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).
Analysis of crash safety concerning retardation rates, crumple zones, and the advantages of rear-engined vehicles.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 24\1\ Scan055 | |
| Date | 12th December 1931 guessed | |
| 21. The important consideration is, of course, the rate of retardation. If the retardation of the car is so severe that the passengers are shot forward off their seats, through the windscreen, it is of relatively little importance to the passengers if the front portion of the car crumples much or little. What is required, is to arrange the strength of the forward part of the car to crumple at a pre-arranged rate and act as a recoil cylinder. In Fig..... is shown the recoil cylinder of a gun which is somewhat heavier than a large car. This mass is accelerated to a high figure and again brought to rest in a space of some two feet or so. The ideal would be to incorporate a feature of this kind in the front of a car, but practicably the best course is to construct the car to crumple at a pre-determined rate. Rigidity is required between the pedals and the seats to prevent the driver's legs being crushed. One cannot construct an engine to crumple at a given rate, and consequently the usual result of a severe head on crash is for the passengers to be thrown through the windscreen. In the rear engined car, however, this feature of the control of the rate of crumpling can be developed and a higher degree of safety, in the event of a head on crash, can be claimed than for the orthodox vehicle. Finally we come to the disadvantages of the rear engined car, and that is, I think, confined to the difficulty of installing as good controls as in the normal type. Normal development will, no doubt, produce the required improvement. I have come to the end of this brief analysis of the rear engined streamline car and submit, that valid | ||