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).
Summary of new Packard models and a Society of Automotive Engineers meeting discussing car design.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 19\4\ Scan337 | |
| Date | 7th August 1931 guessed | |
| Other new models of interest which have been announced are those introduced at the end of June by the Packard Motor Company. The models are of eight cylinders, as formerly. The engines are mounted in rubber for quiet operation. New stabilizers have been provided consisting of a metal spool mounted between heavy springs in cylinders placed at each end of the front bumper. The four speed transmission has a synchronizing device which allows instant gear changes at any speed. (Packard has therefore now made the improvement which the better General Motors cars have had for some time in their "synchro-mesh transmission".) There is also a device by means of which shock absorber tension can be tightened instantly while the car is in motion. It is operated by a knob at the driver's left hand. The summer meeting of the Society of Automotive Engineers was held last month. After the meeting there was extensive discussion of the possibility of radical changes in passenger car design. Some time was spent in discussing the superior advantage of rear engine mounting. It was pointed out that much weight can be saved by designing the frame and body together, thus taking advantage of the many strengthening devices that might be incorporated in the body. This, however, has already been done in England and on the Continent. 4. | ||