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).
Reply to a customer about the weight and performance of his Bentley car, No. B-169-CW.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 89\1\ scan0151 | |
| Date | 14th March 1935 | |
| H6/WD{Mr Wood/Mr Whitehead}14335 14th March, 1935. Richard F.{Mr Friese} Summers, Esq., Messrs. John Summers & Sons, Ltd., Hawarden Bridge Steel Works, Shotton, CHESTER. Dear Sir, Re: Your Bentley Car No. B-169-CW. In further reply to your letter of the 8th inst. we are glad to note that you find so much improvement in the coachwork of your car. This however has, as you know, been obtained at the cost of added weight. We fear there is no alternative though coachbuilders are at all times experimenting to attain strength with lightness. Our records indicate that your new car is 3 qrs. heavier than your old one, not 3 cwt. as mentioned in your letter. We have of course always appreciated the value of a high power weight ratio for performance and we think we can count on our customers understanding that if weight is increased performance must suffer. We are in communication with our Works as to the fitting to your engine of a higher compression head of recent design with which they have been experimenting successfully and we are ascertaining the cost of this, the time required | ||