GUY Big J 8LXB Tractor Unit

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS OLD TIME LORRIES, COMPANIES AND DRIVERS (INTERACT
3241

Carryfast:

3300John:
Hiya carryfast you say about slower trucks i hope you relised that the maximum speed limit on a A road in the UK was 28MPH until 1963.It was then rasied
to 40 MPH except on Motorways(at that time you did’nt come across much M way)It was’nt until 1985 IICR that trucks could do 50 mph on a duel carrigeway.
SO you tell me what need for a 100 mph Detroit 2 stroke would be. In 1973 (christmas day) i was running sugar beet from Newark to Peterbourough with a 63 MPH Foden (yes it was a gardner 180)most people was opening pressies and i was pottering along at 39.999MPH with mr plod watching me.The night before
(xmas eve) at 9.30pm he got me for 53MPH(second offence) and i got a 6 months ban. Maybe i could say if i’d got a Bedford TM (not available)he would not have caught me…How would that stand in court.A driver doing 100MPH on a 40MPH road in a truck that dose’nt exsist.
John

I was’nt actually trying to make any comparisons based on those type of criterea based on certain types of speed limited local roads at those specific times.But there were plenty of applications where you could actually use a lot more power even in a 32 tonner and there’s no way that a Gardner 180 would even reach 60 mph flat out at 32 tonnes especially if it saw a hill , and when the 38 tonne limit came in the Brit manufacturers were stuffed because all of their thinking was based on those types of gutless British guvnors wagons.But the issue is that the thinking which produced such lousy wagons and Gardner powered ones really sum up the type of thinking which wrecked the British manufacturing industries compared to the type of trucks which the yanks and the Scandinavian manufacturers were turning out in which 10 horses per tonne was rightly considered a minimum requirement.In which case what was the point of engines like the 240 except maybe for small rigids, buses and coaches but why would you want a big heavy 14 Litre engine for that when something much smaller ad lighter could do the job?.

Its a good job you wern’t on the beach at Dunkirk Carryfast otherwise I can imagine you refusing to get on one of rescue boats and still being there to-day fighting the Germans or whoever else wanted some I really could !!! See you in Blighty Bewick.

3242

Bewick:

fryske:

Bewick:

fryske:

phil the book:
Hello i hope you dont mind me putting my 10 pence worth in i had the unluck to drive a guy demo for a few weeks i the early 70s and being rather on the tall side getting in the cab was an effort the seat never went back far enough and up or down for that matter the clutch was like rock and the gearstick had the range change button on one side and a clutch brake button on the other this in turn vibrated on your left thigh causing allsorts of pains and bruising and discouloring of the skin.Being tall you had to stoop forward to look under the sunvisors which inturn were fitted to some kind of glove box bolted to the roof after a day in a semi seated feutal position the best thing about the guy was getting out of it although that Gardner 240 was a lovely lump its just a shame that we could not get it into a good british chassis or cab…

this should get your left leg twitching then…

Hey Fryske that looks like the control stick on your stair lift to me !!! wheres the Gardener 8LXB on the other end then ? Cheers Bewick.

stair lift!!■■

:unamused:

Yea Fryske you know they fit them the stairs to make it easier for the elderly to go up and down stairs !! Interesting shot though never had anything like it on our Guys Cheers Bewick.

Yes I know what they are - just questioning why you think I need one - given that we have never (to my knowledge) met and I don’t seem to have any problems ascending (or even descending) my stairs…

IN around 50 or 60 years time - I’ll let you know if I’ve had one installed…

3243

Carryfast:

3300John:
Hiya carryfast you say about slower trucks i hope you relised that the maximum speed limit on a A road in the UK was 28MPH until 1963.It was then rasied
to 40 MPH except on Motorways(at that time you did’nt come across much M way)It was’nt until 1985 IICR that trucks could do 50 mph on a duel carrigeway.
SO you tell me what need for a 100 mph Detroit 2 stroke would be. In 1973 (christmas day) i was running sugar beet from Newark to Peterbourough with a 63 MPH Foden (yes it was a gardner 180)most people was opening pressies and i was pottering along at 39.999MPH with mr plod watching me.The night before
(xmas eve) at 9.30pm he got me for 53MPH(second offence) and i got a 6 months ban. Maybe i could say if i’d got a Bedford TM (not available)he would not have caught me…How would that stand in court.A driver doing 100MPH on a 40MPH road in a truck that dose’nt exsist.
John

I was’nt actually trying to make any comparisons based on those type of criterea based on certain types of speed limited local roads at those specific times.But there were plenty of applications where you could actually use a lot more power even in a 32 tonner and there’s no way that a Gardner 180 would even reach 60 mph flat out at 32 tonnes especially if it saw a hill , and when the 38 tonne limit came in the Brit manufacturers were stuffed because all of their thinking was based on those types of gutless British guvnors wagons.But the issue is that the thinking which produced such lousy wagons and Gardner powered ones really sum up the type of thinking which wrecked the British manufacturing industries compared to the type of trucks which the yanks and the Scandinavian manufacturers were turning out in which 10 horses per tonne was rightly considered a minimum requirement.In which case what was the point of engines like the 240 except maybe for small rigids, buses and coaches but why would you want a big heavy 14 Litre engine for that when something much smaller ad lighter could do the job?.

gearing… power is not the whole story

3244

Hello Fryske Thank you for the photograph my leg has started to hurt as painfull memories cam flooding back i seem to remember that the range button was on the left of the gearstick and the clutch button on the right so you could use your left thumb to stop the clutch for a smoother shift but i did,nt have thumbs like the hulk so i sort of took the edge off the cogs a bit.

3245

Carryfast:

Bewick:

3300John:
Hiya carryfast you say about slower trucks i hope you relised that the maximum speed limit on a A road in the UK was 28MPH until 1963.It was then rasied
to 40 MPH except on Motorways(at that time you did’nt come across much M way)It was’nt until 1985 IICR that trucks could do 50 mph on a duel carrigeway.
SO you tell me what need for a 100 mph Detroit 2 stroke would be. In 1973 (christmas day) i was running sugar beet from Newark to Peterbourough with a 63 MPH Foden (yes it was a gardner 180)most people was opening pressies and i was pottering along at 39.999MPH with mr plod watching me.The night before
(xmas eve) at 9.30pm he got me for 53MPH(second offence) and i got a 6 months ban. Maybe i could say if i’d got a Bedford TM (not available)he would not have caught me…How would that stand in court.A driver doing 100MPH on a 40MPH road in a truck that dose’nt exsist.
John

Hiya John I think Carryfast sits there every evening eating his beans & grits watching a replay of Hell Drivers where else would he have got the idea that motors run round the country doing 100 MPH !! He may have even speeded the film up to get a bigger hard on !!! Cheers Dennis.

Not guilty it was’nt me who speeded up that film to make those mickey mouse tippers look like they could exceed the limit.But if you really want to know where they were driving artics at 100 mph you’ll have to look in the States and their films like Convoy actually used theirs on film running a lot slower than in real life unlike our filmakers did. :open_mouth: :unamused:

Oh Boy have we got your number now Carryfast !! CONVOY !! You should change your name to Rubber Duck you saddo !! You have just opened yourself up to more ridicule as you really ought to know when to stop digging your hole deeper.!! Dear oh Dear Bewick.

3246

Carryfast:

Bewick:

3300John:
Hiya carryfast you say about slower trucks i hope you relised that the maximum speed limit on a A road in the UK was 28MPH until 1963.It was then rasied
to 40 MPH except on Motorways(at that time you did’nt come across much M way)It was’nt until 1985 IICR that trucks could do 50 mph on a duel carrigeway.
SO you tell me what need for a 100 mph Detroit 2 stroke would be. In 1973 (christmas day) i was running sugar beet from Newark to Peterbourough with a 63 MPH Foden (yes it was a gardner 180)most people was opening pressies and i was pottering along at 39.999MPH with mr plod watching me.The night before
(xmas eve) at 9.30pm he got me for 53MPH(second offence) and i got a 6 months ban. Maybe i could say if i’d got a Bedford TM (not available)he would not have caught me…How would that stand in court.A driver doing 100MPH on a 40MPH road in a truck that dose’nt exsist.
John

Hiya John I think Carryfast sits there every evening eating his beans & grits watching a replay of Hell Drivers where else would he have got the idea that motors run round the country doing 100 MPH !! He may have even speeded the film up to get a bigger hard on !!! Cheers Dennis.

Not guilty it was’nt me who speeded up that film to make those mickey mouse tippers look like they could exceed the limit.But if you really want to know where they were driving artics at 100 mph you’ll have to look in the States and their films like Convoy actually used theirs on film running a lot slower than in real life unlike our filmakers did. :open_mouth: :unamused:

actually Convoy is a very good example of the work of a Foley Artist – in this case they overdubbed the Detroit sound onto the film…

3247

fryske:

Carryfast:

3300John:
Hiya carryfast you say about slower trucks i hope you relised that the maximum speed limit on a A road in the UK was 28MPH until 1963.It was then rasied
to 40 MPH except on Motorways(at that time you did’nt come across much M way)It was’nt until 1985 IICR that trucks could do 50 mph on a duel carrigeway.
SO you tell me what need for a 100 mph Detroit 2 stroke would be. In 1973 (christmas day) i was running sugar beet from Newark to Peterbourough with a 63 MPH Foden (yes it was a gardner 180)most people was opening pressies and i was pottering along at 39.999MPH with mr plod watching me.The night before
(xmas eve) at 9.30pm he got me for 53MPH(second offence) and i got a 6 months ban. Maybe i could say if i’d got a Bedford TM (not available)he would not have caught me…How would that stand in court.A driver doing 100MPH on a 40MPH road in a truck that dose’nt exsist.
John

I was’nt actually trying to make any comparisons based on those type of criterea based on certain types of speed limited local roads at those specific times.But there were plenty of applications where you could actually use a lot more power even in a 32 tonner and there’s no way that a Gardner 180 would even reach 60 mph flat out at 32 tonnes especially if it saw a hill , and when the 38 tonne limit came in the Brit manufacturers were stuffed because all of their thinking was based on those types of gutless British guvnors wagons.But the issue is that the thinking which produced such lousy wagons and Gardner powered ones really sum up the type of thinking which wrecked the British manufacturing industries compared to the type of trucks which the yanks and the Scandinavian manufacturers were turning out in which 10 horses per tonne was rightly considered a minimum requirement.In which case what was the point of engines like the 240 except maybe for small rigids, buses and coaches but why would you want a big heavy 14 Litre engine for that when something much smaller ad lighter could do the job?.

gearing… power is not the whole story

Spot on Fryske gearing is the ultimate not raw horsepower!! Ignore my joke about the stair lift no offence meant and hope non taken Regards Bewick.

3248

Bewick:

fryske:

Carryfast:

3300John:
Hiya carryfast you say about slower trucks i hope you relised that the maximum speed limit on a A road in the UK was 28MPH until 1963.It was then rasied
to 40 MPH except on Motorways(at that time you did’nt come across much M way)It was’nt until 1985 IICR that trucks could do 50 mph on a duel carrigeway.
SO you tell me what need for a 100 mph Detroit 2 stroke would be. In 1973 (christmas day) i was running sugar beet from Newark to Peterbourough with a 63 MPH Foden (yes it was a gardner 180)most people was opening pressies and i was pottering along at 39.999MPH with mr plod watching me.The night before
(xmas eve) at 9.30pm he got me for 53MPH(second offence) and i got a 6 months ban. Maybe i could say if i’d got a Bedford TM (not available)he would not have caught me…How would that stand in court.A driver doing 100MPH on a 40MPH road in a truck that dose’nt exsist.
John

I was’nt actually trying to make any comparisons based on those type of criterea based on certain types of speed limited local roads at those specific times.But there were plenty of applications where you could actually use a lot more power even in a 32 tonner and there’s no way that a Gardner 180 would even reach 60 mph flat out at 32 tonnes especially if it saw a hill , and when the 38 tonne limit came in the Brit manufacturers were stuffed because all of their thinking was based on those types of gutless British guvnors wagons.But the issue is that the thinking which produced such lousy wagons and Gardner powered ones really sum up the type of thinking which wrecked the British manufacturing industries compared to the type of trucks which the yanks and the Scandinavian manufacturers were turning out in which 10 horses per tonne was rightly considered a minimum requirement.In which case what was the point of engines like the 240 except maybe for small rigids, buses and coaches but why would you want a big heavy 14 Litre engine for that when something much smaller ad lighter could do the job?.

gearing… power is not the whole story

Spot on Fryske gearing is the ultimate not raw horsepower!! Ignore my joke about the stair lift no offence meant and hope non taken Regards Bewick.

no problem – never been accused of needing one – given that i am an early 30something…

3249

fryske:

Bewick:

fryske:

Carryfast:

3300John:
Hiya carryfast you say about slower trucks i hope you relised that the maximum speed limit on a A road in the UK was 28MPH until 1963.It was then rasied
to 40 MPH except on Motorways(at that time you did’nt come across much M way)It was’nt until 1985 IICR that trucks could do 50 mph on a duel carrigeway.
SO you tell me what need for a 100 mph Detroit 2 stroke would be. In 1973 (christmas day) i was running sugar beet from Newark to Peterbourough with a 63 MPH Foden (yes it was a gardner 180)most people was opening pressies and i was pottering along at 39.999MPH with mr plod watching me.The night before
(xmas eve) at 9.30pm he got me for 53MPH(second offence) and i got a 6 months ban. Maybe i could say if i’d got a Bedford TM (not available)he would not have caught me…How would that stand in court.A driver doing 100MPH on a 40MPH road in a truck that dose’nt exsist.
John

I was’nt actually trying to make any comparisons based on those type of criterea based on certain types of speed limited local roads at those specific times.But there were plenty of applications where you could actually use a lot more power even in a 32 tonner and there’s no way that a Gardner 180 would even reach 60 mph flat out at 32 tonnes especially if it saw a hill , and when the 38 tonne limit came in the Brit manufacturers were stuffed because all of their thinking was based on those types of gutless British guvnors wagons.But the issue is that the thinking which produced such lousy wagons and Gardner powered ones really sum up the type of thinking which wrecked the British manufacturing industries compared to the type of trucks which the yanks and the Scandinavian manufacturers were turning out in which 10 horses per tonne was rightly considered a minimum requirement.In which case what was the point of engines like the 240 except maybe for small rigids, buses and coaches but why would you want a big heavy 14 Litre engine for that when something much smaller ad lighter could do the job?.

gearing… power is not the whole story

Spot on Fryske gearing is the ultimate not raw horsepower!! Ignore my joke about the stair lift no offence meant and hope non taken Regards Bewick.

no problem – never been accused of needing one – given that i am an early 30something…

Fryske if you are only 30 something you must have still been in your nappies in the mid 70s when you tried that Big J if my arithmatic is correct !!

3250

fryske:

Bewick:

fryske:

Carryfast:

3300John:
Hiya carryfast you say about slower trucks i hope you relised that the maximum speed limit on a A road in the UK was 28MPH until 1963.It was then rasied
to 40 MPH except on Motorways(at that time you did’nt come across much M way)It was’nt until 1985 IICR that trucks could do 50 mph on a duel carrigeway.
SO you tell me what need for a 100 mph Detroit 2 stroke would be. In 1973 (christmas day) i was running sugar beet from Newark to Peterbourough with a 63 MPH Foden (yes it was a gardner 180)most people was opening pressies and i was pottering along at 39.999MPH with mr plod watching me.The night before
(xmas eve) at 9.30pm he got me for 53MPH(second offence) and i got a 6 months ban. Maybe i could say if i’d got a Bedford TM (not available)he would not have caught me…How would that stand in court.A driver doing 100MPH on a 40MPH road in a truck that dose’nt exsist.
John

I was’nt actually trying to make any comparisons based on those type of criterea based on certain types of speed limited local roads at those specific times.But there were plenty of applications where you could actually use a lot more power even in a 32 tonner and there’s no way that a Gardner 180 would even reach 60 mph flat out at 32 tonnes especially if it saw a hill , and when the 38 tonne limit came in the Brit manufacturers were stuffed because all of their thinking was based on those types of gutless British guvnors wagons.But the issue is that the thinking which produced such lousy wagons and Gardner powered ones really sum up the type of thinking which wrecked the British manufacturing industries compared to the type of trucks which the yanks and the Scandinavian manufacturers were turning out in which 10 horses per tonne was rightly considered a minimum requirement.In which case what was the point of engines like the 240 except maybe for small rigids, buses and coaches but why would you want a big heavy 14 Litre engine for that when something much smaller ad lighter could do the job?.

gearing… power is not the whole story

Spot on Fryske gearing is the ultimate not raw horsepower!! Ignore my joke about the stair lift no offence meant and hope non taken Regards Bewick.

no problem – never been accused of needing one – given that i am an early 30something…

Fryske if you are only 30 something you must have still been in your nappies in the mid 70s when you tried that Big J if my arithmatic is correct !!

3251

Bewick:

fryske:

Bewick:

fryske:

Carryfast:

3300John:
Hiya carryfast you say about slower trucks i hope you relised that the maximum speed limit on a A road in the UK was 28MPH until 1963.It was then rasied
to 40 MPH except on Motorways(at that time you did’nt come across much M way)It was’nt until 1985 IICR that trucks could do 50 mph on a duel carrigeway.
SO you tell me what need for a 100 mph Detroit 2 stroke would be. In 1973 (christmas day) i was running sugar beet from Newark to Peterbourough with a 63 MPH Foden (yes it was a gardner 180)most people was opening pressies and i was pottering along at 39.999MPH with mr plod watching me.The night before
(xmas eve) at 9.30pm he got me for 53MPH(second offence) and i got a 6 months ban. Maybe i could say if i’d got a Bedford TM (not available)he would not have caught me…How would that stand in court.A driver doing 100MPH on a 40MPH road in a truck that dose’nt exsist.
John

I was’nt actually trying to make any comparisons based on those type of criterea based on certain types of speed limited local roads at those specific times.But there were plenty of applications where you could actually use a lot more power even in a 32 tonner and there’s no way that a Gardner 180 would even reach 60 mph flat out at 32 tonnes especially if it saw a hill , and when the 38 tonne limit came in the Brit manufacturers were stuffed because all of their thinking was based on those types of gutless British guvnors wagons.But the issue is that the thinking which produced such lousy wagons and Gardner powered ones really sum up the type of thinking which wrecked the British manufacturing industries compared to the type of trucks which the yanks and the Scandinavian manufacturers were turning out in which 10 horses per tonne was rightly considered a minimum requirement.In which case what was the point of engines like the 240 except maybe for small rigids, buses and coaches but why would you want a big heavy 14 Litre engine for that when something much smaller ad lighter could do the job?.

gearing… power is not the whole story

Spot on Fryske gearing is the ultimate not raw horsepower!! Ignore my joke about the stair lift no offence meant and hope non taken Regards Bewick.

no problem – never been accused of needing one – given that i am an early 30something…

Fryske if you are only 30 something you must have still been in your nappies in the mid 70s when you tried that Big J if my arithmatic is correct !!

Sorry fryske please ignore that last comment I got you mixed up with Phil the Book OK — must take my medication Nurse–Nurse Cheers Bewick.

3252

Bewick:

3300John:
Hiya carryfast you say about slower trucks i hope you relised that the maximum speed limit on a A road in the UK was 28MPH until 1963.It was then rasied
to 40 MPH except on Motorways(at that time you did’nt come across much M way)It was’nt until 1985 IICR that trucks could do 50 mph on a duel carrigeway.
SO you tell me what need for a 100 mph Detroit 2 stroke would be. In 1973 (christmas day) i was running sugar beet from Newark to Peterbourough with a 63 MPH Foden (yes it was a gardner 180)most people was opening pressies and i was pottering along at 39.999MPH with mr plod watching me.The night before
(xmas eve) at 9.30pm he got me for 53MPH(second offence) and i got a 6 months ban. Maybe i could say if i’d got a Bedford TM (not available)he would not have caught me…How would that stand in court.A driver doing 100MPH on a 40MPH road in a truck that dose’nt exsist.
John

Hiya John I think Carryfast sits there every evening eating his beans & grits watching a replay of Hell Drivers where else would he have got the idea that motors run round the country doing 100 MPH !! He may have even speeded the film up to get a bigger hard on !!! Cheers Dennis.

Trucks running around at silly speeds, no this never happens in the US, this picture I took is an optical illusion…

3253

Hi Bewick thanks for the mention o to be 30 ish again.

3254

Is there any truth in the rumour that carryfast rode shotgun on the stagecoach,and is a relation of Gabby Haye’s.He sure likes his American pie. :laughing:
Cheers Dave.

3255

This is a load of ■■■■■■■■

3256

I was just thinking the same thing John :unamused: :unamused: :unamused:

3257

fryske:

Carryfast:

Bewick:

3300John:
Hiya carryfast you say about slower trucks i hope you relised that the maximum speed limit on a A road in the UK was 28MPH until 1963.It was then rasied
to 40 MPH except on Motorways(at that time you did’nt come across much M way)It was’nt until 1985 IICR that trucks could do 50 mph on a duel carrigeway.
SO you tell me what need for a 100 mph Detroit 2 stroke would be. In 1973 (christmas day) i was running sugar beet from Newark to Peterbourough with a 63 MPH Foden (yes it was a gardner 180)most people was opening pressies and i was pottering along at 39.999MPH with mr plod watching me.The night before
(xmas eve) at 9.30pm he got me for 53MPH(second offence) and i got a 6 months ban. Maybe i could say if i’d got a Bedford TM (not available)he would not have caught me…How would that stand in court.A driver doing 100MPH on a 40MPH road in a truck that dose’nt exsist.
John

Hiya John I think Carryfast sits there every evening eating his beans & grits watching a replay of Hell Drivers where else would he have got the idea that motors run round the country doing 100 MPH !! He may have even speeded the film up to get a bigger hard on !!! Cheers Dennis.

Not guilty it was’nt me who speeded up that film to make those mickey mouse tippers look like they could exceed the limit.But if you really want to know where they were driving artics at 100 mph you’ll have to look in the States and their films like Convoy actually used theirs on film running a lot slower than in real life unlike our filmakers did. :open_mouth: :unamused:

actually Convoy is a very good example of the work of a Foley Artist – in this case they overdubbed the Detroit sound onto the film…

Of course they did because no one would have bothered to go and see the film if they had’nt. :laughing: :laughing:

3258

fryske:

Carryfast:

3300John:
Hiya carryfast you say about slower trucks i hope you relised that the maximum speed limit on a A road in the UK was 28MPH until 1963.It was then rasied
to 40 MPH except on Motorways(at that time you did’nt come across much M way)It was’nt until 1985 IICR that trucks could do 50 mph on a duel carrigeway.
SO you tell me what need for a 100 mph Detroit 2 stroke would be. In 1973 (christmas day) i was running sugar beet from Newark to Peterbourough with a 63 MPH Foden (yes it was a gardner 180)most people was opening pressies and i was pottering along at 39.999MPH with mr plod watching me.The night before
(xmas eve) at 9.30pm he got me for 53MPH(second offence) and i got a 6 months ban. Maybe i could say if i’d got a Bedford TM (not available)he would not have caught me…How would that stand in court.A driver doing 100MPH on a 40MPH road in a truck that dose’nt exsist.
John

I was’nt actually trying to make any comparisons based on those type of criterea based on certain types of speed limited local roads at those specific times.But there were plenty of applications where you could actually use a lot more power even in a 32 tonner and there’s no way that a Gardner 180 would even reach 60 mph flat out at 32 tonnes especially if it saw a hill , and when the 38 tonne limit came in the Brit manufacturers were stuffed because all of their thinking was based on those types of gutless British guvnors wagons.But the issue is that the thinking which produced such lousy wagons and Gardner powered ones really sum up the type of thinking which wrecked the British manufacturing industries compared to the type of trucks which the yanks and the Scandinavian manufacturers were turning out in which 10 horses per tonne was rightly considered a minimum requirement.In which case what was the point of engines like the 240 except maybe for small rigids, buses and coaches but why would you want a big heavy 14 Litre engine for that when something much smaller ad lighter could do the job?.

gearing… power is not the whole story

Great so some kid who’s never even seen a Gardner powered heap struggling up a hill or getting overtaken by everything else on the motorway is going to tell us all how to gear the thing to make it run on the flat or climb a hill as fast as something with 400 horses or more. :unamused: :laughing: Gearing definitely but let’s see your figures showing where you’re going to find the missing torque to pull that gearing.

3259

So you didn’t hear about the 52spd DB box developed specially for the Gardner then?

I had a 6LXC with a DB 6speed & Eaton 2 speed rear axle, it wouldn’t pull the skin off a rice pudding & was flat out at 58mph, it may well have been able to climb up the side of a house, but as my job involved driving along roads, not driving up houses, that ability was somewhat lost on me :open_mouth: I hated that lorry with a passion, apart from being incredibly slow, it was noisy, unless it was pulling up a long drag in summer the heater was a total waste of time & it wasn’t particularly good on fuel as I remember, in the 50s & 60s the Gardner may have deserved it’s reputation, but every one else moved on, they didn’t. I remember an interview with one of the Gardner family saying that there would never be a need for an engine over 250hp in a lorry, I think he may have been a little bit wrong there, we now have 160hp Sprinter vans & 220hp 7.5tonners, in fact 250hp is now seen as an 18tonner engine in a fleet spec lorry!

Put it this way, a Guy with an 8LXB (if such a thing existed :laughing: ) up against a 111 Scania, Volvo F88, Daf 2800, Merc 1924/1626 or MAN 16-240, now which do you think most drivers would prefer? Obviously anything but the Guy, the people who bought the lorries would agree too, that is why you can still buy any of the competition, but you can’t buy a Guy, you can go on all you like about bad management at the Leyland Group blah blah blah, but the simple fact is a Guy was crap :open_mouth: Even the revered Gardner was crap, it’s short sighted management team cannot be blamed for everything, the main users of its engines ERF & Atkinson (now Seddon Atkinson) stopped selling them, they continued using ■■■■■■■ though & Foden later used CAT engines & ERF had a Detroit Diesel 60 series available for a short time, so it wasn’t the whole package, it was the fact that nobody wanted a Gardner engine anymore that stopped them being offered in these chassis & the simple reason nobody wanted them is because they weren’t good enough :unamused:

And before you think Carryfast & I are related, the two stroke DD was crap too, that’s why people stopped buying them, it may have the power to pull down a house, but if you run one you won’t have a house to pull down, you’ll have sold it to pay your fuel bill :laughing:

3260

I have to agree with the last post I drove an old guy for about 5 weeks in 1979 it was old then and I did nights delivering meat I had a lot of time at my drops waiting for places to open so would have a kip what an uncomfortable lorry to have an hours kip in also the fuel gauge was on the side of the fuel tank what was all that about it had a steering wheel about a yard wide not sure what engine it had though but I left and drove a daf 2800 that was like space age compared to the guy as for detroit when ever I saw one it always seemed to be strugling uphill drove a TM with a ■■■■■■■ lovely motor also spent a lot of time in f7 volvos they were ok maybe as someone mentioned earlier the british firms bought the smaller detroit engines tight wads is what most of the firms were I worked for, you only have to look at the british motor bike industry they never changed they thought riders wanted machines that you had to be 16 stone to kick over and accept the fact they would drip oil all day where are they now, the american car industry is stuck in the past still making big engined petrol guzzlers I know modern lorries are very bland and all look the same but look at all the creature comforts now for the driver comfort and power this and power that I have not driven a lorry for a long while but would go back to it if the need arose as I would have good tools for the job, love this thread though its rolling on and on , it would sem that a lot of those 8xlbs are i boats maybe thats where they belong its 2 30 in the morning can`t sleep how sad am I but got to be up at 4 30 so will probably stay awake I notice that I am rambling now must be my age or early dementia good night all