Today “September 30, 2019” marks 50 years since the company Guðmundur Tyrfingsson – GTs ehf was officially founded. The company is a well-established family business that is run from Selfoss in addition to having a branch in Reykjavík. Today, the company offers over forty group buses of all sizes and types, and there are around 50-60 employees on an annual basis.
Guðmund was very fond of mountain trips, and he decided to buy a car to be able to work on his hobby and go on mountain trips with groups. He bought his first moving car in 1962. It was a 1953 Dogde Weapon that came from the Defense Assets Sale. It was used as an ambulance by the army, but Guðmundur converted it into a group bus. He started doing group tours in March 1963 alongside other work. He sells this car again in the fall of 1964 and buys another Weapon from the Defense Forces, year 1953. He also rebuilt that car and converted it into a group car. He had this weapon for twelve years, but then it was sold. The company later repossessed this vehicle. It will be repaired and rebuilt and now adorns the company’s headquarters in Selfoss. He has, among other things, bring the Santa Clauses from Ingólfsfjall to the settlements in December and is then decorated with Christmas lights during the holidays.
On September 30, 1969, the company Guðmundur Tyrfingsson ehf was officially founded and the same year the first home-built bus hit the road. In 1971, Guðmundur turned his attention entirely to running the company, and in the same year he built a barge at Nónhóla in Selfoss. Guðmundur Laugdal Jónsson joined his namesake in 1973. The company built 14 group buses for its own use as well as various other projects. Many endurance structures were built there, and the most important one is the construction of a 62-passenger bus in 1987, which just fit in the bragg’s premises. It was suggested that this was probably the smallest bus factory in the world.
In 1992, a new facility for vehicle construction and repair was built at Fossnesi 5 Selfossi, where the company’s headquarters are still today. The company has built over approx. 30 new cars from the ground up, but in addition numerous smaller cars have been fitted out as group buses.
Environmental and safety issues have been on the company’s mind since the beginning. Guðmundur Tyrfingsson ehf was the first group tour company to formulate an environmental and safety policy that is used as a guiding principle in the company’s operations. In 2017, the company acquired the country’s first electric bus, which is a step towards an ecological future. Travel planning has always accompanied this business and its role has increased greatly in recent years. The company offers various trips for longer or shorter periods for both Icelandic and foreign tourists.