Seeing that the 8LXB search has died a death I have been interested in the short lived spec involving the ■■■■■■■ V6 engine in the early Big Js.I believe that after Jaguar bought out Guy Motors and launched the Big J the idea was that the V6 ■■■■■■■ was to have been the standard engine and was to have been a joint venture between the two firms.However I think that the takeover by Leyland of Jaguar brought the venture to a premature end but I think the combination was already doomed because of the unreliability of the V6.Does anyone have any first hand experience of this model of Big J? I have noticed a few factory publicity shots on the site which appear to be very early ones prior to the Leyland T/O.Who knows --this thread could run as long as the last one on Big Js.Bewick.
hiya,
Dennis drove loads of Big “Js” don’t ever remember coming across one of them, actually quite liked the Js i think all ours had Roller engines in them, now Dennis the office chair in Kendal is getting cold is there nothing to report from BTS HQ glad to see you’re back to your normal self mate or do i have to call you sir now that you’re repaired.
thanks harry long retired.
Hiya…Pete359 has some info on the V6 big J. thier is a photo of a rotten one on the south wales site
a pal of mine had a 6 legger EX blue circle. i think they was a poor set up. Andrew will tell you more.
John
harry_gill:
hiya,
Dennis drove loads of Big “Js” don’t ever remember coming across one of them, actually quite liked the Js i think all ours had Roller engines in them, now Dennis the office chair in Kendal is getting cold is there nothing to report from BTS HQ glad to see you’re back to your normal self mate or do i have to call you sir now that you’re repaired.
thanks harry long retired.
Hiya “H” thanks for the good wishes mate—not back to 100% yet but getting there!Cheers Dennis.
After the company went in receivership in 1961 and was bought by Jaguar cars, the Invincible, Warrior and Otter were dropped in 1964 and replaced by Big J range, with their slogan “Designed to Dominate”.
In 1970 a 56 ton eight-wheeler, designed to carry a 20 ton container with another container on a draw bar trailer, was introduced to meet the new demands of containerisation. This vehicle was beyond UK weight limits, so there was also a rigid eight-wheeler at 30 tons gross.
The Big J range sold well enough but competition in the commercial vehicle market was fierce.
In 1974 BMC’s Scammel tractor units were assembled at the old Guy works, in order to meet the demand for them and to take up spare capacity at Fallings Park.
But competition, and the disaster that was BMC, were too much for the factory and in August 1982 all vehicle production stopped. The works were demolished a few years later.
When Jaguar Cars Ltd bought Guy Motors (Europe) Ltd in 1961 a programme of partial rationalisation was begun. The then-current ranges of Otter, Warrior, and Invincible goods vehicles acquired a common cab design, and many common mechanical components.
By 1964 the company had developed a completely new range of trucks, the Big J models. The Big J was designed around a new ■■■■■■■ V6 engine, intended for motorway operation. This proved less than satisfactory and was eventually joined by alternatives; AEC, Gardner, Leyland, Perkins and Rolls-Royce were all offered. The Big J cab, a Motor Panels design, also used by Seddon, became a walk-through unit when Guy dropped the V6 engine option. It tilted to 35 degrees, but preparatory dismantling took ten minutes.
In 1968, when BMH became part of British Leyland, the Big J continued in production — the J being replaced in 1971 by the Leyland logo of the period — until 1978 when it was phased out together with several similar models produced under the Leyland badge.
In 1982, faced with overcapacity within the Leyland group, Guy Motors (who individually suffered no such problems) were closed down and the factory was shut, further adding to the increasing levels of unemployment in Wolverhampton. SOme production transferred to the Farington plant in Lancashire, where the Victory chassis continued to be built there until 1986, when the Guy marque finally disappeared into history.
A contemporary letter from the joint shop stewards of Guy Motors to Mr Robert Edwards — MP for Wolverhampton, South East — conveys the sense of disappointment and incredulity at the decision to close the plant, the details of which can be read at hansard.millbanksystems.com
It could be said the part of the problem faced by the Leyland group was the introduction of the bus grant by the government, designed to encourage operators to modernise their fleet. This grant favoured the rear-engined vehicles over the more traditional bus chassis favoured by many operators, and, as Leyland had three — the Arab V, the Regent V and the Leyland Titan — in its stable, it simply discontinued production of all except the rear-engined Fleetline and Atlantean models.
You know what they say Dave----“Too much knowledge can be dangerous” But another question I have is–how come the V6 that Guy advertised was supposedly 200BHP when the V8 ■■■■■■■ was 180BHP.Dennis.
V6 ■■■■■■■ 170 or 200 at 170 or 192 BHP 9.6 litre.
You have exhausted my knowledge Dennis 
.
Cheers Dave.
Dave the Renegade:
V6 ■■■■■■■ 170 or 200 at 170 or 192 BHP 9.6 litre.
You have exhausted my knowledge Dennis
Cheers Dave.
They were bags of s*** what ever their power output was Dave!!
Just goes to show you that although William Lyons created one of the best car marques in the world with Jaguar when it came to heavy commercials he defo got it wrong with picking the engine for the then new Big J! If he had tried he couldn’t have dropped a bigger b*****k could he? and from what I’ve read in the book it was him that made the final decision on the ■■■■■■■ engine! Dennis.
Bewick:
Dave the Renegade:
V6 ■■■■■■■ 170 or 200 at 170 or 192 BHP 9.6 litre.
You have exhausted my knowledge Dennis
Cheers Dave.They were bags of s*** what ever their power output was Dave!!
Some of the V8’s back in the 60’s and 70’s weren’t much either Dennis. Probably ok in your Ford D series,but a few in this area had them in six wheelers and had nothing but trouble.The AEC and Scania seem to be the better one’s.
Cheers Dave.
By 1964 the company had developed a completely new range of trucks, the Big J models. The Big J was designed around a new ■■■■■■■ V6 engine, intended for motorway operation. This proved less than satisfactory and was eventually joined by alternatives; AEC, Gardner, Leyland, Perkins and Rolls-Royce were all offered. The Big J cab, a Motor Panels design, also used by Seddon, became a walk-through unit when Guy dropped the V6 engine option. It tilted to 35 degrees, but preparatory dismantling took ten minutes.
Not sure if I’ve read that right, but the Big J was never a walk though cab, don’t remember one tilting either. But the 2 that were on display at the 1974 motor show were very special, if anyone has pictures of them, one was a four wheeler the other and artic 250 ■■■■■■■ 9 speed fuller, bought by HW Dines of Bicester and wrote off in Belgium in 1978.
Only drove for one firm that used ■■■■■■■ and they were in ERF’s and also chipped up, but they went well and never really gave a lot of problems but they did seem to fling a lot of oil about, we were forever steam cleaning them. Saying that a bit off topic really as they wern’t V6s.
Hi just spoke to my dad he had one on Alltranspot used to do Stratford lift to Milan and it had a walk through cab which tilted which was handy because it always broke down
We serviced a Big J6 in a mixer chassis when I lived down south years ago, they didn’t have it long though. The V6 was fitted in Foden 6 wheeler’s and wasn’t ■■■■■■■ finest hour, Tarmac had loads of the thing. Mind you, the V8’s had their problems in the D series Ford, flywheels coming loose was a regular problem along with head problems, possibly why they eventually fitted the Ford (Perkins) V8 instead. The Guy cab could be made to tilt a little, though it wasn’t a five minute job.
Pete.
Never seen a Guy with the V6 ■■■■■■■■■■■ Ford fitted them to the D1000.I remember doing a head gasket on one.They had a cooling system problem.
Dodge also used the V 6 ■■■■■■■ and that had a walk through cab a couple of mates drove them for Wheeler Road and when they were running they went very well for the time.
cheers Johnnie
The mechanic:
Never seen a Guy with the V6 ■■■■■■■■■■■ Ford fitted them to the D1000.I remember doing a head gasket on one.They had a cooling system problem.
The V8 ■■■■■■■ was a far better engine than the V6.The nearest comparison of the two was the tilt cab Dodge and the D1000 and I always thought the Dodge was just a noisy “load of crap”.Bewick.
Bewick:
The mechanic:
Never seen a Guy with the V6 ■■■■■■■■■■■ Ford fitted them to the D1000.I remember doing a head gasket on one.They had a cooling system problem.The V8 ■■■■■■■ was a far better engine than the V6.The nearest comparison of the two was the tilt cab Dodge and the D1000 and I always thought the Dodge was just a noisy “load of crap”.Bewick.
A mate of mine had a six wheeler Dodge with a V8 ■■■■■■■■■■ wouldn’t pull your granny off the ■■■■ pot,what a load of junk it was.He also had a Foden with a V8,but did a Gardner transplant on that one.
Cheers Dave.
Bewick:
Seeing that the 8LXB search has died a death I have been interested in the short lived spec involving the ■■■■■■■ V6 engine in the early Big Js.I believe that after Jaguar bought out Guy Motors and launched the Big J the idea was that the V6 ■■■■■■■ was to have been the standard engine and was to have been a joint venture between the two firms.However I think that the takeover by Leyland of Jaguar brought the venture to a premature end but I think the combination was already doomed because of the unreliability of the V6.Does anyone have any first hand experience of this model of Big J? I have noticed a few factory publicity shots on the site which appear to be very early ones prior to the Leyland T/O.Who knows --this thread could run as long as the last one on Big Js.Bewick.
Bloody hell Den, suppose you want a picture of the V6 in a Guy, AS WELL as the 8LXB, this could go on forever, don’t forget carryfasts Detroit Diesel either !!
Anyway mate, I did drive one of these back in the early seventies, it was pretty gutless, and heavier on fuel than the normal 180 / 14 litre. The company only kept it a few months, then got rid !! Only saving grace was, it had a flat floor, no engine hump, and in the days of non-sleeper cabs that was an advantage, especially on the continent. The passenger seat removed, and a board up to the drivers seat, made for a pretty comfortable night, in an emergency !! After that motor, I got a Scania Vabis, luxury !! Sorry Den, no photo’s, but someone… somewhere… 
Fergie47:
Bewick:
Seeing that the 8LXB search has died a death I have been interested in the short lived spec involving the ■■■■■■■ V6 engine in the early Big Js.I believe that after Jaguar bought out Guy Motors and launched the Big J the idea was that the V6 ■■■■■■■ was to have been the standard engine and was to have been a joint venture between the two firms.However I think that the takeover by Leyland of Jaguar brought the venture to a premature end but I think the combination was already doomed because of the unreliability of the V6.Does anyone have any first hand experience of this model of Big J? I have noticed a few factory publicity shots on the site which appear to be very early ones prior to the Leyland T/O.Who knows --this thread could run as long as the last one on Big Js.Bewick.Bloody hell Den, suppose you want a picture of the V6 in a Guy, AS WELL as the 8LXB, this could go on forever, don’t forget carryfasts Detroit Diesel either !!
Anyway mate, I did drive one of these back in the early seventies, it was pretty gutless, and heavier on fuel than the normal 180 / 14 litre. The company only kept it a few months, then got rid !! Only saving grace was, it had a flat floor, no engine hump, and in the days of non-sleeper cabs that was an advantage, especially on the continent. The passenger seat removed, and a board up to the drivers seat, made for a pretty comfortable night, in an emergency !! After that motor, I got a Scania Vabis, luxury !! Sorry Den, no photo’s, but someone… somewhere…
Hiya Dave how yer going?OK I hope! Thought I’d lower the bar a bit ,but it seem 's like I’ve lifted it somewhat as there is less chance of a photo of a Guy/■■■■■■■■ than an SOM 8LXB! Still, hope springs eternal as the saying go’s.Cheers Dennis.