OK Dan,well done and if you don’t mind me saying,spot on Mate! 
You cannot get much nearer the truth than that and I always believed that 2 or 3 240’s was about all Guys would have been able to get their hands on.So how Smith of Maddiston had 39,or was alleged to have had 39, should be put down to the poster “rolling some funny baccy into his snout” 
Anyway lets just stand back and see if there will be anymore “hot air” exhausted in questioning this,hopefully,final explanation as to this illusive “beast” 
Cheers Dennis.
Oh we’ll , there we are.
A great story , but it must be admitted the ending was very much a wet lettuce , we were all in suspense , but the ending did not live up to what some expected .
The name the experimental beasts were supposedly sold to , Dicky Hampton , what an apt name
It would appear a great deal of Dicky Hamptons have been pulled for quite a while in this tale 
.
Ah but that was only based on just one chaps knowledge, plenty of other folk could happen tell a different story! 
Proves now’t really, he probably never noticed 40 240 LXB engine’d Big J’s passing down the line as he may have been at lunch, on the loo, or on holiday! 
The debate continues…
Pete.
windrush:
Ah but that was only based on just one chaps knowledge, plenty of other folk could happen tell a different story!Pete.
Assemble these words in the correct order Pete------- Dead a Horse Flogging------ Dennis.
windrush:
Ah but that was only based on just one chaps knowledge, plenty of other folk could happen tell a different story!Pete.
Traitor
Dan Punchard:
windrush:
Ah but that was only based on just one chaps knowledge, plenty of other folk could happen tell a different story!Pete.
Traitor
Got to be SOME truth in it surely, we have had folk stating they drove them for Smiths, Dave the Renegade has put pics up of one local to him, can’t ALL be lies can it as folk in the truck industry are a honest bunch…aren’t they?
Pete.
Dan Punchard:
Ok here goes ,I have been in contact today with a ex Guy motors high up gentleman ,he informs me that he left Guy 2 years before the end of production to go in to the leyland group ,however he says there were to his knowledge no 240 8 pots other than 2 or 3 experimental lorries which were sold to a local West Midlands man known as Dicky Hampton ,when Guy customers wanted a high powered lorry they were pushed towards leyland/ scammell as the 265 rolls and others were avalible ,the last 80/90 big j s were sold to I think Richardsons of Oldbury ,over to you Dennis .
Evening all, Dan, perhaps I may query your post?
■■■■ Hampton, (the main haulier for the Patent Shaft), never ran any 8 cylinder Big J s. He did run a large number, (40 plus) ■■■■■■■ examples, of Big Js. He also ran some Atkinsons…(supplied by me), and some fairly weighty numbers of ERFs. Most of ■■■■`s Big Js came from Mayfair Garage at Tamworth, as had the Invincibles before them.
Slightly “off post”, but Chris (Kelly), bought ■■■■`s bungalow on Goldthorne Hill Wolverhampton. A really exciting outfit to deal with was Hamptons…you never knew if the numberplate on the part exchange that you were collecting was fitted to the same vehicle as the one that you had valued…had to be on your toes in those days! …Never ever leave the “new” lorry unlocked, untill you had made certain that the part exchange was the “right one”…or you lost out…for there were many "quiet " corners in the Patent Shaft where a lorry could lay undiscovered for many a long day, having being “spirited” away from the unsuspecting delivery driver!
Roy and Don Richardson did buy some of the last Big Js, but not that quantity…indeed on the day of “closure”, Guys had a forward order book of 18 months…far in excess of any other Leyland Group manufacturer…a fact, explained with great oratorial passion by Renee Short, Labour member of Parliament for Wolverhampton North, to a packed House at Westminster. And totally dismissed by Barbara Castle…has there ever been a more destructive Member of Parliament for our industry than Barbara Castle■■? Big Js were in demand, cheap, basic, reliable, and just what the operators wanted. No shortage of “takers”, only the supply was slow!
Next time I speak to Roy, I will ask him just how many Big Js he and Don, (RIP), bought…but it was not many I know. The" big" deals that they did, were, BMC Boxer 14.5ton Municiple chassis, and Fodens entire production of the S39 cab Leyland 680s, and not forgetting the complete “bale out” of Bedford by purchasing 12 months entire TK production…Oldbury became the lorry capital of the UK!
Whose your contact then? I knew most of the Directors, and a lot of the line managers, Guy was a good company…raped and pillaged by the Lancastrian horde…
Oh and I have seen and heard an 8LXB Big J in Smiths yard at Maddiston…it meant nothing to me then…but boy I wished I had taken a picture of it, (you will find the reg no earlier in this thread on one of my posts)…but in those days I never ever thought of photographing anything!!
Cheerio for now.
When I placed the order for this Big J in '76 I ordered Power Steering,240LXB, and Fuller box.What I got was Power Steering,180LXB, and 6speed AEC box.I was as sick as Blackpool donkey as the Salesman said “No Problem Mr. Bewick” there’s dozens of 240LXB’s in the stores at Fallings Park just waiting to be sent onto the line to satisfy all the orders we have !! Now,clear a corner of your desk please I want to “do a few lines of “C””,would you care to join me Mr “B”,it isn’t half stressful trying to sell all these 8LXB Big J’s Bewick.
Dennis,
" you aye arf a wind up mon"
May the sun always shine upon you!
Cheerio for now.
Saviem:
Dennis," you aye arf a wind up mon"
May the sun always shine upon you!
Cheerio for now.
Sent you a pm saviem as my contact doesn’t want hate mail !
Hiya…as it happens there is a exporter in Newcastle on the Keele road called ■■■■ Hampton who buys ex army and ships out.
infact he’ll buy anything with money in it.
i personally think if John Killingbeck didn’t have a guy 8 lxb for a yard shunter no one ever did
John
My mate john 240 gardner killinbeck did not have a GUY shunter
I still stand by what information I was given, 40 were built with 39 going to Smith of Maddiston, and the other one going to a Scottish oil company, which M A Evans acquired when it was 6 months old.
Cheers Dave.
Dan Punchard:
Ok here goes ,I have been in contact today with a ex Guy motors high up gentleman ,he informs me that he left Guy 2 years before the end of production to go in to the leyland group ,however he says there were to his knowledge no 240 8 pots other than 2 or 3 experimental lorries which were sold to a local West Midlands man known as Dicky Hampton ,when Guy customers wanted a high powered lorry they were pushed towards leyland/ scammell as the 265 rolls and others were avalible ,the last 80/90 big j s were sold to I think Richardsons of Oldbury ,over to you Dennis .
Blimey what a surprise who would ever have thought that anyone who was looking for a ‘big power’ wagon would have chosen a turbocharged 6 cylinder Rolls or ■■■■■■■ when they could have had a big naturally aspirated eight cylinder Gardner boat anchor instead. 
The really ironic thing is that it was Bewick,being one of those who would have chosen the Gardner in the Big J instead of the ■■■■■■■ or the Rolls,who started the topic.
Lance Biscomb:
My mate john 240 gardner killinbeck did not have a GUY shunter
Hiya Lance…that’s what i said, if john didn’t have one i can’t see anyone having one. it was only him who could have
sorted the problem…any chance of John coming out of retirement and making one just to shut people up.
do you here from nobby (Dover )whats he up to nowadays.
John
Carryfast:
Dan Punchard:
Ok here goes ,I have been in contact today with a ex Guy motors high up gentleman ,he informs me that he left Guy 2 years before the end of production to go in to the leyland group ,however he says there were to his knowledge no 240 8 pots other than 2 or 3 experimental lorries which were sold to a local West Midlands man known as Dicky Hampton ,when Guy customers wanted a high powered lorry they were pushed towards leyland/ scammell as the 265 rolls and others were avalible ,the last 80/90 big j s were sold to I think Richardsons of Oldbury ,over to you Dennis .Blimey what a surprise who would ever have thought that anyone who was looking for a ‘big power’ wagon would have chosen a turbocharged 6 cylinder Rolls or ■■■■■■■ when they could have had a big naturally aspirated eight cylinder Gardner boat anchor instead.
The really ironic thing is that it was Bewick,being one of those who would have chosen the Gardner in the Big J instead of the ■■■■■■■ or the Rolls,who started the topic.
It’s probably due to the fact that the boat anchor was more superior in fuel economy and lighter and much more reliable
gazsa401:
Carryfast:
Dan Punchard:
Ok here goes ,I have been in contact today with a ex Guy motors high up gentleman ,he informs me that he left Guy 2 years before the end of production to go in to the leyland group ,however he says there were to his knowledge no 240 8 pots other than 2 or 3 experimental lorries which were sold to a local West Midlands man known as Dicky Hampton ,when Guy customers wanted a high powered lorry they were pushed towards leyland/ scammell as the 265 rolls and others were avalible ,the last 80/90 big j s were sold to I think Richardsons of Oldbury ,over to you Dennis .Blimey what a surprise who would ever have thought that anyone who was looking for a ‘big power’ wagon would have chosen a turbocharged 6 cylinder Rolls or ■■■■■■■ when they could have had a big naturally aspirated eight cylinder Gardner boat anchor instead.
The really ironic thing is that it was Bewick,being one of those who would have chosen the Gardner in the Big J instead of the ■■■■■■■ or the Rolls,who started the topic.
It’s probably due to the fact that the boat anchor was more superior in fuel economy and lighter and much more reliable
More probable that the boat anchor was too expensive and would outprice the J from it’s cheap and cheerful market !
Trev_H:
More probable that the boat anchor was too expensive and would outprice the J from it’s cheap and cheerful market !
Would the Guy have actually been cheaper than (say) a Borderer, Foden or ERF of roughly similar spec then? 
They used similar engines, gearboxes etc, though Foden did still make their own 'box and axles at that time, plus Foden also used the Motor Panels cab for a while which I imagine would be more expensive than Fodens own factory built ones?
Pete.
Trev_H:
gazsa401:
Carryfast:
Dan Punchard:
Ok here goes ,I have been in contact today with a ex Guy motors high up gentleman ,he informs me that he left Guy 2 years before the end of production to go in to the leyland group ,however he says there were to his knowledge no 240 8 pots other than 2 or 3 experimental lorries which were sold to a local West Midlands man known as Dicky Hampton ,when Guy customers wanted a high powered lorry they were pushed towards leyland/ scammell as the 265 rolls and others were avalible ,the last 80/90 big j s were sold to I think Richardsons of Oldbury ,over to you Dennis .Blimey what a surprise who would ever have thought that anyone who was looking for a ‘big power’ wagon would have chosen a turbocharged 6 cylinder Rolls or ■■■■■■■ when they could have had a big naturally aspirated eight cylinder Gardner boat anchor instead.
The really ironic thing is that it was Bewick,being one of those who would have chosen the Gardner in the Big J instead of the ■■■■■■■ or the Rolls,who started the topic.
It’s probably due to the fact that the boat anchor was more superior in fuel economy and lighter and much more reliable
More probable that the boat anchor was too expensive and would outprice the J from it’s cheap and cheerful market !
The clue is in the words ‘customers who wanted a high powered lorry’.We all know the Gardner could do expensive, arguably light for it’s capacity and economical on fuel in outright terms.None of which is any good for making a ‘high powered lorry’ that’s economical on fuel at those high power outputs though.To meet that criterea the last thing that anyone would choose would be a big 8 cylinder naturally aspirated motor regardless of wether or not it’s a bit lighter and economical on fuel when putting out the relatively small amount of power which it’s capable of.In general all concerned reached the conclusion that it’s the turbocharged 6 cylinder motor configuration that provides the best all round combination of fuel efficiency and power outputs.With a few exceptions which prove the rule in the case of a few turbocharged V8’s when the emphasis in on more power than fuel consumption.
Ironically the topic yet again seems to prove that the domestic manufacturers were running ahead of the backward demands of their customers.I’d also bet that Bewick knows more than he’s letting on in maybe having been one of those potential customers who asked for an 8 LXB powered Big J and was rightly told by Leyland that if he wanted to put such a boat anchor in the thing when a turbo ■■■■■■■ or Rolls was available then he’d have to buy the engine from Gardner and fit it himself.