NEW ROLLS-ROYCE.

Hawera Star, Volume XLIX, 16 November 1929, Page 15

NEW ROLLS-ROYCE.

CHANGE IN DESIGN. PRICES NOT ALTERED. So famous is the name Rolls-Royce that a new model from this motor carriage factory must cause a wide interest. For the 1929-30 season the present 40-50 li.p. New Phantom RollsRoyce will be displaced by the latest type of chassis, to be known as Phantom No. II This new model is stated to be extremely fast—capable of 90 miles to 95 miles an hour —and well able to hold its own on the road with any of the foreign super-chassis, although the makers do not claim that it is built to compete with the ultra-sporting types. Needless to say, this latest Rolls-Royce retains the silence and perfect road manners that have gained the name its world-wide renown.

In a general way one would describe the new engine as similar in its main features to the current model, save for detail improvements in the carburetter and lubrication, and an arrangement of the dual ignition by magneto and' battery, with coil which is so timed that the magneto comes into work for high speeds and the battery with Coil ior smooth, slow-running for town use. ' The engine bore and stroke is 4Jin. by s£in.; the R.A.C. rating is 43.3 h.p., and the annual tax £44. ■ The short chassis costs £lB-50 and the long chassis £I9OO, the same (price as the chassis they replace. A complete novelty is the adoption of unit construction of engine and gearbox. This practice is well-night universal to-day, and it is interesting to see so conservative a firm as RollsRoyce accepting the system. Others Rolls-Royce chassis altera-, tions are found in the disappearance of the torque tube, and in entirely new rear springs and back axle. In the new model the drive is taken by an open propeller-shaft to a completely re-designed back axle, in which the centre casing appears larger than before and the side sleeves of smaller diameterThe Rolls-Royce system of cantilever rear springs, for long a feature of the chassis, is abandoned, and in their place half-elliptic springs are used. Another clever detail on the Phantom H is forced lubrication to the spring leaves. The brakes are more powerful than ever, and a special system of lubrication for the chassis is adopted, which may be described as a central system in sections. By mounting the coachworlc much lower on the chassis than hitherto, the fashionable modern low line is achieved, and the use of a special body subframe insulates the superstructure from shocks and twists.