In 1960 the 'Warrior II' truck chassis was introduced. There were two versions, the 6-wheeled  'Warrior Light 6' with 3 axles, and the 8-wheeled 'Warrior Light 8' with 4 axles. Guy claimed that the vehicles had the largest payload for the lightest chassis, in the weight class, and also the lowest prices. The vehicles soon became very popular.

At the time, Guy Motors looked in good shape, the lorries were selling well, but there were two serious, and eventually, terminal problems. The first was the failure 'Wulfrunian', which was a disaster. The second problem, which continuously drained the company financially, was the company’s operation in South Africa, which was loosing £300,000 a year. This had been Guy’s first venture into the retail market. Many vehicles were sold on hire purchase, through finance companies, under a contract by which Guy was responsible for any losses to the finance company caused by default of payment. This was a common occurrence, which cost Guy dearly. Guy also offered a generous trade-in allowance which was far too high. Many old and rotten vehicles, only suitable for scrap, were traded-in at far too-high a price.

A new and final development of the 'Arab', the mark 5, appeared in 1962. It incorporated a number of improvements including full air brakes with automatic adjusters, and a lower frame, 2½ inches lower than previous models. It was powered by a 112 bhp. Gardner 6LW diesel engine, with a 4-speed plus reverse constant mesh gearbox, or a fluid flywheel and semi-automatic box. The chassis had telescopic shock absorbers at the front and rear.

Another new product was the 'Conquest', a 36 ft. single deck, rear-engined passenger chassis, with full air-suspension, to provide outstanding handling qualities, and freedom from noise and vibration. It was ideally suited for the luxury coach market.

In 1965 the 'Warrior Trambus' was replaced by a new version of the 'Victory' chassis based on the 'Big J' truck chassis, with an AEC AV505, Gardner 6LX, or a Gardner 6LW engine. The 'Victory Trambus' as it was called, later became British Leyland's standard heavy duty export bus chassis.

At the time Jaguar was going from strength to strength. Its products sold well, and by 1965 its annual profit was £1.6 million. On 11th July, 1966 Jaguar merged with the British Motor Corporation (BMC) to form British Motor Holdings, a decision which would eventually have disastrous consequences for Guy Motors. Initially this had little impact on Guy Motors, where production continued quite normally. Unfortunately British Motor Holdings struggled to make a profit, often due to poor costing.

The labour government of the day thought that the troubles in the British motor industry could be cured by company mergers. Harold Wilson encouraged the merger of British Motor Holdings with the Leyland Motor Group. As early as February 1967 the Minister of Technology, Tony Benn, informed the House of Commons that the two companies were holding talks about a merger. This became a reality on 14th May, 1968 when the companies formerly merged to become the British Leyland Motor Corporation Limited.

The 'Big J' continued to sell well, around 16,000 chassis were produced in all, at the factory, which for a while kept the factory open. Leyland had intended to close Guy Motors in the mid 1970s, but it remained open because of the demand for the 'Big J'.

80 'Victory' chassis, modified for double deck bodies were sent to South Africa in 1973. They were extremely successful and so a mark 2 version was designed with the front axle moved forward, in front of the entrance. The new chassis was supplied to operators in South Africa, and Hong Kong.

In 1975 the Leyland 'Landtrain' T43 was introduced, and many were built at the Guy factory, along with some Leyland 'Marathon' trucks, and a few 'Crusaders'.

A new single deck version of the 'Victory' chassis appeared in 1978 with improved suspension and brakes.

By the late 1970s Leyland was finding it hard to compete with the growing competition from abroad. A rationalisation programme began, during which many of the group’s factories were closed. In 1981 the decision was taken to close Guy Motors because the factory lacked the facilities that modern truck production required.

Guy Motors was however, one of the few companies in the Leyland group that actually made a profit. Its order books were full for at least 18 months ahead, and its workforce was second to none. Sadly this not taken into consideration, and the factory closed in August 1982 with a loss of 740 jobs.

Guy vehicles were well known throughout the world. The company exported to 76 countries, and was well respected for the quality and reliability of its products.

If Guy hadn’t opened the South African subsidiary, it could all have ended very differently. Money would have been available to sort out the teething troubles with the 'Wulfrunian', and further developments would have ensured a continuing range of up-to-date designs.

The 1047 lots included everything, from hand tools, drill bits, and lathe tools, to benches, cranes and hoists, forklift trucks, heavy plant, the contents of the offices, and kitchen equipment.

During the 10 days following the auction, the factory opened on week days from 8-30 a.m. until 4.30 p.m. so that successful bidders could remove their purchases from the site.

This must have been a terrible sight for the hundreds of loyal Guy workers who had only recently lost their jobs.

Courtesy of Sue and Terry Pinson.