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 criticism and safety concerns regarding the vehicle's steering gear.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 67\3\ scan0151 | |
| Date | 11th June 1925 | |
| [Handwritten Initials at top: bWHS (crossed out), Sir CW] PN{Mr Northey}5/DN11.6.25. TO CJ [Handwritten] c. to CWB. [Handwritten] c. to H.{Arthur M. Hanbury - Head Complaints} [Handwritten] FROM PN{Mr Northey} STEERING GEAR. As affecting Rolls-Royce reputation, I have too frequently to hear intending purchasers or existing Rolls-Royce owners, refer to our steering as being the worst feature of our car. This is always surprising and, of course, very serious, because, in the first place, probably no component about the chassis has had so much thought and attention, and secondly, now that higher speeds have become so much the vogue when touring, this criticism is likely to be heard oftener. There are many Rolls-Royce owners who think that our steering is delightful and undoubtedly it is many excellent features, but these people are probably influenced by the fact that their driving is generally of a slow description, for it is only when the car has to be driven at high speeds over bad roads, that the inherent disadvantages, even dangers, become so apparent. The whole matter boils down to the tendency of the steering to take charge on rough roads, i.e., when the front wheels are repeatedly hit with considerable force from one side to the other, with the result that the steering-wheel itself feels all the shocks and is forcibly moved from the driver's hands, who under these conditions, rightly gets the impression of considerable instability. Two days ago when driving with Miss Honeywell, who has just purchased a "New PhantomCodename for PHANTOM I", she was driving along a narrow road about 30 m.p.h., and suddenly came across some very uneven places in the road, at the same time as having to pass an approaching motor. The wheel was oscillated completely out of her hands, she lost her head a little, and was letting the car run into a ditch on the nearside. I was able to avert any trouble by taking charge of the wheel from my seat along-side her. This merely illustrates the point at which criticism is chiefly given, i.e., the too easy deflection of the steering-wheel resulting from unevennesses on the road. P.T.O. | ||