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).
Comparing the Essex Terraplane with the 20/25 model, and discussing the merits of an 8-cylinder versus a 12-cylinder engine.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 21\6\ Scan125 | |
| Date | 31th January 1934 | |
| HS{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} x4217 To F.{Mr Friese} from Sx. Copy to Wcr.Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} re Essex Terraplane. Last week-end I tried this car and, in order to make a close and immediate comparison between it and a 20/25 RR, I had our trials car sent down to me so that I could drive it back over the same roads that I had driven the Essex Terraplane. The comparison was very depressing from the point of view of the very outstanding superiority of the Essex Terraplane engine over the RR. Rolls-Royce have always claimed smoothness, silence, flexibility, freedom from vibration and comfort, and it is quite clear that the engine in the Essex Terraplane is both smoother and more silent than our 20/25 all up the scale. I am not saying anything about its performance because I know it is a smaller chassis and a larger engine than the 20/25 RR. When I came back after my illness I gathered that the reason the idea of going ahead with J.III had been dropped was because all concerned were of the opinion that, if we were going to have a new car with a new engine, it ought not to be a 6-cylinder. Now I have never been in favour of the replacement of the 20/25 being a small 12-cylinder, and after my experience of the Essex Terraplane it looks as if the replacement of the 20/25 ought to have an 8-cylinder in line engine unless you are convinced and it is generally agreed that an 8-cylinder 'V' engine, i.e. on the lines of the Ford 8, would be a more satisfactory unit. Apart from the technical aspect of the question, i.e. the question of not having a small 12, there is the sales psychological aspect, and, as Cx.{Major Len W. Cox - Advertising Manager} points out, an 8-cylinder would give us an essential difference between the 20/25 and the 40/50, i.e. the former would have 8 cylinders, the latter 12. This would mean a much bigger inducement for a man to have a 40/50 than at present, as he would feel that he was really going to get something more for his money, i.e. a 12-cylinder engine instead of an 8. I should like to have your views on this. | ||