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).
Letter discussing developments on a 6-function valve, Packard soft-ride controls, and a new car project involving Walter Griswold.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 174\2\ img245 | |
| Date | 7th April 1938 | |
| Mr. W. A.{Mr Adams} Robotham Ass't. Chief Engineer Chassis Division Rolls-Royce, Ltd. Derbyshire, England Dear Mr. Robotham, Should you have mentioned my name to Mr. Maurice Olley recently, doubtless he will have told you that he has given me up for strayed or dead. Actually, I am neither. But I have been through a difficult and time-eating year of work. Up to last November, I spent my allotted days (and many nights) of 1937 in developing controls for the Packard soft-ride of their 1938 eight. In my briefcase there is a letter which I wrote to Maurice Olley months ago boasting of the 6-function removable valve. The day I decided it should not be sent, for we discovered it was too soon to boast. Now that we know more about it, I shall mail the letter and a supplement of the travail since endured. By November, I began to spend more and more time in the works, until now eighty per cent of my time is applied to control of cost and quality. Detroit remains a weekly stop for me, but at least it is not daily. Hence, I am getting better acquainted with my children, of which there are now three. In fact, Mr. Walter Griswold has decided I appear to be rather domesticated in the last two or three months! When you were last here, one of the subjects which we discussed at various times was the possibility of your being able to secure the services of Walter Griswold for an indeterminate period at Derby. From time to time, I have been keeping in touch with Walter's advance work--or as near as one is permitted to approach it--and believe now is the time at which such an English program could be worked out with him. He has just completed an entirely new car with a new suspension system which I believe to be outstanding. Our staff expected to do a lot of "ride-work" on it, but to their surprise and Walter's delight, springs and shock absorbers as specified on drawings resulted in a "natural" or inherently excellent ride, car balance having had especial attention during the design stages. Along with this, new axle and new transmission development were carried out and at surprisingly low cost. | ||