Sheffield's Utility Guys

The book, Sheffield Transport, by CC Hall, shows that Sheffield took twenty wartime Guys;- seven Mk I, thirteen Mk II. Number 487 is pictured in the book in all-over grey. Is it known how many of the fleet were painted thus? This is the only photo I have seen in grey, so was it only the Guys that were grey?

Les Dickinson

21/09/15 - 06:45

Copyright Unknown

As Guy 487 was pictured in wartime grey and I read somewhere that 490 was repainted in fleet livery in 1946, I think it likely that the batch 486 to 491 would have been grey. As far as other makes were concerned, certainly AEC 298 was delivered in grey by Brush (more than likely) after rebuilding, probably in 1941 following blitz damage.

John Darwent

22/09/15 - 07:08

That's an evocative pic, with its white outlining, but is that grey or original Sheffield blue? The grey was a sort of mid-colour and applied all over, I thought.
Presumably these Guys were distributed off the peg to blitzed municipalities, in any colour you want, as long as it's grey?

Joe

22/09/15 - 07:09

The photo seems to show a very early AEC Regent - protruding 'snout' to cater for the early oil engine and, as far as can be surmised, fully-floating rear axles, dating the chassis to about 1932. If the AEC was delivered in grey , as John D says, it was a very dark grey, unusual when most were delivered in battleship grey, of which there was no shortage! The Brush body also seems non-standard, with an angled fillet inserted to ensure that the front side windows were not cut at an angle to cater for the front slope. However, they didn't do this for the rear side ones! I don't recall later Brush bodies having this feature. It's always been a mystery to me why the plans for one body style and spec were drawn up, with this being applied to all utility bodybuilders. For example, Brush were the only builders to install 'tween-decks ventilators. For us folk, of course, it is a delight to see such variations!

Chris Hebbron

22/09/15 - 13:47

The "filleted" front window was a standard Brush feature for its very early utility bodies, as seen in Wolverhampton and Hull among others. The Regent certainly looks like an 8.8 though. Was this a blitz victim? If so, the chassis could be much newer. How does this vehicle fit in regarding original body and batch origin?

John Whitaker

23/09/15 - 06:39

298 (CWA 498) was originally a 1936 AEC Regent/Weymann according to the late C C Hall. It was burnt out in the blitz and the engine and chassis sent to Oswald Tillotson's, engineers of Bradford for major repairs after which it is presumed it went to Brush for rebodying.
Sheffield adopted the overall cream with three azure bands in 1935 and it is almost certain that 298 entered service in this revised livery. It is not known whether some dark blue was found some six years later to adorn the rebuild in the photo or whether it is just a darker richer grey.

John Darwent

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