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
