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).
Letter discussing the performance, specifications, and driving experience of a fast Bentley car.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 89\5\ scan0009 | |
| Date | 8th February 1939 | |
| 261 Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}2/MH.{M. Huckerby} 8th. February, 1939. G.R.N.Minchin, Esq., Messrs. Peto & Radford Ltd., 50, Grosvenor Gardens, LONDON, S.W.1. Dear Minchin, Thank you for your letter of 6th. February. I was very interested to see that you had had a further talk with Sg.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} I hope that the results bear fruit. The newspaper reports of our fast Bentley were quite correct. I anticipate that you will be seeing a photograph and further description in the immediate future in "The Autocar". It is really rather an astonishing car. Last week it completed an hour's continuous run on Montlhery at 107 miles per hour. It had a best lap speed of 109 1/2 miles per hour; it will do a genuine 115 on the road. At 8 : 1 compression ratio it will run on the best of ordinary fuels, but will need decarbonising every 5,000 miles. Its petrol consumption is phenomenally good. On the Autobahn run at constant speed we got 32 miles to the gallon at 40 m.p.h., 26 miles to the gallon at 60 m.p.h. and 21 miles to the gallon at 80 m.p.h. The car complete with 22 gallons of petrol weighs only 32 cwts. It is far and away the best Sports car I have ever driven. I did not think it possible to do 115 miles per hour on a French road on a car without independent suspension and yet feel secure. The amount of room in the rear seats may be criticised, but it will carry three passengers all day without them suffering from discomfort. Naturally it has not quite as much room in it as a standard car. | ||