Guy Motors Through the War Years
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in Addition to Specialized War Machines 2,400 Doubledeckers Were Produced in Under Three Years FLR over 20 years, Guy Motor, td., Fallings Park, Wolverhampton, has paid special attention to the development of vehicles suitable fOr cross-country operation under the varying conditions of terrain encountered in different parts of the world.
The experience thus gained Was,. obviously, invaluable in the production of vehicles for war purposes, and it was not surprising, therefore, that, at the outbreak of hoStilities, the cornpuny was actually, producing proved machines in large numbers, which were available for immediate military duties.
The well-known Guy Wolf, Vixen and other commercial vehicles had been adapted to form the basis of a loadcarrying military truck, which, after exhaustive tests, was found to be so satisfactory that large Government orders were received for what came to be known as the Guy Ant 4 ; 2 15-cwt machine.
It was seen that there were great possibilities for the use of this vehicle r.s a tractor, and, as a result, the Guy lour-wheel-drive Quad-Ant field artillery tractor came into being.
The preliminary trials of this vehicle entailed operation over heather-covered mountain ilope, bog, wet clay, and immersion test S in the River Severn and the sea to a maximum depth of 5 ft. of water So far back as 1936 trials were undertaken under the rigorous conditions of ectrerne cold, ice and snow obtaining in Estonia. At a later 'date vehicles were also shipped to Egypt, where the company's chief engineer was also sent A'28 • in order to obtain first-hand data on performance.
Guy Motors, Ltd., also contributed its quota of six-wheelers, of which several thousands were supplied to the 'Government before and during the war.
four-wheeled searchlight vehicle was also manufactured, a feature of its design being that the engine was directly coupled to the generator, And when the machine was stationary and in neutral, the generator supplied the requisite current for the searchlight unit.
Something of a record was created 'by the production of no fewer than 2,400 double-deck buses in a little under, three years.. Guy Motors, Ltd., got out the design to the specification laid down by the M.O.W.T. • To meet another national need, the company made 2,157 vehicles, which were supplied to civilian operators against licences to acquire. The total number of Army vehicles, of all types. produced was 13,305.
A feature which had a direct bearing on the ultimate construction methods adopted for many types of fighting vehicle was concerned with the company's contribution to the technique of welding. Experiments were carried out in the use of flame-cutting and thewelding of armour plate. Guy Motors. Ltd., achieved such success with its methods that, in 1940, partictilars relative to them were sent to America. The company itself produced 2,137 allwelded, bullet-proof hulls for armoured ears.
The technique adopted has since been proved beyond all question, and in it was the answer to the rapid fabrication of Tank and artnoured-car superstructures and gun turrets. It meant greater safety for the crews, apart from an appreciable saving in weight, labour and cost,
It is fitting to mention that, right throughout the period when these splendid production Expires were being maintained, 'the company did not fail in its service and repair organizat'on,