PART 11,GARDNER ENGINES.
From WIKIPEDIA:-
World War II
During World War II the Government was again forced to borrow heavily in order to finance war with the Axis powers. By the end of the conflict Britain’s debt exceeded 200 percent of GDP, as it had done after the end of the Napoleonic Wars.[7] Once again the USA provided the major source of funds, this time via low interest loans and also through the Lend Lease Act. Even at the end of the war Britain needed American financial assistance, and in 1945 Britain took a loan for $586 million (about £145 million at 1945 exchange rates), and in addition a further $3,750 million line of credit (about £930m at 1945 exchange rates). The debt was to be paid off in 50 annual repayments commencing in 1950. Some of these loans have only recently been paid off. On 31 December 2006, Britain made a final payment of about $83m (£45.5m) and thereby discharged the last of its war loans from the USA.[10]
The fall of the British Commercial Vehicle Manufacturing Industry,which included L.Gardner & Sons Ltd of course,reminds me so much of the decline and fall of the British Motorcycle Manufacturing Industry,because some of the reasons for the fall of both of these once great industries are exactly the same and/or were similar. And at least some of the reasons also contributed to the decline of the British Motor Car Manufacturing Industry,although there were also other more complex reasons that caused the British-owned sector of the car industry to fail.
In the 1950s the above British motor vehicle manufacturing industries were the World leaders in,and No.1 exporters of, motor vehicles. The British Government’s number one order to the motor industry,and British industry in general,was to export most of it’s output to overseas markets,the reasons being so that Great Britain could pay off it’s World War Two Lend Lease debts and to pay for the post-war re-construction of the United Kingdom.
But with so much sales success both at home and abroad,the British Motor Industry became complacent and rested on it’s laurels to a certain extent - the motorcycle industry in particular. It was mainly managed by fuddy duddys set in their ways,who had been in charge since before World War Two who regarded motorcycles as luxuries for enthusiasts.
But in the late 1950s black-haired men,of small build and light complexion entered British and European motorcycle races with motorcycles that had strange and unfamiliar names,such as Honda,Suzuki,Kawasaki and Yamaha.They hardly won any races,but they learnt a lot about the competition and on how to improve their own motorcycles. The British motorcyle makers were bemused,but were in for a great shock during the 1960s.
The basic designs of many British motorcycles dated back to the 1930s - the Triumph 650 range owed it’s design to the Speed Twin of 1937,for example.Most British motorcycles were outdated. In contrast,the Japanese Motorcycle Industry,whose ■■■■■■■■■■ of the motorcycle markets of the world began in the early 1960s,produced faster,more powerful,more user friendly,more refined,innovative and modern -styled motorcycles…which were generally less noiser than British motorbikes.And the Japanese ones had electric starters! 
And by the mid-1960s,Japanese motorcycles were winning most if not all of the races! -this greatly helped Japanese motorcycle sales! As did United Kingdom motorcycle dealers who switched from dealing in British motorcycle marques to dealing in Japanese motorcycle marques! A harbinger of things to come for UK dealers of British motorcar and commercial vehicle marques who also switched to imported motor vehicle marques.
And even though firms like Triumph ,BSA and Norton belatedly came out with new designs in the late 1960s,it was too little and too late:The Japanese dominated the market by then in terms of sales,new and innovative designs and economies of scale. The British motorcycle manufactures just could not compete,and went out of business one by one up to the early 1970s.Of course,there have been periodic revivals of the Norton and Triumph marques over the years,and marques such as BMW,Ducati and Harley-Davidson (a cult motorcycle) are still thriving,but Japan is still the World’s number one motorcycle producer.
In the case of the British Motorcycle Industry,the reasons for it’s decline are more severe and the time scale far less shorter compared to the decline of the British Commercial Vehicle Industry,but it is obvious that parallels do exist in the respective demises of these once great industries
Thus,Scandinavian,European and American commercial vehicle manufacturers produced faster,more powerful,more user friendly,more refined,innovative and modern (where have you read that before? 
! 
) lorries,buses and motorcoaches than British manufacturers.
There is no doubt that Gardner was the Rolls-Royce of Diesel Engines in terms of precision and quality,but Hugh Gardner was a conservative engineer with a capital C and was therefore a fuddy duddy.And,as with British motorcycles,his engine designs dated back to the 1930s - the 6LX of 1958 was based on the 1930s LW range! 
The later 6LXB 180-188 (1966),8LXB 240-250 (1970),6LXC 201 and 8LXC 265 (1978),6LXCT 230 and 8LXCT 300 (1981) and 6LXDT 270-290 (1984) were all based on the 6LX,whose basic design is based on the LW range of 1931!
Other than the 1931 LW design,the 4LK of 1935,and to a certain extent,the 6LX of 1958,the only other
brand new Gardner automotive diesel engine design was the 6LYT of 1984,which in this case,was a brand new design from the sump plug upwards…and this engine was designed by the forward thinking - and more broad-minded in engineering terms - Paul Gardner. And NOT by the conservative Hugh Gardner!
As in the cases of certain British car and motorcycle factories,some of Gardner’s production equipment dated back decades,and in the case of Gardner,back to the First World War!
I’ve said it before in earlier posts,Gardner lost their way in the late 1940s-early 1950s:Gardner produced underpowered engines,AEC,Leyland,Foden,■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ advantage of this fact.Plus the two-three year waiting lists for Gardner engines,all of which took it’s toll on Gardner engine sales,both in the short term but especially the long term.
What’s more,Atkinson,ERF,Foden,Daimler,Bristol,etc,had had enough of these terriable Gardner idiosyncrasies by 1964 - they were losing sales,too,of course -so they added a £1000 surcharge on every Gardner engine that was fitted in their motor vehicles. This surcharge policy,which remained in force until the end of Gardner automotive diesel engine production in 1994,was to encourge operators to specify AEC,Caterpillar,■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ instead.
As CF says:Gardner was saved by a conservative and Gardner-loyal customer base throughout 1950s,1960s and,to a certain extent,the 1970s.But from the late 1970s,it was too late:■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ and later Caterpiller,became the main choice for engines in Foden,ERF,Seddon Atkinson,etc. And the likes of Scania,Mercedes-Benz and Volvo,were increasing their sales.The old order was changing,and for a number of reasons,engine buying and vehicle buying policies changed,which greatly damaged Gardner sales.
Lack of sales,quality control problems,lack of economies of scale,new engine emissions regulations,etc,all finished Gardner automotive engine production in 1994.
The main reason why Leyland fell behind the European and Scandinavian commercial vehicle makers,was
because Truck and Bus Division profits was spent on propping up the loss-making Morris-Austin Car Division,instead of being invested in new AEC,Albion,Bristol,Daimler,Guy,Leyland,Scammell and
Thornycroft ranges.Leyland should never have taken over BMC-BMH! By the 1980-1981 period,although Leyland had a new first class vehicle range - and had won the Truck Of The Year 1981
with the Roadtrain,it was too late,Leyland had lost a lot of market share,they had to stop making the TL12 Engine because it didn’t sell well enough,and the company ran at a loss until the DAF takeover of Leyland in 1987.
As for Atkinson,ERF,Foden,Seddon and later Seddon Atkinson,they too suffered from complacency,which
resulted in under-investment.But in the 1970s,their motor vehicle designs improved because of the wake-up call that they had received from the success of the importers.But the recessions of the 1980s and 1990s,the take overs of these companies,including Leyland,and the increasing dominance
of the foreign commercial vehicle manufacturers proved to be terminal for the remaining British marques.
VALKYRIE.
Blimey who’s really bashing the Brits 
.