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).
Customer complaint letter from Geoffrey Summers regarding the poor springing on Chassis No.117-MC.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 47\1\ Scan285 | |
| Date | 21th May 1926 guessed | |
| COPY. TELEPHONE - CHESTER 535. TELEGRAMS - SUMMERS, CHESTER. SHOTTON, CHESTER. Dear Sirs, Chassis No.117-MC. I have just returned from South America and have tried out my car after your attention to it at Derby while I was away. I am reasonably satisfied with everything except the springing, and this seems, if anything, worse than before. I have got the tyres as flat as I dare, 35 lbs. in the rear wheels, 40 lbs. in the front. I have tried slacking off the rear shock absorbers but this results in excessive and dangerous "dancing" of the rear axle when the brakes are applied, and does not materially alter the inherent harshness and lack of resilience in the springs. Both front and back are equally bad. The feeling is similar to that of driving a racing car round Brooklands track which has its springs tightly bound with cord and Hartford shock absorbers screwed up almost solid. I should like to try once more to explain to one of your representatives exactly what I complain of. Every single person I take out in the car mentions the harshness of the springing, and every purchaser of a 'Phantom' I have met (about 6 in all) has the same tale to tell, and all have had the springs changed, like I have, without any marked improvement. I have now an American car, a Chrysler, in which I could demonstrate to your representative an example of really fine springing. Please let me know what you can do for me. Yours faithfully, (Signed) Geoffrey Summers. | ||