LUT Guy Wulfrunian
This one proved something of a challenge to add colour to. The original Northern Counties image used featured in the 1970s book about the bodybuilder. Back in the day, photo reproduction in the book was about as good as it got, but the image was (by modern standards and what's required for this hobby) grainy, contrasty and shadowy. I've never seen a colour picture of this short-lived Lancashire United fleet member so I was minded to have a go. The odd green shades in the interior are based on those of comparable Fleetlines delivered to that operator.
I've no life history of 802 RTC to hand, but I haven't any reason to suppose that it was any more successful than any other Wulfrunian. Did it find its way, like just about all the others, to West Riding? If memory serves me correctly, then it was also the only NCME bodied 'Wulf'.
Just in case anyone isn't aware, the Wulfrunian was Guy's attempt to appease fleet engineers who liked the engines at the front. However, the large 10.45 litre Gardner 6LX didn't leave much room for the driver. The staircase was almost invariably on the nearside which was odd for a UK 'decker. It had independent front suspension (air springs all round) and disc brakes on the front. Unfortunately, the one thing it didn't appear to have was power assisted steering. Most of the West Riding examples ended up having the upper deck front seating removed to ease the weight on the front suspension components. All in all, it failed to come up with the goods, misjudged the market, and fatally wounded Guy Motors in the process. The concept was far more successfully exploited by Ailsa Trucks in their building of the Volvo/ Ailsa double decker. They used a small 6.7 litre heavily turbo-charged engine which took up less space. They also adopted a more simple approach to specification and had great success with their offering.
LUT Guy Wulfrunian
This one proved something of a challenge to add colour to. The original Northern Counties image used featured in the 1970s book about the bodybuilder. Back in the day, photo reproduction in the book was about as good as it got, but the image was (by modern standards and what's required for this hobby) grainy, contrasty and shadowy. I've never seen a colour picture of this short-lived Lancashire United fleet member so I was minded to have a go. The odd green shades in the interior are based on those of comparable Fleetlines delivered to that operator.
I've no life history of 802 RTC to hand, but I haven't any reason to suppose that it was any more successful than any other Wulfrunian. Did it find its way, like just about all the others, to West Riding? If memory serves me correctly, then it was also the only NCME bodied 'Wulf'.
Just in case anyone isn't aware, the Wulfrunian was Guy's attempt to appease fleet engineers who liked the engines at the front. However, the large 10.45 litre Gardner 6LX didn't leave much room for the driver. The staircase was almost invariably on the nearside which was odd for a UK 'decker. It had independent front suspension (air springs all round) and disc brakes on the front. Unfortunately, the one thing it didn't appear to have was power assisted steering. Most of the West Riding examples ended up having the upper deck front seating removed to ease the weight on the front suspension components. All in all, it failed to come up with the goods, misjudged the market, and fatally wounded Guy Motors in the process. The concept was far more successfully exploited by Ailsa Trucks in their building of the Volvo/ Ailsa double decker. They used a small 6.7 litre heavily turbo-charged engine which took up less space. They also adopted a more simple approach to specification and had great success with their offering.