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).
Urgent modifications required for cars 7-LC and a Hooper Landaulet following unsatisfactory trial results.
Identifier | ExFiles\Box 71\3\ scan0344 | |
Date | 10th June 1926 | |
X8950 RECEIVED FROM PN{Mr Northey} 10 JUN 1926 PN{Mr Northey}8/DN96.26. TO Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} c. to EP{G. Eric Platford - Chief Quality Engineer}, C, Sg{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD}, CWB. 7-LC and London Trials Hooper Landaulet No. 22-MC. These two cars are in your hands and are urgently required in connection with Sales. We must have these cars as early as possible if we are to have a chance of keeping right our proportion of retail sales. 7-LC was sent to you originally with a view to the car being made possible for purposes of demonstration. The gearbox was noisy, the engine was rough in picking up, the clutch was not pleasant, and in any case it has been demonstrated that the steering has an unnatural tendency to joggle and lend itself to "shimmies". After the recent test in France with this car, it was understood, I think, that you would endeavour to find out the cause of the abnormal steering want of control, and it was then suggested that this car might be fitted with three modifications which we found satisfactory on 10-EX in France, in order to find out whether it then proved equally satisfactory with 10-EX. We want to impress upon you that the work in connection with this car and the use of the car in connection with any experimental work, is a very urgent affair, in order that we may have it back as soon as possible. With regard to the Landaulet, for many reasons we depend upon this car for giving our trial demonstrations in the immediate future. The complaint which occasioned its return to Derby was entirely due to unsatisfactory springing, the car from this point of view giving very poor results at slow speeds on a pot-holey road, compared with the much greater comfort of our other Trials Barker Phantom Landaulet No.101-MC. You were informed after CWB and I found that by taking the two spare wheels off the running-boards of this car and placing their equivalent weight at the rear, the unsatisfactory riding of the car was greatly improved, and we felt that it equalled the Barker Landaulet in this respect. I do not know what has been done by you since the date of my last visit to Derby with this car; EP{G. Eric Platford - Chief Quality Engineer} proposed to put on weaker springs - PTO | ||