A Collection Of Good Ideas Assembled Into One Ill-Conceived Whole.
As a keen fan of the mechanically outrageous, I have read many an article about the Guy Wulfrunian but I have to confess that until last weekend, I had never actually seen one in the flesh. That was rectified at the Dewsbury Bus Museum's November Running Day - my first visit to this establishment too. Although access on to the bus was not actually possible I was pleased to see quite a bit of technical stuff through the windows. Enough to make me think that apart from the unfortunate bulk of the engine, everything else should have worked if it had been developed properly. After all, the Leyland Atlantean was originally intended to have independent front suspension and the many driveline failures experienced by those that embraced rear engines suggests that Guy were wise to consider a relatively conventional layout. Guy parts aside I was intrigued to realise that not only does the Roe body have removable panels for access to the front of the engine, but the whole offside front, windscreen and all is on hinges and is a useful door for getting to all sorts of things in the cab area that require maintenance. Usually one requires the services of a double jointed small boy for that sort of thing. Some will point to the later Volvo Ailsa as evidence that all could have been well, but the fact is that the Wulfrunian was in production for a number of years and Guy still didn't get it right. True, their thoughts were probably several thousand miles away in Africa. Ah well, you can't change history now. For Guy, what a pity.
A Collection Of Good Ideas Assembled Into One Ill-Conceived Whole.
As a keen fan of the mechanically outrageous, I have read many an article about the Guy Wulfrunian but I have to confess that until last weekend, I had never actually seen one in the flesh. That was rectified at the Dewsbury Bus Museum's November Running Day - my first visit to this establishment too. Although access on to the bus was not actually possible I was pleased to see quite a bit of technical stuff through the windows. Enough to make me think that apart from the unfortunate bulk of the engine, everything else should have worked if it had been developed properly. After all, the Leyland Atlantean was originally intended to have independent front suspension and the many driveline failures experienced by those that embraced rear engines suggests that Guy were wise to consider a relatively conventional layout. Guy parts aside I was intrigued to realise that not only does the Roe body have removable panels for access to the front of the engine, but the whole offside front, windscreen and all is on hinges and is a useful door for getting to all sorts of things in the cab area that require maintenance. Usually one requires the services of a double jointed small boy for that sort of thing. Some will point to the later Volvo Ailsa as evidence that all could have been well, but the fact is that the Wulfrunian was in production for a number of years and Guy still didn't get it right. True, their thoughts were probably several thousand miles away in Africa. Ah well, you can't change history now. For Guy, what a pity.