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 performance, weights, and market position of three different cars.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 146\5\ scan0055 | |
| Date | 11th November 1938 | |
| 1245 To Bentley Motors Ltd. London……………… S.W. Copy to H.S. By.{R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} George V Sr2/ET.11.11.38. I had occasion, last Saturday, to try out one against the other the three cars I suggested, i.e. B.107.GP (ex E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} Dubonnet) which is a very good car of its sort, B.8.MR (our present trials car) and B.III from Châteauroux. The respective weights of these cars were as follows: B.107.GP ex Dubonnet with 13 galls. of petrol, 33 cwts. 21 lbs. B.8.MR our Trials car " 21 " " " 34 " 8 " B.III Châteauroux " 17 " " " 36 " 13 " You will therefore see that B.107.GP was at a distinct advantage over B.III. Nevertheless, the results of rolling starts, standing starts, flat out runs over perfectly straight stretches of road some 8 Kms. long, shewed in every case a slight advantage for B.III. To be quite candid, which of course I wish to be, I must say that there is nothing in it between the three cars, except that the cars fitted with the overdrive have an advantage in the long run. By this I mean that they gradually pull away from the car without the overdrive, given sufficient time to do so. If B.III were fitted with a light body, I imagine that its performance would be quite a bit better than that of any of the present cars. This test was very interesting and it more or less proves what we all know, i.e. that, as long as we do not change the power unit, we cannot expect to improve our performance, unless of course we take steps to do so by reducing windage, etc.. Before ending this memo, I should like once more to lay stress upon the necessity there is, in my opinion, in increasing the performance of any future product. I know that my views on performance have not always met with approval, but it must surely be agreed to-day, that we are selling the Bentley against odds which are constantly increasing. There are now any amount of cars as fast as the Bentley and, although they may not have all the other required qualities inherent to a fast car, they nevertheless have the tremendous superiority of costing a quarter of the price. | ||