3-2-53
Dear Daddy,
Many thanks for the plans for the chairs. I shall put them into immediate use.
I am quite excited about seeing you. It is a whole two months off, though. You can
come when you wish. JCK. Will not be here at Easter; Bragg seemed uncertain and sort
of off lectures.
Firstly, I think a British car is in order. German & Italian are too rare, too expensive,
& too hard to buy. A Sunbeam Talbot has 70 HP, 4 seats, weighs 2856, 9 ft wheelbase
& costs list here £ 865. Too small & not powerful enough, I suppose. I think by
far the "best buy" of automobile in the world is the Jaguar, Mark VII. Compare
Cost List Wheel Base Wt. HP Ht Turning
Circle
Riley £ 1,055 9 ft 11" 3248 lb 100 at 4500 rpm 4
ft 11.5" 36 ft
Jag £ 1,140 10 ft 3700 160 at 5200 rpm 5 ft
3" 36 ft
I grant the cost in dA is $4000 to $3000, I think; but I shall write & obtain direct
information. This comes from the London Motor Show issue of Autocar, Oct 24 '52. The Jaguar Sedan is really luxurious - I think in the Bentley class,
it has much more luggage space and much more people space than the Riley.
[Postcard]
Also - I am not sure Rileys are really available. Very few are exported now. Many
1 ½ lites sedans are here, but almost no Rileys at all in the U.S. 1500 I think.
This does not matter except servicing and spares are easier to get. I have seen two
new Rileys in 2 ft torn down to get spare parts. If one is going to spend enough
to get a Riley, then one gets a great deal for the extra required for a Jaguar.
Your DNA structure is similar to one that FHC Crick & Jm Watson thought about a while
ago. They, however, worked on the unionized molecule, the salt, rather than on the
acid.
Many thanks and much love
Peter
