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).
Typed letter defending the practice of streamlining cars, referencing the 4 1/4-litre Bentley as a prime example.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 160\4\ scan0056 | |
| Date | 1st April 1939 guessed | |
| 100 MILES AN HOUR MOTORING. Your correspondent "Vintagent" appears to consider it derogatory to streamline a car. May I suggest that if the 4 1/4-litre Bentley which he quotes as having done so well in last year's M.C.C. Trial had been streamlined, it possibly would not have been necessary for it to have had a two-seater open body. I think that "The Motor's" attitude towards streamlining has been refreshingly broad-minded and progressive. In the past, under the guise of the word 'Streamline', cars have been produced having curious shapes, which have detracted from their utility without appreciably improving their efficiency. The 4 1/4-litre Bentley car seems to be one of the first examples that has been offered to the Public of an automobile on which the full results by scientific reduction of wind resistance have been achieved. The result is a car having a moderate tax, and phenomenally low fuel and oil consumption, which will do over 110 M.P.H. in still air and 120 M.P.H. on the road. The alternative seems to be a car which develops a very large horse-power, which is therefore not economical to run, or a car of moderate horse-power which has little seating accommodation or weather protection, and is, therefore, of little interest to the public. I suggest that the two-seater car referred to comes under the latter heading. | ||