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).
Expressing concern over delays in developing legible speedometers for R-R and Bentley cars.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 165\4\ img265 | |
| Date | 8th February 1935 | |
| [Handwritten: Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} Y6051.] URGENT. Cx{Major Len W. Cox - Advertising Manager}3/KW8.2.35. S/W. Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} C. to Sg.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} C.W. ROY.{Sir Henry Royce} Speedometers for R-R and Bentley Cars. We are getting very concerned at the delay in obtaining speedometers on which the trip figures are legible both by day and by night. The development of the improvement, i.e. larger trip figures that are legible, has progressed so slowly for various reasons and obstacles and so much time has gone by since we started on this, that we are really getting very much concerned about the matter, and feel that something must now be done, and done without further delay, to improve this situation. Sg{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} considers that the amount of time that has been allowed to elapse is unreasonable, and that we are now equipping our cars with instruments that are not worthy of the car because of these drawbacks. We understand from Smiths that the breakdown of the daily trip mechanism has been overcome, and that this was due to the introduction of a zero stop, which has now been discontinued. This breakdown, we understand from them, only occurred when setting the trip by hand and had nothing to do with the performance of the instrument on the road. [Handwritten: BENTLEY ONLY.] The second trouble that occurred was apparently owing to the flat top teeth of the trip setting mechanism riding on top of the teeth controlling the trip figures themselves. The difficulty with this has, we understand, also been overcome and we believe you have had at the Works for three weeks now an instrument which has corrected these faults. Here again, as the trouble has only occurred when operating the trip by hand, it should not take very long to satisfy yourselves that this mechanism is in fact free from the past troubles. [Handwritten: O.K.] [Handwritten in margin: Spectro] The other schemes which have become involved in this speedometer question, and which appear now to be holding up our getting instruments with these larger figures, which in themselves would probably overcome the trouble of legibility are - (a) New facia board scheme with different arrangement of instruments. (contd) | ||