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).
From Sg to Hs and Rm detailing the history and reasons for discarding the J.III car project.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 148\5\ scan0067 | |
| Date | 1st March 1935 | |
| Policy To Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} from Sg.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} To Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} from Sg.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} Sg{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD}4/E11.3.35 In your recent memo. you commented on J.III and indicated that a great mistake had been made in discarding this car. I have been looking up its history and, so far as I can trace, the position appears to be as follows: The idea of making a J.III chassis started about the end of 1930. On the 26th November 1932 I was informed that one would be ready to go to France in December of that year but I cannot find that it ever went. I imagine it did not as there are no reports about it and a study of the file rather indicates that it was not ready to go. On the 25th April 1933 I was informed after we had seen the car at Brooklands that you were busy preparing a specification for J.III and I replied agreeing that it was important to push on with this car, but soon after this date I was away ill for 6 months. In trying to trace up what happened I find that on the 9th June 1933 Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} gave Christmas of that year as being the latest date for a complete J.III to be on the road in final form, i.e. just a year later than the previous information about the first one being ready to go to France. It was also agreed apparently at that June conference to put three in hand but I do not believe that this was ever done. On my return in November 1933 it is quite clear that the general feeling at Derby was that J.III was a 'washout', and I remember Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} in particular telling me that, if we were at that date going to put any new car into production - (and it must be remembered that at that date the car had not even gone to France for its test so that production was obviously still a long way off), it would be a mistake to introduce a new car with a 6-cylinder engine. The real trouble about J.III was, so far as I can see, that it took too long, i.e. after 3 years the first car had not even gone to France for test, and whilst not wishing | ||