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Guy Motors: Buses
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Lack of a
stable future in car production had not deterred the Company from its policy of developing untried designs. In 1920, Guy designers produced the first
special vehicle for cross-country work – a farmer’s lorry with “spud” wheels of the type still seen in use on tractors decades later. A charabanc was
introduced after the war, and in 1921 the gearbox governor was omitted from the specification. Equipped with a 30-seater ‘bus body, this chassis earned
high praise from its many operators. Up until this time all Guy vehicles had a highly efficient double reduction gear back axle employing bevels and spurs
gear in pairs, and the only reason for dropping it was that it was still found to be impossible to grind gears to give the silent running qualities of
worm drive.
1922 saw the introduction of an articulated six-wheeler for carrying heavy loads and 2½ –3 ton battery electric lorry for refuse collection; and
in the following year a “road-rail” vehicle was produced to the design of the chief engineer of South African Railways. Some twenty to twenty-five of these
machines were built, with twin engines driving a single propeller shaft through a special gearbox. For running on rails, a bogie was fitted at the front,
whilst the large rear wheels ran outside the track; and, with the bogie uncoupled, the vehicle was equally at home on the road. It was used mainly for
shunting railway trucks in marshalling yards, asn was highly effective at its job, except for the obvious problem of negotiating points.
In 1924 the Company produced Britain’s first dropped-frame bus chassis, the previous general practice of manufacturers
having been to adapt goods vehicle chassis for passenger work. Thus began the era of the low-loading vehicle and it is worthy of note that when, one day, a
representative of Rio de Janeiro’s Tramway and Power Department suddenly turned up at the works, the resultant order was for no less than 170 Guy Buses – a
gigantic order considering that the year was 1926. These ‘buses were, incidentally, fitted with Daimler sleeve-valve engines.
The growing population was now creating an increasing demand for larger forms of passenger
transport, and consequently the Company produced Britain’s first six-wheeled double-decker of 1926. In 1927 a fleet of these buses appeared on the streets
of London, and were so successful that the London General Omnibus Company were quick to make arrangements with their subsidiary, the Associated Equipment
Company, to build a similar bus designated the LS (London Six) purely for operation in London. Rapid improvements in petrol bus design hastened the decline
of tramcars, and municipalities owning electricity undertakings found themselves faced with the problem of maintaining the demand for electricity. Guy
Motors came to the rescue in 1926 by producing the world’s first six-wheeled double-deck trolleybus. This vehicle had regenerative control, which fed power
back into the line and provided electric braking. It was supplied to Wolverhampton Corporation, and after eleven years service, during which it covered
half a million miles, it was withdrawn only because the body was out of date.
At about this period, another Wolverhampton firm was acquired by Guy Motors. This was the 
