Right lads what spec was the last ever Guy Big J ( tractor/rigid) assembled and which operator did it enter service with? There are two things I am fairly certain of and they are 1) It wouldn’t have had an 8LXB engine and 2) It didn’t go into Smith of Maddiston Fleet ! Did it possibly go to Midlands BRS ? Right lads thinking caps on !! Cheers Bewick.
Hi Dennis,
Haven’t a clue to the answers to your conundrum,but they were phased out in 1978,but I don’t know anymore useless imformation other than that. 
Cheers Dave.
Dave the Renegade:
Hi Dennis,
Haven’t a clue to the answers to your conundrum,but they were phased out in 1978,but I don’t know anymore useless imformation other than that.
Cheers Dave.
Don’t fret Dave I have a feeling that Carryfast will come booling in and try to convince us it was an 8 wheel tractor with a Detroit 4400 twin turbo and he drove it for 10 years in Aussie !! Alternatively one of the disgruntled members will cut it up with the hot spanner and post it to me !! Cheers Dennis.
hi dennis,
i take it this thread doesn’t include richard staniers “b” 1984/5 registered big j?she was new to a scottish firm,my guess as to where the last ones went would be the transporter fleets with jaguar cars or elsewhere within the then b.l.m.c. network.by 1978 not many firms wanted to buy a big j.midlands brs had my old f88 new in 1974.
regards andrew
pete 359:
hi dennis,
i take it this thread doesn’t include richard staniers “b” 1984/5 registered big j?she was new to a scottish firm,my guess as to where the last ones went would be the transporter fleets with jaguar cars or elsewhere within the then b.l.m.c. network.by 1978 not many firms wanted to buy a big j.midlands brs had my old f88 new in 1974.
regards andrew
Hiya Andrew I think there were one or two that were squirelled away for a year or two after production ceased and yes you could well be right that the last Js would probably have gone into Midlands BRS . Cheers Dennis.
Hi,
We had about 16 T reg. big j’s at BRS w-ton on contract to Goodyear but they had stood unregistered for at least 2yrs possibly longer because previous to that we had 2 that were R reg straight from Guy motors and they were of a later spec. At that time BRS dealt direct with Guy’s and new units went straight to our workshops for painting and pdi. Fordhouse Transport w-ton had a new big j unit in their warehouse in primer for yrs, they contracted with Thomas Ingles of W-ton for Rockell Thompson ltd when Fordhouse ceased trading I believe this unit was passed to Ingles who had a sleeper fitted to it and registered as new. That would be the B reg one on the show circuit.
Trev_H:
Hi,We had about 16 T reg. big j’s at BRS w-ton on contract to Goodyear but they had stood unregistered for at least 2yrs possibly longer because previous to that we had 2 that were R reg straight from Guy motors and they were of a later spec. At that time BRS dealt direct with Guy’s and new units went straight to our workshops for painting and pdi. Fordhouse Transport w-ton had a new big j unit in their warehouse in primer for yrs, they contracted with Thomas Ingles of W-ton for Rockell Thompson ltd when Fordhouse ceased trading I believe this unit was passed to Ingles who had a sleeper fitted to it and registered as new. That would be the B reg one on the show circuit.
hi trevh,
thanks for that information,i wondered what the history was behind that motor.
regards andrew
thomas ingles b reg guy nearly bought by a good friend of mine its now black and red and owned by rich stainer from stoke
G’day fellas,
He’s a bit more info on the 'B’reg Big J,I’ve always thought that it looks good with the sleeper cab.
It comes from an artice called ‘Late Starters’,which was in Truck and Driver September 1986,the other truck was a 1985 ‘C’ reg A Series ERF.
You gotta wonder how much money some firms have when they can buy a new motor and then stick it in a shed and not work it?
Cheers Jamie
Im sure on another thread it said harrisons who ran a fleet of old scammells well in to the 90s had a couple of s80 fodens they never put on the road.
kr79:
Im sure on another thread it said harrisons who ran a fleet of old scammells well in to the 90s had a couple of s80 fodens they never put on the road.
That’s true. Off topic I know but In Derbyshire Barlow and Hodgkinsons had a large Foden fleet of tippers and powder tankers, they were also Foden sub agents, and they bought new chassis cabs and left them outside for years! When you went to their stores for a new part they would say come back in an hour or so and we will take one off of one of the new trucks for you, it just needs derusting. They also favoured Gardner’s and when they were in short supply the story was that they would buy a chassis with a ■■■■■■■ engine, remove that and sell it, and fit one of the old used Gardner engines into the new chassis!
No doubt other companies “mothballed” truck’s as well.
Pete.
windrush:
kr79:
Im sure on another thread it said harrisons who ran a fleet of old scammells well in to the 90s had a couple of s80 fodens they never put on the road.That’s true. Off topic I know but In Derbyshire Barlow and Hodgkinsons had a large Foden fleet of tippers and powder tankers, they were also Foden sub agents, and they bought new chassis cabs and left them outside for years! When you went to their stores for a new part they would say come back in an hour or so and we will take one off of one of the new trucks for you, it just needs derusting. They also favoured Gardner’s and when they were in short supply the story was that they would buy a chassis with a ■■■■■■■ engine, remove that and sell it, and fit one of the old used Gardner engines into the new chassis!
No doubt other companies “mothballed” truck’s as well.
Pete.
talking about shortage of Gardner engines I can remember in the ealy 70s my old pal Malc Woodhouse bought a couple of new Atki chaasis and fitted them with fully re-conditioned 6LXBs Thats how desperate he was to keep Gardner in his fleet !! Cheers Bewick.PS I think it was also something to do with beating the drop from 32 t GVW down to 30.5 Ton (6 BHP )which gardner 180s were subjected to !
Ah,
So that magazine confirms what I had been told by an ex. Ingles driver. I was garage foreman at Ingles many years before this when they ran Scanias (some ex.T. Brady ,some new ones). The old bosses finished about the same time as me and they changed the fleet, the Guys arrived and an old hand was bending my ear about it (Scania to a big j 
) and thats how I heard the story.
Their main work was for Rockwell Thompson just down the road who made truck axles for albion/foden + others, chassis rails for scania/ volvo and chassis frames for land rover/range rover taxi cabs etc. Another part of the works made ship engine blocks for Mirlees blackstone. The Albion axle casings were mainly hauled by Jack Critchlow of Stoke to Scotstoun.
Trev_H:
Ah,
So that magazine confirms what I had been told by an ex. Ingles driver. I was garage foreman at Ingles many years before this when they ran Scanias (some ex.T. Brady ,some new ones). The old bosses finished about the same time as me and they changed the fleet, the Guys arrived and an old hand was bending my ear about it (Scania to a big j
Their main work was for Rockwell Thompson just down the road who made truck axles for albion/foden + others, chassis rails for scania/ volvo and chassis frames for land rover/range rover taxi cabs etc. Another part of the works made ship engine blocks for Mirlees blackstone. The Albion axle casings were mainly hauled by Jack Critchlow of Stoke to Scotstoun.
Right Trev you are the guy Ho! Ho! that should be able to put this thread out of its misery !! Surely the very last Guy went to someone in the Black Country or Birmingham and we are dependant on you to come up with the goods !! Some of the other members on the site don’t take kindly to the long drawn out banter and much prefer just two or three responses !! end of ! next shallow thread please !! Good Luck Bewick.
well to add to this thread as a lad i would ride shot gun with one of swiftways drivers in my school holidays,swiftways ran these guys well into the 80,s eventually being bought out by bentons haulage,rich stainer bought cabs and parts from burt swift when he packed in.a guy from out cov way is restoring a guy big j in swiftways colours at the mo
NZ JAMIE:
G’day fellas,
He’s a bit more info on the 'B’reg Big J,I’ve always thought that it looks good with the sleeper cab.
It comes from an artice called ‘Late Starters’,which was in Truck and Driver September 1986,the other truck was a 1985 ‘C’ reg A Series ERF.
You gotta wonder how much money some firms have when they can buy a new motor and then stick it in a shed and not work it?
Cheers Jamie
Maybe Bewick could correct me if I’m wrong but if I’ve read all that right it looks as though some guvnor decided to run an antique bit of British truck making history in a time when the firm’s drivers should have been driving something foreign and more up to date 
.But it’s not surprising that Avtar Singh decided that the motor was ok considering what he’d have been driving at the time at home or even today. But what is surprising is that the guvnor did’nt try to find a whole fleet of the things and then sack all of his British drivers for a load of Indians.
at that time carryfast the poor indian chap had been driving a poxy bedford tm4400 and wanted some thing that kept going not like a D/Dpowered bedford was it bedfords moto =you see us every where broken down!!!
Carryfast:
NZ JAMIE:
G’day fellas,
He’s a bit more info on the 'B’reg Big J,I’ve always thought that it looks good with the sleeper cab.
It comes from an artice called ‘Late Starters’,which was in Truck and Driver September 1986,the other truck was a 1985 ‘C’ reg A Series ERF.
You gotta wonder how much money some firms have when they can buy a new motor and then stick it in a shed and not work it?
Cheers JamieMaybe Bewick could correct me if I’m wrong but if I’ve read all that right it looks as though some guvnor decided to run an antique bit of British truck making history in a time when the firm’s drivers should have been driving something foreign and more up to date
Hiya Carryfast which stone have you been hiding under ( I’d come and trod on it if i’d known ) while all the dung has been flying – some mate you !! Look the Guy Big J was a real reliable workhorse OK it did become outdated in the 70s but nevertheless it was an honest fleet motor especially for day shift I don’t think we ever touched any of our guys during the time we ran them other than tyres/brakes ect.They were economical and reliable especially for young drivers pity we never we had any when Yappie worked for us (he used to crucify a Scania 92 which still makes my teeth itch remembering !!!)anyway we are all still here although Yappie did try our patience quite severely at times !! But I know where an owd’ fella can get a decent cuppa on a frosty morning these days when the wife has kicked him out !! So Yappie and me are still Muckers only just !!!I have a B****y long memory which I’m still having treatment for !!Cheers Bewick.
yappie:
at that time carryfast the poor indian chap had been driving a poxy bedford tm4400 and wanted some thing that kept going not like a D/Dpowered bedford was it bedfords moto =you see us every where broken down!!!
As I remember it though there was’nt a big export market for Tata’s in the States probably because a Kenworth with an 8V92 and a Fuller 13 speed box in it would have been able to do two return runs across the States while a Tata or a Guy Big J would have only managed around halfway across in the same time.
the old man had a BIG J and said it was a motor you could make money with plain and simple no frills