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).
Speedometer gear ratios and the standardisation of lamp fittings for the Goshawk model.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 46\1\ Scan032 | |
| Date | 14th January 1922 | |
| S/W Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} C. to EY. BJ. X.4077 X.3891 RE. GOSHAWK. X.4090 X.4219 4084 C2/C14.1.22. With reference to your Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}3/LC9.1.22. this matter was considered at a Sales Conference on the 24th.inst. and we would like some further particulars about the two points you raise. 1. We note you say that to alter the speedometer ratio means taking down the gearbox and fitting new hardened gears. If however, you adopt a certain gear ratio of drive, presumably it will only be necessary for us to give the speedometer companies particulars of the gear ratio and they will be able to alter their speedometer to suit the drive ratio. Is this not so? Of course we want to standardise one type of speedometer but we are afraid we may have difficulty in making an absolute standard on a car of this class, and customers may wish to fit one of three or four kinds, but we do not think that this should present any difficulty if the situation is as set out above. We quite agree that it would be a very big job for you to have to alter the ratio in the gearbox every time. 2. In regard to the lamps, we note that it is proposed to fit lamps with special bulb holders, and these bulbs will be different from the usual English standard. A point that occurs to is here is that this might prove very inconvenient to users of our cars unless the spares can be readily obtained. Have you satisfied yourselves that spares for the type we are fitting can be readily obtained in all countries such as India, America, Australia and on the Continent, and also in England? Whether we give the lamps with the chassis or charge extra for them, we could no doubt, if our lamps are special, sell a set of lamps with each chassis. But we think that many customers would take objection to lamps that were such that they would have difficulty in obtaining spares. Perhaps you would kindly give us some more information upon this point. C. | ||