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).
Advantages and disadvantages of a rear-engined car, its potential market success, and competitor reactions.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 170\2\ img123 | |
| Date | 2nd December 1931 | |
| Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}1/ADL.2.12.31 contd. -5- The disadvantages of the car are what one would expect. The features they are not directly interested in, they have not got right i.e. the steering and the brakes. The steering, however, did not show any inherent vices such as high speed wobbles on the car we tested. In spite of the absence of shock absorbers the car held the road quite well at speeds round about 60 MPH. My own personal opinion is that this car will repeat the history of four wheel brakes, epicyclic gear box etc. Attempts have previously been made to produce a rear engined car and they have failed, but one would guess that at the present moment is just about right for a successful introduction of this type of car because it is so fundamentally right and also because at last it has got sufficient financial backing to ensure that the public will be given a chance to try its merits. Burney has a very wealthy Board of Directors including the two Courtaulds. I cannot believe that General Motors will not go further with it because one could take a Ford power unit and road springs, put them in a Burney car, and produce a vehicle that will defeat Rolls-Royce in their two specialities - silence and comfort. We believe one other reason why it will appeal to General Motors so strongly is because if they get it across it will "junk" every other car on the road. This we understand to be the ideal of every improvement in the States. Unless we were accelerated by force of circumstances we should expect 4 to 5 years development work before we got the car right but some of its merits are such that the back seat customer might demand them, even if perfection was lost from the driver's point of view. Burney tells me he will be over in the States about the 15th January when I shall also be in Detroit I hope. I shall be most intrigued to hear what your hard-headed business men have to say about the proposition which appeals so strongly to less experienced people like myself. On the car Burney is bringing over he will have the radiator at the front so that you have got the nearest approach to your Dumbell that is possible for low pitching speed. Kind regards. I will let you know when I sail. Yours sincerely, | ||