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).
Comparing the 5 Litre Mercedes Car to a Bentley, discussing performance, drawbacks and price.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 22\5\ Scan169 | |
| Date | 4th December 1935 | |
| X1080 S/W To Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} from Sg.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} re 5 Litre Mercedes Car. Sg{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD}7/E4.12.35 Thanks for Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}3/KW.2.12.35. I tried this car for a short run when over for the Paris Show and quite agree what you say about performance etc. One of our enthusiastic Bentley owners had one to try and showed me curves he had plotted for his car and the Mercedes. The Mercedes was slightly better at the lower speeds but not so good at the maximum. The car is of course a Bentley competitor but not, I think, a very serious one, partly for the reasons which you give, i.e. terrible noise of the supercharger and the amount of pressure needed to hold it in use and the very high price of the car. Sg.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} | ||