matt watson:
The only oil companies in Scotland that used Guys were (Phillips petroleum) these were owned by Scottish road services Falkirk. The other was ELF Petroleum, These companies were based in The Grangemouth Falkirk area. They would have been full pet reg vehicles with cargo pumps etc, So if one of these guys went to a Scottish oil company it could have been one of the above.
Only 1 unit has been mentioned in this thread as having had anything to do with an oil company .
I stated previously , that this does not seem to fit in with the list of 29 , 27 of which are listed as going to Smith of Maddiston .
Fitting cargo pumps etc , is all further smoke screen if there is substance to the oil company story ,would also have been a bit of a task with the 8LXB , with the gearbox , all in a nice compact 9’ 6" chassis . If full petrol regs , would this also have included a firewall / engine cover over the protruding engine behind the cab . Little wonder there isn’t a photo of rear of engine
This thread is decending into total Bollox!! The Oil Companies only bought on price and this for the mankiest spec possible, i.e. Leyland and RR engines usually to-gether with ■■■■■■■ although the ■■■■■■■ was a major improvement on the other two engines, they also only bought day cabs. They placed large orders with the premium UK manufactures which produced the slimest (if any) of margins for the manufactures but it kept the production lines going at times and got rid of a lot of crappy inventory. But I can’t see them ever ordering 8LXB engine Chassis which commanded a hefty premium over the low class spec they ordered in spades. You have to remember that in the halcyon days of the Oil cos. in the 50’s/60’s/70’s the cost of their road tanker fleets within the greater scheme of their operations was negligible but they still were always more interested in the initial capital cost of the equipment and had very little interest in the actual running cost of the fleet. Well that was my understanding of how it was explained to me that the big Oil cos. operated. Cheers Bewick.
Hi Bewick, Hope I didn’t bring the thread to total ■■■■■■■■, When I read the post about an oil company from Scotland purchasing one of these vehicles I thought that unusual. You are correct these companies only buy bog standard motors. That’s why I said only ELF and SRS Falkirk ran Guys on fuel in central Scotland and there is no way they would spend a penny more than they had to.
matt watson:
Hi Bewick, Hope I didn’t bring the thread to total ■■■■■■■■, When I read the post about an oil company from Scotland purchasing one of these vehicles I thought that unusual. You are correct these companies only buy bog standard motors. That’s why I said only ELF and SRS Falkirk ran Guys on fuel in central Scotland and there is no way they would spend a penny more than they had to.
No problem Matt it’s just my sense of humour !! But you are quite correct about the big oil companies as from what I was told their respective Fleet Engineers would visit the likes of ERF, Foden and Scammell etc. and sit down with them and come up with the cheapest spec possible then they’d hit them with a bulk order of many many chassis. OK you always read about this or that exotic piece of equipment that the Oil Co.fleets tested occasionally such as Semi Auto boxes, Maxaret brakes, early disc brakes, fancy suspension and the list goes on but then down time and expense was never an issue for the Petroleum fleets once they were operational. They just ran their equipment for years and then virtually scrapped it as written down to zero. Cheers Bewick.
Casual Observer:
The MA Evans GDS 427 N , included in previous page , was previously mentioned by Dave to have worked for an oil company in Scotland , prior to MA Evans purchase of vehicle , from the advert also included . The vehicle was said to have been with the oil company for around 6 months . This would not now appear to be the case , as only 2 on the list posted by Valkyrie did not go to Smith of Maddiston .
GDS 427 N fits in with a 1975 registration issued in the Glasgow area , & also 1 of the 9 N registered .
The advert for the Evans example suggests that it was possibly an after market engine change/‘fit’.
I thought so too, especially as the 29 are accounted for. Robert
EDIT: sorry, just read the following posts
Assuming that the ‘oil company’ had it from new there are realistically only two possibilities in that the ‘Longton’ order was on the basis of them being a specialist vehicle manufacturer/supplier/agent in that Guy itself only supplied chassis for conversion to pet regs.
Or,as the advert suggests,the engine was a later after market fit.Bearing in mind that a Guy with a Leyland engine seems to be the most likely spec for a naive own account operator.Who then ditched it ASAP and the most likely candidate for a Gardner engine conversion to help to sell it in the Gardner friendly buyer environment of the early 1970’s.On that note was the 500 engine ever offered in the Big J ,although the 680 powered Scammell Routeman always seemed to be a favourite amongst the oil firm lot.While I’d doubt that anyone would have ditched the practicality of a ■■■■■■■ for all the aggro of sourcing and fitting an 8 LXB in that regard.
That’s my Boy “CF” baffle the ■■■■■■■ with science as only you can but the tale of the this “ex Oil Co” 8LXB Big J is certainly interesting to say the least and somehow doesn’t ring true ! So, we have another “hare” up and running Oh! and there is defo an anomaly in the arithmetic as there was supposed to be 40 Big J 8LXB Chassis built of which 39 went to SOM and there was this lone one that went elsewhere ! But apparently only 29 have been I.D.'d so there is something not quite right still. Cheers Bewick.
Casual Observer:
The MA Evans GDS 427 N , included in previous page , was previously mentioned by Dave to have worked for an oil company in Scotland , prior to MA Evans purchase of vehicle , from the advert also included . The vehicle was said to have been with the oil company for around 6 months . This would not now appear to be the case , as only 2 on the list posted by Valkyrie did not go to Smith of Maddiston .
GDS 427 N fits in with a 1975 registration issued in the Glasgow area , & also 1 of the 9 N registered .
The advert for the Evans example suggests that it was possibly an after market engine change/‘fit’.
I thought so too, especially as the 29 are accounted for. Robert
EDIT: sorry, just read the following posts
Assuming that the ‘oil company’ had it from new there are realistically only two possibilities in that the ‘Longton’ order was on the basis of them being a specialist vehicle manufacturer/supplier/agent in that Guy itself only supplied chassis for conversion to pet regs.
Or,as the advert suggests,the engine was a later after market fit.Bearing in mind that a Guy with a Leyland engine seems to be the most likely spec for a naive own account operator.Who then ditched it ASAP and the most likely candidate for a Gardner engine conversion to help to sell it in the Gardner friendly buyer environment of the early 1970’s.On that note was the 500 engine ever offered in the Big J ,although the 680 powered Scammell Routeman always seemed to be a favourite amongst the oil firm lot.While I’d doubt that anyone would have ditched the practicality of a ■■■■■■■ for all the aggro of sourcing and fitting an 8 LXB in that regard.
Do not assume anything Carryfast. That Guy Big J that Roy Edwards owner of M A Evans bought was an original build. He has run lorries since the 1950’s and does not make extravagant claims. He is a very successful businessman who doesn’t talk ■■■■■■■■ as Bewick makes claims about, if anyone dares to disagree with him.
Cheers Dave.
Dave the Renegade:
Just spoken to Roy Edwards on the phone, if anyone wants to ring him, he told me to give them his number. PM me if you do.
Cheers Dave.
Dave,don’t get confused,■■■■■■■■ and bewick are the same!!!
Dave the Renegade:
Just spoken to Roy Edwards on the phone, if anyone wants to ring him, he told me to give them his number. PM me if you do.
Cheers Dave.
Dave,don’t get confused,■■■■■■■■ and bewick are the same!!!
Dave the Renegade:
Do not assume anything Carryfast. That Guy Big J that Roy Edwards owner of M A Evans bought was an original build. He has run lorries since the 1950’s and does not make extravagant claims. He is a very successful businessman who doesn’t talk ■■■■■■■■ as Bewick makes claims about, if anyone dares to disagree with him.
Cheers Dave.
On the basis of accepting VALKYRIE’s museum evidence at face value there never was any Gardner 8LXB sold new by the factory directly to any oil company only SOM or Longton.
Going by the advert I could though really understand and see the attraction in fitting a 500 powered desperation sale bought for peanuts with a Gardner 8XLB and laughing all the way to bank. In which case maybe Chaddesley told Evans one thing but covered themselves with the clear wording contained in the advert.
Dave the Renegade:
Do not assume anything Carryfast. That Guy Big J that Roy Edwards owner of M A Evans bought was an original build. He has run lorries since the 1950’s and does not make extravagant claims. He is a very successful businessman who doesn’t talk ■■■■■■■■ as Bewick makes claims about, if anyone dares to disagree with him.
Cheers Dave.
On the basis of accepting VALKYRIE’s museum evidence at face value there never was any Gardner 8LXB sold new by the factory directly to any oil company only SOM or Longton.
Going by the advert I could though really understand and see the attraction in fitting a 500 powered desperation sale bought for peanuts with a Gardner 8XLB and laughing all the way to bank. In which case maybe Chaddesley told Evans one thing but covered themselves with the clear wording contained in the advert.
Roy Edwards who owns M A Evans was main Scania dealer for Mid Wales and Herefordshire before West Pennine took over the dealership and still rent one of his many premises. spoke to him earlier and that Guy was a genuine 8LXB from new. Les Sutton drove it for a few years and then Mike Holloway drove it.
Roy didn’t mention an oil company, his Son David told me that, but as he’s in his 50’s he probably got that wrong.
Roy is going to try and find the log book for it, he also said it could be traced via the number plate.
Cheers Dave.
if there is substance to the oil company story ,would also have been a bit of a task with the 8LXB , with the gearbox , all in a nice compact 9’ 6" chassis . If full petrol regs , would this also have included a firewall / engine cover over the protruding engine behind the cab 
. Little wonder there isn’t a photo of rear of engine 
,although the 680 powered Scammell Routeman always seemed to be a favourite amongst the oil firm lot.While I’d doubt that anyone would have ditched the practicality of a ■■■■■■■ for all the aggro of sourcing and fitting an 8 LXB in that regard. 
