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).
Letter to Oldsmobile's Chief Engineer with questions about their car design after testing.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 126\1\ scan0043 | |
| Date | 6th October 1937 | |
| 1062 Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}8/R.{Sir Henry Royce} 6th October, 1937. H.{Arthur M. Hanbury - Head Complaints} Youngren, Esq., Chief Engineer, Oldsmobile Automobile Co., Lansing, Michigan, U.S.A. Dear Mr. Youngren, We took our Oldsmobile car all round the Alps during the Summer weather, and attached is an extract from a report which covers its behaviour. It really behaved exceedingly well. We must congratulate you on producing such a satisfactory automobile at such a low price. We have not yet stripped the engine to have a look at the bearings, but by its general smoothness and oil pressure they must be in fairly good condition. We do, of course, use our brakes more in Europe than you do in America, and, therefore, generally speaking, we always find we can burn out the brakes on an American car if we drive it fast on Passes, etc. I wonder whether you could answer two questions about the car which we have:- (1) We notice that you have gone from taper half shafts on your 1935 model to jumped up half shafts on the 1936 model. We should like to know whether this was done from a cost point of view, or from durability. We know that the opinion in the States appears to be divided between the taper and the jumped up shaft end, even General Motors are not consistent. During our recent visit Cadillacs assured us that the taper was perfectly satisfactory, also Packards; on the other hand, the tendency in this country is to go away from the taper. (2) Offset gudgeon pin in the piston. We see this was patented by the Packard Co. in February 1937, and an article was written in the March 1922 | ||