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).
Design of the tachometer dial for a Bentley chassis, proposing a radial red line at 4500 RPM.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 59\2\ Scan237 | |
| Date | 20th September 1933 | |
| 86051. To C. from E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} E.H/HP.20.9.33. c. For. Ex. Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} Hy.{Tom Haldenby - Plant Engineer} W.S. HA/Est. re A.T. Speedometer on Bentley Chassis. Further to memo HA/Est.9/MA.19.9.33, we feel there may be some objection to having the large red patch on the tachometer dial, and in fact we do not altogether like it ourselves. We, therefore, propose instead to use a radial red line opposite the 4500 mark with max revs printed against it, and to colour only a portion of the sector above this speed, as shewn on the attached blueprint. Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} and Hy.{Tom Haldenby - Plant Engineer} are in accord with this scheme. We feel that this would possibly indicate more clearly to the driver that he should not pass the 4500 mark than having the large red area into which he might be inclined to venture. Print DB.{Donald Bastow - Suspensions}93/97 attached. E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} | ||