o rris and Rolls-Royce L 2 5 o to L 2
5 oo—M
Motoring
THE two ears I have for review today will probably be regarded by the majority of motorists as among the most interesting of the new models. They are the new • 12- cylinder Phantom III Rolls-Royce and the new. 18-h.p. Morris. Although the Rolls-Royce-costs ten times as much as the Morris, they do not of -course represent the extremes of price. There are dearer ears than the Rolls- Royce and cheaper ones than the Morris;Init On the other Iwnd there are no bigger British engineS than the Rolls- Royce and no British 18-h.p. cars selling at less than this new Morris. The Morris, which belongs to what -is -known .as Series II, has a 6-cylinder engine with a .bore: of, 69 by 102, which gives it a cubic capacity of a little over 21 litres. The treasury rating is 18 and the tax-13'10s: The engine is a plain piece of work with the cylindirsc:astin one with the top half of the crank case ; lateral -valves; a four- bearing crankshaft ; aluminium piitons and •a combined inlet and exhaust manifold with a liot spot. Its appur- tenances include a combined air silencer, cleaner and fume consumer. I was glad to sec .that a large external oil filter is fitted.
Cooling is by pump with thermOstatic control ; -the dynamo has a three-charge ratio control ; the steer- ing is of the Bishop cam type, and the brakes are Lockheed hydraulic. The 4-speed gearbox ratios are 4.75 on top, 7 on third, 10.8 on second, and 19.3 on first.
The saloon with a fixed head costs £250, and with the sliding head and Jackall permanent jacks, £270—a decidedly moderate price. The coachwork is admirably roomy, being in fact the same size as that fitted to the 25-h.p. Morris which I described last year. The front 'screen is set at the correct angle and distance from the driver's eyes, giving excellent outlook. The upholstery is comfortable, and the doors and windows work as they should. I liked the plain but good interior finish.
The makers have, very wisely in my opinion, refrained from making this a fast car. It is still true that what costs most is speed, and it is still veryrare to find a really fast car that is both cheap and good. The maximum speed of the Morris under good conditions is about 62 or 63 miles an hour on top and 45 on third. But against this modest figure there is an excellent cruising speed of well over 50, good acceleration, and really smooth and quiet running. The car shone particularly in climbing a long hill with two hairpin bends in it, dis- playing considerable flexibility. The steering is excellent, light and firm,"the gear- changes very good indeed, and the hydraulic foot brake -properly powerful. The side brake is of no pia-et-feat .nse, except for parking. The car holds the road well, and the springing is up to the standard of its Class. I suppose that at £2,550 one can take perfection of design and finish for granted, although that reads rather ungenhOusly. -- The -workmanship in the new Rolls-Royce- is of a very -high class, and if the price is also very high, it is Perfectly obVious that no consideration of cost has been allo-ived -to interfere with the production Of one :Of the- world's niost.famous cars. It is a really beautiful piece of work -from one end to the other. The PhanfOm III is an entirely new model, having no re- Sernblance at all to its predecessors. The V-type twin- six engine is of a nominal 50-h.p., the tax being £38 5s. The bore and stroke are 82.5 by 114.3, giving it a cubic capacity of 7840 c.c. To me, -the two most interesting features of the engine were, first, that only one car- • burettor is used, which argues an extremely clever solution of gas-distribution difficulties ; and, second, the method of keeping the valve tappets in constant adjust- ment. In this system a column of oil under pressure is used, and the only thing that can wear is the large steel ball which carries the thrust to the rocker arm. Only when this steel ball wears can there be any altera- tion in the timing of the valve opening. All that is needed in this event is a new ball.
The rest of the chassis differs materially from the preceding Rolls-Royce model mainly in its outstanding feature, the independent front wheel suspension. The familiar shock absorber hand-control is .still -used, by means of which the tension Of the apringi.'regxi be instantly varied according to the conditions of the road —from very soft for traffic work to almost racing hardness for high speed and safe cornering. High speed, indeed, is in point of fact the - chief attraction of this very fine car. That does not sound sensible, but it is none the less true. The acceleration of the car I tried, a very large 7-seated limousine, was among the best -examples I have ever known, and for the type of coachwork by far the most striking. I understood from: the demon- strator that about 100 miles per }hour is -within the capabilities of that particular car ; but although there was, of course, no opportunity on the roads' of that figure, the ease and the speed with-which we reached something over 85 miles per hour was Very remarkable.
This terrific available pace means, of course, that the car is extremely restful to drive. With the 'throttle barely open, a very high cruising speed can be indefinitely maintained, and as the steering has been much improved in this new model, it is probably one of the least tiring cars to drive. Naturally, the flexibility of twelve large cylinders is exceptional, and if it is not what we used to call a top-speed speed car, it is very nearly so. With that really beautiful gear change, however,., and that all-silent gear, there is no reason for not using the -box as it should be used. About 75 miles per hour is obtain- able on third, and-the perfoiinance of the-car on hills-as well as on the level can be measured by that. The final point of interest is the quite extraordinary silence. When idling it is to all intents and purposes inaudible, and as soon as the car gets going, any noise that may be set up from under the bonnet or from the transmission is completely drowned by the rush of wind against the body, or at slow speeds by the slight sound of the tyres: This is beyond all question the best Phantom yet made, and_by far the most-interesting. Rolls-Royce..
. JOHN PRIOLEAU.
[Note.—Readers' requests for advice from our Motoring Correspondent on the shake of nears should be accompanied by a stamped yimi addressed rnvdope. - The highest'prim prtyable Must be given. as well as the hjpe. of body required. No advice can _be. *um-on-the -pitrchase,- sale. or eaxhasige.-of-used cars.]
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