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).
Possibilities of producing four-light and six-light car bodies for Bentley models.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 111\1\ scan0116 | |
| Date | 14th July 1938 | |
| - 2 - BY.8/G.14.7.38. (c) cont'd.{John DeLooze - Company Secretary} the one which it is most desirable to concentrate upon, with the possibilities of a six-light, by making arrangements in the dies when producing same for this proposal. In the Humber Snipe the six-light body forms the bulk of their sales. I doubt whether this would be true of Bentley product produced by Rolls-Royce, as our experience is the opposite, viz. that the four-light is the much more popular. We have been considering the outline and seating accommodation of an improved form of four-light body, a print of which I enclose for your consideration, as it appears to be a positive improvement upon anything we have done previously at Derby in regard to appearance and accommodation. The issues which I refer to under (b) above are for a Close Coupled Wraith. It would be possible to use the Bentley 50 dies, but owing to the increased wheelbase it would means that the doors would have to be rather wide, and this would probably make the proposal impracticable. One other point is that it would be possible to fit a Bentley 50 type of body on to a D.111 chassis, although personally I cannot conceive anybody wishing to do this, as under present conditions the price would be somewhat higher and the fact that the Bentley 50 was available seems to me to rule out the usefulness of any such possibility. The six-light design is incorporated in practically all American cars, and it is probable that this fact alone will create a reaction against the use of a six-light body in steel on a British chassis, owing to its general similarity to an American design of body. I appreciate that we should not have the crudenesses of the American design in round corners and general clumsiness, but the other would still remain as a possible objection. In view of the foregoing it would therefore appear that we are practically limited to two bodies for Bentley 50 from one set of dies. There are one or two other possibilities which I will refer to later, but broadly this represents the position. The bodies in question are :- (a). A four-light Bentley 50. (b). A six-light Bentley 50. BY.{R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} | ||