Guy Motors
Encyclopedia
Fallings Park
Fallings Park is a suburb of Wolverhampton, West Midlands and a ward of Wolverhampton City Council. It is situated in the north-east of the city, bordering South Staffordshire and the Wednesfield North, Heath Town, Bushbury South and Low Hill and Bushbury North wards. It forms part of the...
, Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
that made cars, lorries, buses, and trolleybus
Trolleybus
A trolleybus is an electric bus that draws its electricity from overhead wires using spring-loaded trolley poles. Two wires and poles are required to complete the electrical circuit...
es.
History
Guy Motors Ltd was founded in 1914 by Sydney Guy who had been the Works Manager of nearby Sunbeam. A factory was built on the site at Fallings Park, WolverhamptonWolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
. The first product was a 30cwt lorry which employed a much lighter form of pressed steel frame, unlike the more commonly used heavy rolled steel channel frames of the time.
During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
they made the ABC designed Wasp
ABC Wasp
-See also:-Bibliography:* Lumsden, Alec. British Piston Engines and their Aircraft. Marlborough, Wiltshire: Airlife Publishing, 2003. ISBN 1-85310-294-6....
and Dragonfly
ABC Dragonfly
-Bibliography:* Bruce, J.M. "Sopwith Snipe...:...the RAF's First Fighter. . " Air Enthusiast International Volume 6 Number 6, June 1974. Bromley, UK: Fine Scroll....
radial
Radial engine
The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders point outward from a central crankshaft like the spokes on a wheel...
aircraft engines, Tylor
Tylor
Tylor is an English surname and given name meaning “tiler”. It may also refer to the given name of a male or female-Tylor :*Edward Tylor , British anthropologist...
truck engines and Maudslay
Maudslay Motor Company
The Maudslay Motor Company was a British vehicle maker based in Coventry. It was founded in 1902 and continued until 1948 when it was taken over by the Associated Equipment Company and along with Crossley Motors the new group was renamed Associated Commercial Vehicles Ltd.-Early history:The...
gearboxes as well as being the country's largest maker of depth charge
Depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...
fuzes.
After the war, they decided to make luxury cars with a design by RH Rose, also from Sunbeam. This had Britain's first production V-8 of 4072 cc and featured horizontal side valves. About 25 were made. It was joined by a smaller model in 1922 with the 2465 cc four cylinder 16.9 hp. Both cars were expensive and this limited sales, especially from a relatively unknown company. A cheaper model followed in 1924 with the 1954 cc 13/36 with an engine from Coventry Climax
Coventry Climax
Coventry Climax was a British forklift truck, fire pump, and speciality engine manufacturer.-History:The company was started in 1903 as Lee Stroyer, but two years later, following the departure of Stroyer, it was relocated to Paynes Lane, Coventry, and renamed to Coventry-Simplex by H...
. About 110 of the 4 cylinder models are thought to have been made. In an attempt to enter the car market further, they bought the Star Motor Company
Star Motor Company
The Star Motor Company was a British car and commercial vehicle maker based in Wolverhampton and active from 1898 to 1932.Star was founded by the Lisle family who like many other vehicle makers started by making bicycles, in their case in 1893 as Sharratt and Lisle...
in 1928, but it failed to make a profit and was closed in 1932.
From the mid 1930s, the company became increasingly involved in the British rearmament programme, developing and producing military vehicles, although by the time of the 1939 – 1945 war itself, Guy was primarily active as a manufacturer of buses. Passenger car sales in the UK virtually ceased during the war, which was accordingly a good time to be a UK bus manufacturer, and more than 2,000 Guy double-decker buses entered service between 1942 and 1945: bus production remained a mainstay of the business in the decades that followed, with a strong emphasis on export sales, major markets including South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
and the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. Costly technical research and development undertaken during the early 1940s failed to provide the anticipated pay-back in the years that followed, however. After the war, heavy truck production was revived, but Guy spent the 1950s in a financially delicate state which led to the appointment of a receiver at the end of the decade. Sidney Guy, the firm's founder, had retired in 1957.
The business was bought out by Jaguar
Jaguar (car)
Jaguar Cars Ltd, known simply as Jaguar , is a British luxury car manufacturer, headquartered in Whitley, Coventry, England. It is part of the Jaguar Land Rover business, a subsidiary of the Indian company Tata Motors....
in 1961. At the time of the Jaguar take-over, the name of the company was changed to "Guy Motors (Europe) Ltd" which may hint at a 1961 management vision of the future: the name reverted to "Guy Motors Ltd" in 1966, however. Guy-badged buses ceased production in 1964: by then the company had developed a completely new range of trucks: the Big J models. The Big J was designed around a new Cummins V6 engine, and was intended for motorway operation. In 1966, Jaguar became part of the British Motor Holdings
British Motor Holdings
British Motor Holdings Limited was a British motor company known until 14 December 1966 as British Motor Corporation Limited .-History:...
.
In 1968, Guy Motors became part of British Leyland Motor Corporation
British Leyland Motor Corporation
British Leyland was a vehicle manufacturing company formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd . It was partly nationalised in 1975 with the government creating a new holding company called British Leyland Ltd which became BL Ltd in 1978...
after the merger of British Motor Holdings
British Motor Holdings
British Motor Holdings Limited was a British motor company known until 14 December 1966 as British Motor Corporation Limited .-History:...
and Leyland Motor Corporation. Sidney Guy, by now retired for more than ten years, died at home in Albrighton
Albrighton, Bridgnorth
Albrighton is a large village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It is located to the northwest of Wolverhampton and is best described as a dormitory village for the city...
aged 86 on 21 September 1971 leaving a widow, two sons and a daughter.
Guy Motors' factory was closed in 1982.
Buses/trolleybuses
- B series
- C series
- Arab Mk I/II/III/IV/V
- Arab UF/LUF
- Wolf
- Vixen
- Warrior Trambus
- WulfrunianGuy WulfrunianThe Guy Wulfrunian was a front-engine double-decker bus chassis produced by Guy from 1959 to 1965.-History:The Wulfrunian was developed jointly by Guy and the West Riding Automobile Company, and, of 137 vehicles built, 126 went to West Riding...
- Victory
Trucks/others
- Armoured CarGuy Armoured CarThe Guy Armoured Car was a British armoured car produced in limited numbers during World War II. The car saw limited action during the Battle of France.-Production history and description:...
- LizardGuy LizardThe Guy Lizard Armoured Command Vehicle was a British command vehicle built during World War II.Twenty-one units were built by Guy Motors, some were used in 1940 by the British Expeditionary Force in France. A few were employed by the 7th Armoured Division in the North African Campaign.-References...
– Armoured Command Vehicle - Ant – Truck 15cwt 4 x 2, General Service (G.S.) & Wireless (house type)
- Quad-Ant – Truck 4 x 4 Field Artillery Tractor (F.A.T.) & 15cwt G.S.
- Wolf
- Vixen
- Warrior
- Invincible
- Big J
- Otter
Trivia
- China Motor BusChina Motor BusChina Motor Bus Company Ltd. , often abbreviated as CMB, was the first motor bus company in Hong Kong, and was responsible for the introduction of double-decker buses to Hong Kong Island....
was the largest user of Guy buses in the world. - No examples of the Guy Car are known to exist anywhere in the world