by the gears themselves, I do not know. It may be that it is a means of getting the car lower as well. I think, generally speaking, the car looks and feels a little less sporty than it did. I was very disappointed with the illumination of the instruments. For a long time we have striven to get improved lighting, and succeeded with the concave dials, in fact I think they provide the nicest lighting I have ever experienced on any car. On this car, however, - and I hope it is not standard - we have reverted to flat dials and no interior lighting, the illumination being provided by two lamps under the scuttle rail which shine on to the faces of the instruments. In normal times it would, I think, be quite impossible to drive the car at night with these lamps on because of the dazzle, and I hope it is intended to standardise the concave dials with interior illumination. It may be that there is some difficulty of supply, which has made it necessary to fit these out-of-date instruments and lighting scheme on this car. I think the ventilation of the front compartment will prove entirely inadequate in hot weather. There is one very small scoop ventilator on the offside of the scuttle, which admits air to a tube which leads it to the centre of the driving compartment, but I could not feel any benefit from this. There is no top scuttle ventilator of the type which has proved so effective, although I understand from JLE.{J. Lee Evans - Chassis Test Manager} that there is room to fit one if necessary. I feel that further attention ought to be given to very adequate ventilation in front. A number of tools - maybe only temporarily - are housed in the boot of this car. This, I think, is wrong, and we ought to try and find room elsewhere for all the tools and pieces that are now in the boot. Also, I do not think the boot is the full width | ||