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 quality and maintenance of steel car bodies on Bentley and American models.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 117\1\ scan0064 | |
| Date | 14th November 1935 | |
| To C. From Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} c. to Sg.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} Wor.{Arthur Wormald - General Works Manager} d.{John DeLooze - Company Secretary} to R.{Sir Henry Royce} Ox. Hn.{F. C. Honeyman - Retail orders} 81021 Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}1/MJ.14.11.35. STEEL BODIES. Replying to C.17/C.13.11.35. The results of the steel body on the Bentley should be judged in connection with our accumulated experience of steel bodies on american cars. As you are aware, during the last few years we have had the Cadillac, Buick, Graham Paige, and two Essex cars. They have had the usual rough usage which one expects on experimental cars. The Cadillac in addition was run approximately 12,000 miles in France. Our records show that the only maintenance work that has been done on the bodies at all is repairs to the ventilator windows on the Cadillac. We have never had a case of doors or windows rattling. The Buick car has run approximately 20,000 miles and the Graham Paige 25,000 miles and they are absolutely free from all noises. The maintenance of coachwork bodies on experimental cars comes to hundreds of pounds per year. My personal view is that our coachwork is not only bad, but it is terrible. One of the points which always makes me furious is the difficulty of opening and shutting doors on our cars. Recently on one of the Phantom lll bodies many number of times I imagined I had closed the door and then found that the door was rattling and was only on the first latch. For children I find the doors a positive menace, whereas on the american cars the doors always open and close easily. On the question of ventilation I have not yet seen a scheme on any of our coachwork bodies that works. One would not expect them to work. From our experience the only danger of rust with steel bodies is when the paint is knocked off due to an accident. For that condition we are in a better position than the cheap car makers because one would expect the owner of a Rolls-Royce or Bentley to keep the car in reasonable condition. We should strongly recommend that if Park Ward are embarking on steel bodies they should send someone to U.S.A. to get to know all their methods of preventing rust. Within the last few years the Americans have improved tremendously on this particular point. | ||