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).
Bentley car piston failures, test results, and the decision to proceed with production.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 3\6\ 06-page034 | |
| Date | 13th September 1933 | |
| To Wor.{Arthur Wormald - General Works Manager} From Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}2/MJ.13.9.33. Re. Bentley Car. Referring to your telephone conversation re. Bentley pistons. The pistons which ran on the last Bentley in France failed after 6,500 miles. We were able to reproduce this failure in six hours on the test bed. From examination of the failure one was able to forecast the cause. Since then we have run 15 hours under the same conditions as we broke the pistons before, with no signs of failure. This does not mean that the tests on pistons have been stopped, they are going on continuously. We claim however, that from our experience and the results of tests, we are right in going ahead and producing pistons similar to those tested. If we have too many critics we are likely to get into a position when we shall be afraid to make anything. There is no such thing as a car being right. The present 25 HP. has any amount of faults but there is no doubt that it is one of the most reliable models we have ever made. If we attempt to run our Phantom engine on the bed at the maximum speed 3500 (90 M.P.H.) the engine drops to pieces after a few hours running. We have had four or five crankcases crack in half but the engine is perfectly reliable in service. The decision must be made that we must go into production with the Bentley car as it is. Already our other models have suffered from lack of attention owing to the work which has been put in on the Bentley. Our programs for the new 25 HP. will us certainly not going to be kept and until someone calls a halt on Bentley that car is likely to receive all the attention. Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} | ||