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).
Recommendation to upgrade the four-figure mileage recorder on Phantom & 20-HP models to prevent mileage discrepancies.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 50\4\ Scan098 | |
| Date | 18th December 1926 | |
| 44308. To Ed. {J. L. Edwards} G. {Mr Griffiths - Chief Accountant / Mr Gnapp} to Mer. C. to Hs. {Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} Hm {Capt. W. Hallam - Head Repairs} /NRC {N. R. Chandler} 1/D18.12.26. Re Speedometers. - 'Phantom & 20-HP. The standard A.T. instrument, which is usually fitted to both chassis, is provided with a mileage recorder reading only 4 figures, with the result that it repeats every 10,000 miles, leaving no record of the number of tens of thousands of miles covered. We strongly recommend that another figure should be added so that the instrument would read to 99,999 or 100,000 miles before repeating. When a car has been out for say a year or more, there is always some doubt about the mileage, and we know that there is a strong incentive for some customers to "forget" a round or so of 10,000 miles, thus 13,500 - 23,500, or 33,500 etc. would all appear on the instrument as 3,500. As an example of this we may mention a case where a car was stated to have done just over 20,000 miles in 1925, but when discussing cost of repairs in 1926, the mileage was only 15,000 odd. We have on a number of occasions received worn parts from N. in which the mileage reported to N. is 10,000, 20,000 (or more), less than we believe the mileage to be. Hm {Capt. W. Hallam - Head Repairs} /NRC. {N. R. Chandler} WRR | ||