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).
On the reasoning for introducing a stepped dashboard and its impact on the steering column, scuttle, and bonnet length.
| Identifier | WestWitteringFiles\N\October1925-December1925\ Scan85 | |
| Date | 11th November 1925 | |
| ORIGINAL FROM R.{Sir Henry Royce} C. to - HS.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} BODY MATTERS - EAC. 8. STEPPED DASH ETC. Regarding the stepped dashboard our reason for introducing it is principally to obtain an improved support for the steering column. It does not make any difference to the room provided for the body, but curtails the room available for the scuttle. It was also introduced for various other reasons. Among them we thought Sales would prefer to maintain the length of the bonnet, or even increase it slightly, but we did not realise that it would cause any trouble in cutting down the length of the shorter scuttles. We had only in mind the scuttle for the C. & D.{John DeLooze - Company Secretary} steerings, which generally present no difficulties. There is however an intermediate course, which is that we might use a plain dashboard for the B. steering, and a stepped dashboard for the C. and D.{John DeLooze - Company Secretary} steering. This would give two lengths of bonnet but would not embarrass the B. scuttle, and we should still obtain the principal advantage we seek in the better support of the long D.{John DeLooze - Company Secretary} steering column, (or we can obtain our better support in another way that I have just realised.) In other words for the support of the steering column we need not be forced to adopt the stepped dash, which can now stand on its merits. I have omitted to reply to LHS{Lord Herbert Scott}'s memo. re. bodies, and have not before me now all the particulars mentioned as regards the waste room in body length, but it was particularly noticeable on Mr. Arthur Gibbs' car, where the back of the front seats came straight up and down, and has a cupboard for the side screens, - (1) | ||