Rolls-Royce Archives
         « Prev  Box Series  Next »        

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 G.A. Vandervell discussing the performance of three-layer and aluminium tin bearings.

Identifier  ExFiles\Box 115\2\  scan0490
Date  20th July 1939
  
1020

Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}19/R.{Sir Henry Royce}
20th July, 1939.

G.A. Vandervell, Esq.,
Messrs. Vandervell Products Ltd.,
Western Avenue,
PARK ROYAL, W.3.

Dear Vandervell,

This is a somewhat belated thank you for the very interesting time you gave us with Mr. John Palm last week.

If the three-layer bearing is any good, I can promise you that we will let you have a figure of merit for it against the aluminium tin, which is the best we know of, before very long.

You will be pleased to hear that the car running in France on your bearings is still performing satisfactorily after 6,000 miles of rough treatment. Naturally, bearing defects do not show themselves on our engines until after the 15,000 mile mark, even under these extreme conditions of high-speed driving.

You will note that the car which you drove at Montlhery is getting faster in its old age. Sleator is delighted because it has just beaten the Bugatti Closed Car hour record. This is another example of the excellent durability of our aluminium tin bearing. I hope our new models will be able to do equally well.

Yours sincerely,
  
  


Copyright Sustain 2025, All Rights Reserved.    whatever is rightly done, however humble, is noble
An unhandled error has occurred. Reload 🗙