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).
Engine breakdown, comparing magneto and battery ignition systems, with a handwritten note about a Delage vehicle.
| Identifier | WestWitteringFiles\I\June1922\ Scan103 | |
| Date | 10th December 1929 | |
| (2) of magneto armature was hopelessly broken down - I put the car in a farm shed and came home on a Ford, a lesson to be learnt from a waster. (1) If this is a specimen of Delage effort to cut out RR. it is not a bit like a RR. (2) Double spark magnetos which naturally requires double the difference of EMF are not reliable and need a higher speed for starting. (3) I should prefer battery ignition for investigation to magnetos if only one ignition is fitted. (4) The advantage of 2 separate ignitions (one being battery, for starting,) is in investigation in case of fault - because if the engine fails one can tell at once if it is faulty ignition or carburation. When the engine stopped I felt hopelessly lost for a few minutes as to how to find the cause (through absence of battery ignition, and bad starter motor) and I had not had a hopeless stop since about 1906. REPAIR AND SELL THE ROTTER. [Handwritten Note] R.{Sir Henry Royce} A 40/50 (24 RD) was invoiced to Delage for £1189 (gross profit of 385 approx) in the first weeks of October 1916 (the last week of car trading?). What bearing, if any, this purchase had on Delage's post war activities it is impossible to say but the above memo clearly removes Delage from the list of Rolls-Royce's effective competitors in this period. | ||