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).
Comparative analysis of door hinges, wing design, and wheel accessibility between a Rolls-Royce 21-G-IV and a Cadillac.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 125\1\ scan0149 | |
| Date | 28th January 1935 | |
| - 4 - The RR. car 21-G-IV has all the doors hinged on the centre pillars - a common arrangement. We found it very inconvenient. It was impossible to avoid fouling ones clothes on the dirty rear wings on entering or leaving the car. Although this arrangement of the hinges enables the coachbuilder to get a nice line to the backs of their rear doors, I feel we should consider whether to retain it. I feel a customer could reasonably object strongly to the fact that in entering between the cut-away door and back wing his passengers cannot avoid dirtying their clothes in bad weather. The coachbuilders also unanimously criticised concealed hinges to the doors. These are on the RR. car but not on the Cadillac. They are practically standard on RR. cars. They increase weight and cost, weaken the body pillars which must be cut away to receive the hinges and being out of sight rarely get lubricated - moreover it is difficult to replace a worn hinge pin if - as happens after a good mileage - replacement becomes necessary. They are much neater in appearance than visible hinges and have an advantage in so far as they cannot be economically employed on any but expensive cars but their practical drawbacks are important and their continued use requires careful consideration. The Cadillac car seemed to have less efficient wings than the RR. as it got dirtier in the bad weather we had. In addition the wiring was poor and we had trouble through the lamps failing. The deep outer valances of the Cadillac wings are too near the tyres. Consequently when we had a puncture it was a matter of great difficulty to change a wheel. Hn.{F. C. Honeyman - Retail orders} | ||