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).
Critique of a proposed instrument board design for the Phantom III, suggesting improvements for a more balanced layout.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 168a\1\ img081 | |
| Date | 4th May 1937 | |
| COPY. S/W. Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} Cx.{Major Len W. Cox - Advertising Manager}4/Kw.4.5.37 Instrument Board - Phantom III. We have all seen the instrument board which you have sent for our inspection as referred to in Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}/Wstl/AP.24.4.37, but it does not meet with the approval of anyone at S. We dislike very much the four instruments in one, it savours very much of the massed produced car, it is typical of most low priced American cars, it looks cheap and the graduation of the various dials of the four instruments into one circular portion of the instrument board is very meagre. We appreciate that if any additional figures were added to these dials they would have to be so small as to be practically illegible. We do not consider that this scheme is as good as what we have at present so far as the dials themselves are concerned and general lay-out of the instrument board. We do think however that the present lay-out could be improved in some details. We suggest for instance that the method you have adopted in this specimen board of controlling the carburetter on the one hand and the petrol pumps on the other with balanced levers of similar design is a very good one and could be appliedto the present standard instrument board lay-out. At present, as you know, nothing really balances the carburetter control and the present electric petrol pump switch, which looks what it is - an after-thought. We could easily find another place for the ashtray and electric cigar lighter which are mounted at present on the facia board, and then we should have a fairly balanced arrangement except on the right-hand side where we must of necessity have the grouped collection of auxiliary switches. Perhaps therefore you could let us have without much delay a rough drawing embodying these improvements in the present scheme so that we could see what you could make of it without very drastic alterations. Cx.{Major Len W. Cox - Advertising Manager} The sample instrument board is being returned to you under separate cover. | ||