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).
Letters to the editor discussing ideal car design, performance comparisons (Bugatti vs Bentley), and other motoring topics.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 160\5\ scan0006 | |
| Date | 25th October 1940 | |
| 424 The Autocar OCTOBER 25TH, 1940. Correspondence a car for convenience,—know nothing about it, and are not interested until repair bills come in. Thirdly, and by no means the least, those who struggle week by week to pay for their little car, and make it their hobby and only pleasure. To cover this range of users the following details flash to my mind. Engine: Cylinder bores should be of the biggest diameter possible (if necessary two large cylinders). Hardened steel wet liners, easy to remove, detachable head(s); mechanical fuel pump driven direct off the engine; 12-volt compensated voltage electrical equipment; the best type external oil filter or purifier the makers could afford, and a three-speed gear box should be among its features. Chassis: Torsion bar springing all round (requiring no lubrication), provision for easy jacking (to prevent kneeling on wet roads, etc.), hydraulic brakes. Body: Two large doors, hinged at the front, full-width adjustable single front seat, front floor clear of all obstructions; bonnet after current Hillman Minx style, but easily removable for repairs and able to be locked with a key at the front, thief-proof spare wheel. Instruments: Speedometer, showing engine revs on all three gears for various road speeds, ammeter, petrol gauge, space left for other instruments or wireless. Tools: Good kit of tools for those who have to do their own repairs; detailed instruction book which does not use the phrase ". . . if this part requires attention, take to nearest agent." General design? I favour something after the style of the f.w.d. Citroen. AIRCRAFT MECHANIC. R.A.F. Mr. Lycett's letter. The 0-100 m.p.h. in 40 sec. which I gave previously was from one run I did when "tooling around" Brooklands one day. It was self-timed and in no sense meant to be meteoric. I did a normal get-away, non-crash changes, and got into top at about 90. Doubtless this time could be improved to about 30-33 sec. Mr. Lycett is quite wrong in supposing that "up into the 80's" the performance is mediocre. On the contrary, up to this speed, or even up to 90-95, the performance is terrific by ordinary standards. It is the last 5 to 15 m.p.h. where the acceleration curve flattens out. I admit that Mr. Lycett's Bentley is much faster, but, with more than double the engine capacity and being many times more costly, it should be. I cannot do Lewes in 21 sec., but on a cross-country run the better road-holding and steering of the Bug. would more than make up for an inferiority in acceleration, as seems to have been proved already. After all, for ordinary purposes, split seconds make very little difference. My car will do 0-60 m.p.h. in 10 sec. or thereabouts—and that's getting a move on. So again I say that I think 0-100 m.p.h. in about 40 sec. is "good" for a fully equipped, standard 3.3-litre car, and relatively better than Mr. Lycett's 21 sec. C. W. P. HAMPTON. H.M. Forces, Surrey. Interest in the Consumption of the Bentley Recently Tried [49822.]—While reading the very interesting article under "Talking of Sports Cars" in your issue of October 4th about Forrest Lycett's 8-litre Bentley, I wondered what the petrol consumption would be. I should be most interested to know the consumption both driven hard and driven with a view to economy with a maximum of, say, 70 m.p.h. It would almost seem that a similar car, with slightly lower compression for Pool petrol, might give a good performance and still do a good mileage on basic rations. C. D.{John DeLooze - Company Secretary} B. WILLIAMS. Chesterfield. [Perhaps Mr. Lycett will oblige with details of the Bentley's consumption, which could not be checked at the time of our run.—ED.{J. L. Edwards}] HOW SLOW IS THAT ? 4 m.p.h. Speed Limit Sign [49820.]—I was interested in a recent letter on the topic of queer speed limit signs. I enclose a photograph of another, which must surely carry the lowest speed legally required in this country. It is for 4 m.p.h. through the Abbey Gateway, Malvern. This being just wide enough for one car, and situated on an awkward rise, the restriction seems reasonable enough. WORCESTER. Bristol. "TALKING OF SPORTS CARS" Further Comparison of Bugatti and Bentley [49821.]—In defence of the marque Bugatti, and my 3.3-litre Type 57S in particular, I cannot let Mr. Forrest Lycett's letter [49794] go unanswered. But, for several obvious reasons, I am not going to attempt to compare these two cars. I have many times met Mr. Lycett and his magnificent Bentley in competitions, and know only too well that it possesses a phenomenal performance. It has, after all, a 45 h.p. 8-litre engine, and, whilst the design may be basically standard, I think Mr. Lycett would agree that the car is really specially prepared and designed in a number of most important details. My Bugatti, on the other hand, has a 25.7 h.p. 3.3-litre engine and is absolutely standard. Instead of having a sketchy electron body, with everything designed to reduce weight and increase performance, my car has a luxuriously fitted and rather heavy three-seater coupé body. If Mr. Lycett wishes to compare his Bentley with a 3.3 Bugatti he should ask himself whether his car could have beaten up last year's Le Mans winning Type 57C Bugatti, or the unblown Type 57S which won at Le Mans in, I think, 1936. Also, whether his Bentley could average the 135 m.p.h. for up to twelve hours (writing from memory) which this same 57S did that year. He may argue that these performances are just due to ultra-high gearing, and that his Bentley would be superior on acceleration. That is not so, as, on a course such as Le Mans, I imagine that acceleration is very necessary and the car is geared accordingly. Admittedly, these Bugattis were "works" cars, but then I don't suppose they cost one-half of what Mr. Lycett's Bentley has cost to attain its present state. And, on this point, I am confident that the standard Type 57SC Bugatti would leave behind Mr. Lycett's Bentley—certainly on maximum—and that my own unblown 57S, specially lightened and prepared at not considerable cost, would do the same. In fact, instead of reaching Great Yarmouth, starting from the Barn, "a full quarter of an hour ahead" of Mr. Lycett, as at present, I would probably be there half an hour ahead of him! Incidentally, a friend of mine on the ex-Campbell 57S has done this same run in similar time. One last word on the actual performance figures quoted in CAPE WRATH In Peacetime a Rowing Boat Ferry Existed as the "Missing Link" [49823.]—I was very interested to read Mr. H.{Arthur M. Hanbury - Head Complaints} S. Linfield's article in The Autocar of October 11th entitled "One Thing Leads to Another." I see that he and your reader Mr. Alex. Lobel are interested in the subject of reaching Cape Wrath. A 4 m.p.h. limit sign at Malvern, referred to in letter No. 49820. If you refer to a map you will see the Cape Wrath Hotel on the east shore of the Kyle of Durness; on the opposite side of the loch you will see a road which leads to the cape itself. This road is quite passable, and, in fact, is used in part by the lighthouse men. The hotel, in days gone by, used to have an old Austin Heavy Twelve, which one could hire (with driver) for 30s. and do the trip there and back. The ferry boat which was used was only a rowing boat, and the only vehicles which were taken over were motor cycles and a very occasional sidecar outfit or Austin Seven. It would, of course, be possible to take one's own car over in the same way as the hotel took their old Austin—i.e., balanced on two planks broadside a rowing boat; but this would definitely be a risky job. (The car was kept permanently on the Cape Wrath side of the Kyle, and was only ferried over in spring and brought back again in autumn.) I wonder if your contributor has ever visited Ardnamurchan Point, the farthest west a car can go on the British mainland? It is easily reached over a very narrow but intensely interesting road. I have been a regular reader of The Autocar for many years, '20 | ||