Guy Motors was founded in 1914 by Sidney Slater Guy. He had previously worked at Sunbeam in Wolverhampton, where he was the Works Manager at 24 years old.

Guy Motors of Wolverhampton continuously produced  vehicles for 68 years. It was the Black Country’s longest surviving vehicle manufacturer. Guy was, and still is, well known in the country and in the world for their coaches, buses and commercial vehicles, which are fondly remembered.
Guy survived recessions and hard times, thanks to the ability to produce innovative products, mainly due to their expert design team. Industrial relations in the factory were very good. Although wages at the factory were slightly lower than elsewhere, the people were generally happy and content during their time with the company, as can be seen from the elevated number of seniority awards for people with 20 years of service.
Guy Motors success was thanks to the drive, enthusiasm and engineering ability of its founder, Sydney  Guy , who from the company’s beginning in 1914, worked until retirement in 1957, at the age of 72.

Soon after his retirement, Guy Motors found itself in financial trouble. A radical new bus design -“The Wulfrunian” proved to have problems in service, which were expensive to overcome, and orders dried up. Additionally, unwise business decisions in the South African market led to large losses.

In 1961, the company was bought by Jaguar Cars, and subsequently, amalgamated into British Leyland. The company continued to produce vehicles until its closure in 1982.

In 1954, Guy Motors published a book detailing the history of the company. It was titled “Forty Years of Achievement”. Some of the pages are reproduced below.

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This article appeared in the Best of British magazine April 2004. The author was Judy Chard. It gives a potted history of Guy Motors.