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).
Page from a motoring magazine's correspondence section discussing various topics from readers.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 160\5\ scan0235 | |
| Date | 21th February 1941 | |
| February 21st, 1941 The Autocar 179 Correspondence even after the boundaries of the carriageway had been marked—but I should like to carry the argument a little farther. Boundary white lines would be invaluable on country lanes. These are mostly too narrow to permit of a central line, but in any case the great difficulty about negotiating lanes at night is that of keeping to the roadway. With restricted lighting it is frequently next to impossible to see where the road ends and the verge begins, and the first thing you know about it is a bump. As a result, progress has necessarily to be slow. That, in present circumstances, is rather a serious matter. It means that Civil Defence transport in rural areas is unduly handicapped after dark. I have considerable personal experience of this, and can speak feelingly upon it. Quite definitely, the matter ought to be regarded as urgent. As recent correspondence in The Autocar has already shown, the trouble about white lines is the antiquated and time-wasting way in which some local authorities go about marking them. If the use of white lines is to be considerably extended (as it certainly should be), then modern methods of marking will clearly have to be used. FRANCIS JONES. Farnborough, Banbury. THE VETERAN CARS Escape of Interesting Examples from the Attentions of the Luftwaffe [49990.]—It was with great pleasure that I read letter [49916] from Mr. G.{Mr Griffiths - Chief Accountant / Mr Gnapp} J.{Mr Johnson W.M.} Allday, chairman of the Veteran Car Club of Great Britain. It is most reassuring to hear that most of our treasured veteran cars have escaped the attentions of the Luftwaffe. My own veterans, which were stored in the garage (some five miles from the nearest town or target of any possible im- An early Daimler, one of a collection of veteran cars which narrowly escaped destruction from a 500-lb. bomb. (See letter No. 49990.) portance, had the most amazing escape. The wing of the building containing the stable, harness room, electric lighting plant and accumulator room, suffered a direct hit with a 500-lb. bomb and was demolished. But the part of the building housing the veterans was not severely damaged, due, I think, to the steel girder and reinforced concrete construction, also to the steel roller-blind shutters. Of the seven cars in the garage only two were slightly damaged—an 1898 Daimler, the body of which had been put in the stable (I enclose a photograph taken just before the removal of the body), and a 1906 four-cylinder Lanchester which was also at that end of the building. It has, however, taught me a lesson, and I have now distributed the veterans in different parts of the country. I have found the articles in your series “These Cars Made History” of the greatest interest; long may they continue. I would like to see an article in this series dealing with some of the revolutionary Lanchester cars produced during the first fifteen years of this century, which were considered by many to be the greatest rivals of the Rolls-Royce. F.{Mr Friese} W. HUTTON-STOTT, JUNR. Puttenham, Surrey. DIRECT-INJECTION ENGINES Early Experiments That Were Not Altogether Successful [49991.]—In your Editorial of January 10th you say that if direct injection is employed on cars it will be through aircraft development. There is no doubt that the modern direct-injection aero engine is a development of the motor car engine. Dr. Diesel made a direct-injection motor car about 1905, and many improvements later. About 1908 I adapted my car engine, making it a solid-injection petrol engine, with electric ignition, at first (this was not a great success), then a petrol diesel, which was a little better. Next I made a light engine, in special steels, almost all made from tubing of different sizes. This was first run as a petrol diesel, but as it was only good when more or less full out, as with the aeroplane and racing car engines mentioned in your Editorial, it doesn’t seem hopeful in a simple form against the very good flexibility required in a motor car engine. Anyway, I gave it up, raised the compression and tried paraffin, which was better. The next step was to try Solar oil, which was better still (but not easily procurable away from home), and after thousands of experiments, with a lot of help from others interested, the job finished up as a Solar oil diesel, with the possibility of getting home on paraffin if necessary. The fuel was fed to the cooling system, and partially force-circulated, before injection, the cooling system temperature being as high as we could manage to lubricate the engine at. I reckon that this was the first fuel-cooled engine, and this simple idea gave the smoothest running, with flexibility and power. I drove this car for about three years, but the need for it passed. It was made for the reason that the car was also equipped with a wireless transmitter. I was then getting farther afield and it was sold at about nine years of age, but had to be converted to petrol again to sell it. So all that I know about the subject tends to show that the aero engine is an adaptation of the motor car engine, with or without direct injection. H.{Arthur M. Hanbury - Head Complaints} C. HEYWOOD. Liverpool, 12. HAVE WE PROGRESSED? As Power Has Increased Weight Has Gone Up, and Streamlining Has Been Neglected [49992.]—I think that Mr. John Evans, in his letter [49955], raises an interesting point in the comparison between modern sports cars and those of the 1925-6-7 period. As far as performance generally and petrol consumption are concerned little or no headway has been made, for the simple reason that as b.h.p. has improved weight has increased and even a moderate attempt at streamlining has been forgotten. Regarding weight, I should say it is up by 40 per cent., and petrol consumption is almost sure to follow to some extent. As to streamlining, this has been badly neglected, and this fact was shown up by the “1,100” Fiat saloon, of which, unfortunately, only one came over to this country in streamlined form. This car, which had only a slightly higher compression than the standard product, had a 3.9 to 1 top gear and a road speed of close on 90 m.p.h. It seems, therefore, that if we could have a well-streamlined H.R.G. or Morgan we could say definitely that we had progressed, since the cars mentioned have a good power-weight ratio, probably better than that of the Amilcar or Salmson of earlier years. There are, however, the comfort and smoothness of the modern sports car, which both show some improvement. As to petrol consumption, a recent conversation with Mr. H.{Arthur M. Hanbury - Head Complaints} R.{Sir Henry Royce} Godfrey rather astonished me, when he mentioned that any G.N. would do 65 m.p.g., a good one 75 m.p.g., and that figures approaching 100 m.p.g. had been obtained! Perhaps we have not progressed after all! V.{VIENNA} H.{Arthur M. Hanbury - Head Complaints} TUSON. Sanderstead, Surrey. P.S.—Perhaps the present owner of the streamlined Fiat could give us some figures. AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM Why Did the Lamp Bulb Remain Alight? : Sports Car and Rally Driving Points [49993.]—With reference to Mr. W. B. Cook’s letter [49946] and those from Mr. R.{Sir Henry Royce} A.{Mr Adams} Hellyar [49965] and Mr. H.{Arthur M. Hanbury - Head Complaints} G.{Mr Griffiths - Chief Accountant / Mr Gnapp} Surridge [49966], I am no electrical engineer, and am open to correction, but surely this is elementary. Provided that the engine stopped with the points of the contact-breaker closed, the act of switching on will induce a current in the high-tension winding of the ignition coil and will cause a spark to occur at the plug points. Switching off in like circumstances will similarly cause a spark at the plug points. This is by no means unknown as a method of starting a Rolls-Royce, and I often start my own Rolls-Royce in this way. Sometimes, just switching on will start the engine, but more often than not it is necessary to give the ignition lever | ||