Guy Motors

January 1920.

1924. See John Morris and Sons. Exhibit at the Black Country Living Museum.

1950.

1968. Exhibit at Vintage Vehicles Shildon.

Guy Motors Ltd of Fallings Park, Wolverhampton produced commercial vehicles from 1918 to 1979.

General

• 1913 Company founded.

• 1913/14 Sydney Slater Guy left Sunbeam where he was works manager to start his own company to produce commercial vehicles almost next door to Sunbeam.

• 1913-1917 For a list of the models and prices of Petrol Motors see the 1917 Red Book

• 1914 Public company.

• 1961 Guy was acquired by Jaguar.

• 1961 Manufacturers of commercial vehicles, motor omnibuses and electric trolleybuses.

• 1968 Ownership passed to Leyland.

• 1979 Production ceased.

Lorries

• WW1 War time manufacture.

• 1920 Manufacture commenced with 25cwt J-type lorries and later 7-12ton payload.

• 1922 Produced an articulated lorry.

• 1933 Introduced the Wolf 2 ton model.

• 1934 Introduced the Vixen 3/4 ton model.

• 1934 The famous radiatior cap with the Red Indian head and the slogan 'Feathers in our Cap' first appeared.

• WW2 Government ordered large numbers of the 4 x 4 tractors for war use.

• 1947 Civilian production restarted.

• 1952 New all-steel cab introduced.

• 1953 Big Otter produced for 8-ton loads.

• 1956 The Warrior range introduced for 6-15 tons and rigid or articulated.

Buses

• 1924 They produced a drop-frame chassis with a normal-control layout.

• 1926 They offered a six-wheeler seating 60 passengers, pneumatic tyres and normal control.

• 1927 A forward-control six-wheeler double-decker followed, the first model went to the London Public Omnibus Co.

• 1927 Guy produced their own six-cylinder engine with inclined side valves.

• 1928 Improved versions of these made, and single and double-deck four wheel models were introduced. These were later named Conquest for the single deck and Invincible for the double.

• Invincible and Conquest were the first British chassis specifically designed for Gardner oil engines.

• Sales of these models were low and by the middle of the 1930s had disappeared completely.

• WW2 Guy went back to making the big buses as the Government were urgently requiring simple and reliable buses to help carry workers to war factories.

• Guy redesigned the 1933 Arab. The prototype was completed in 1942 and Swindon Corporation was the first to operate this model.

• 1944 2,000 Arab chassis had been completed; they proved reliable and long-lived.

• 1946 Guy's first postwar model was the Arab III; this model was available as a single and double-decker.

• 1950 The Arab IV was produced; they had concealed radiators.

• 1959 The 'Wulfrunian was launched; it had a Gardner 6LX engine.

• 1960 to 1965 West Riding bought 127 Wulfrunian models.

• 1961 The company had gone bankrupt, bought by Jaguar who owned Daimler as well.

• 1969 Guy was now owned by British Leyland and was still in the export market.

• 1982 Production moved to Leyland.

Cars

• 1919 March. Announcement that they intend to produce a touring car.

See Also

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Sources of Information

• British Lorries 1900-1992 by S. W. Stevens-Stratten. Pub. Ian Allen Publishing
• Ian Allan - British Buses Since 1900 - Aldridge and Morris
• 1961 Guide to Key British Enterprises: Motor, Motor-Cycle and Commercial Vehicle Manufacturers
• 1961 Dun and Bradstreet KBE