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).
Need to improve the design and placement of control levers on the steering wheel.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 17\3\ Scan397 | |
| Date | 30th June 1930 | |
| [Handwritten top left] Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} [Handwritten top right] M430 [Handwritten top right, faint] 17/8/30 To R.{Sir Henry Royce} from Sg.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} re Control Levers Sg{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD}27/B.30.6.30 Copy to Wor.{Arthur Wormald - General Works Manager} Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} on Steering Wheel. BY.{R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} EP.{G. Eric Platford - Chief Quality Engineer} E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} DA.{Bernard Day - Chassis Design} I have felt for some considerable time that the control levers on our steering columns should be improved. I quite agree that as lowered on Phantom II they are a distinct advance on Phantom I but I do not think that we have yet gone far enough. My visit to America has emphasised my views on this point because the arrangement of levers on some of the American cars is exceedingly good and very neat. One of the complaints raised against ours, apart from its high and, therefore, rather ungainly appearance, is that on turning round on the driver's seat one's arm very frequently depresses the Klaxon horn button. What I think we should aim at is to get all the control mechanism so that it is within the dish of the steering wheel. I think this is a matter which should be studied very closely and should be glad if you would delegate whoever should deal with the matter to study other people's control levers on the latest type cars. Possibly there may not be a suitable opportunity for doing this before the Paris and Olympia Shows but I am quite sure it is a matter which should be studied. Sg.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} [Green circular received stamp with '31' prominent] | ||