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).
Confidential letter discussing the competitive threat of the Bentley 8 litre and issues with the Phantom II engine.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 65a\3\ scan0274 | |
| Date | 9th January 1931 | |
| Secret and Confidential. HS{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} X7770 To R.{Sir Henry Royce} From Sg.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} re P.II & Japan etc. Sg{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD}16/ES.R.1 Copy to Directors. E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} Rr. Bx. Rx. Dh.{D. Henderson - Showroom} X7770. X5770. X634. My dear R.{Sir Henry Royce}, Many thanks for your RL/M:9.1.31, copies of which you sent to the Board. I have been very carefully into this matter. You will remember that I wrote you a few weeks ago and said that we were hearing more about the 8 litre Bentley than we liked. People who matter have told me that it is an extraordinarily good car, that up to 40 miles an hour riding in it one could imagine one is in a RR and that beyond that speed it was superior to the Phantom II. There is not the slightest doubt that Bentley's have for years been definitely out to capture our 40/50 market. They failed with their 6½ litre but, not being daunted, they have come out with the 8 litre. Items numbered 1 - 4 in your memo. indicate that, for the reasons you state, we must expect booming vibrations at high speeds with a 6 cylinder engine such as we have got in P.II, and you go on to say that "couples in 6 cylinder engines cannot be completely balanced and run at very high speeds, suggesting that 3000 is perhaps too fast for an engine of P.II size, and certainly 4,000 is." This was of course written before you received Ss{S. Smith}'s and E's reports after their trial on the Bentley 8, and which unhappily indicate quite clearly that, whilst they have the torque reaction at low speeds, they are extraordinarily free from the booming and vibrations at the higher speeds. It is the latter which has [probably] been doing our reputation the most harm and it is the poin of which I have complained bitterly ever since we were first trying the P.II experimental cars in the spring and summer of 1929. It is what I then referred to as the 'roar, noise or fuss.' | ||