Highly critical report on the performance and condition of a Delage car, comparing it unfavourably to a Rolls-Royce.
| Identifier | WestWitteringFiles\I\June1922\ Scan102 | |
| Date | 26th June 1922 | |
| R.R 235A (100 T) (S.H. 728. 10-12-0) G. {Mr Griffiths - Chief Accountant / Mr Gnapp} 2047 [Handwritten] R's TALE OF WOE - REPAIR & SELL THE ROTTER TO HS. {Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} FROM R. {Sir Henry Royce} [Stamp] ORIGINAL. c. to CJ. [Handwritten] BJ. c. to C. [Handwritten] IHS. c. to PN. {Mr Northey} [Handwritten] E. {Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} c. to Da. {Bernard Day - Chassis Design} [Handwritten] EFC. {E. Fowler Clarke - Electrical Engineer} [Stamp] RECEIVED RE. THE DELAGE CAR. [Handwritten] & RR - Not a bit like a R-R. {Sir Henry Royce} Owing to my RR. car being in London I had occasion to use this car, but found it very noisy and therefore tiring. The plugs were found very dirty - some oil and soot, others soot only - (they were soon dirty again.) The starter motor (Westinghouse) would not turn the engine cold and would not turn it quickly enough when warm - probably battery out of order though re-filled lately, and voltage seemed up. PERFORMANCE. This was not good until 35-40 m.p.h., then quick and good. Springing bad at slow speed and steering heavy, but at high speed both were quite good. PROTECTION. Body, windscreen, and hood bad though smart look-ing - very much sheet iron and jerry construction. BRAKES. The footbrake which operates all four wheels re-quires a Samson to make a quick stop - the foot also is li-able to foul the steering column collar. RESULT. The engine gave up the ghost after 9 miles; after some hours of investigation I concluded the insulation of (1) | ||
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).