Real Road Test: Bond Minicar MkG twin-cylinder, one-wheel drive!
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- Опубликовано: 12 сен 2024
- The Bond Minicar has one-wheel drive, with the engine, gearbox and exhaust all turning with the front wheel. Insane! But, what is it like to drive?
We also discuss Invacars and Messerschmitts - that's Ian Seabrook and Bond owner Grant Kearney.
Footage shot at the National Microcar Rally 2018.
I had a Mark F when I was 17. I'd passed my motorcycle test at 16, but going over the M62 each week in the early 70s was no fun. Hence the Bond with a heater!! Going over the M62 in winter was still exciting if not terrifying at times. I would get tucked in behind a lorry snarling up the Lancashire side of the Pennines. No chance of overtaking as you would just get blown back. I remember braking down in torrential rain on the top of Scammoden dam. I thumbed a lift from a lorry as I had an exam in Huddersfield. Late afternoon I got a lift back with a mate. Going past it on the other carriageway it looked so small and sad, sitting there - now in the sun. Needless to say, when I got in, it started first time. I came out of college one day to find it had gone. I later found out my "mates" had carried it round the corner out of sight!
you should get a medal for that
Only a youngster would be mad enough to drive one of those things any distance. God, what must the brakes have been like? Great little story Eddie, thanks.
I always assumed the Bond Minicars had no heater since the engine did not feature a cowled cooling fan.
Apparently there was a cowling around the exhaust pipe(s) to pick up heat and perhaps an electric fan? Perhaps you could confirm / enlarge on how heating was achieved please.
@@Martindyna the heater was a box that fitted around the exhaust pipe, open at the front into a scoop. A piece of flexible hose from the back connected to a hole in the cabin floor which had a small sliding flap to close it off when necessary. The idea was that when you were moving at a decent speed, air would be forced past the exhaust pipe, and suitably warmed, into the cabin. It wasn't very effective tbh. Imagine someone lying on the floor and gently breathing. That was as good as it got!
@@eddiethefiddler Thanks, so similar to the VW Beetle but the VW had an engine driven fan of course. As I mentioned, an electric fan could have been included but then a better heat exchanger may have been required perhaps picking up some heat from the engine as well.
These microcars are fascinating and offered a practical solution to low cost motoring in the 50s and 60s .
They'll return in the future, as new cars too expensive, people will make their own "Kit cars" with twist and go scooters.
Just amazing how in the middle of the last century there were so many diverse solutions to personal mobility
People needed low cost transport and that came with no frills, but in the main they were better than riding on the bus to work, and gave a little more comfort . Driving cars like that and pre-war ones bought for £10 or so and on their last legs, certainly made for more aware drivers.
And around 1970, the diversity of designs for family mobility: Think of the Citroen GS, versus the Morris Marina (introduced a year later!). The rear-engined Renault 10; the 2-stroke Wartburg Knight; the separate-chassis Triumph Herald. And the SUPER Beetle wasn't introduced until 1971.
Hmm - what to choose, what to choose...
@@melb6528 IT was to get out of the weather rather than riding a motorbike.
"Solutions"?
I'd rather walk
I get lots of car review recommendations; today it was this one and a BMW M5 so obviously I watched this one first.
I'm aged 61 now but as a child I can just remember camping holidays with my parents in Devon and Cornwall in the early to mid 60's. My parents' friends had a Bond exactly like this which used to get them from the North East of England down to the South West, 3 up ( 5yr old sitting loose in the back ) with the Tent and full camping gear for a fortnight. We were travelling *luxuriously* in comparison in my dads Triumph Mayflower, or was it his Singer 1500, both ugly looking things that resembled a hearse.
I think back now and wonder if my parents and friends were just mildly eccentric or if they all needed some form of psychiatric evaluation.
Fantastic memories though of his Bond struggling to reach the top of a hill fully laden, engine screaming on full revs, smoke billowing everywhere from its tiny pea-shooter exhaust, a combination of exhaust gas and burning clutch and then having to roll it backwards to plan a different route. !!
I was only around 6yrs old so to me at that age all this just seemed normal but great farcical times from an era long gone but never forgotten.
Wow, that's some journey - North East to Cornwall in a Bond. But more luxurious than a Triumph Mayflower?? Are you serious?!?!
@@hunchanchoc8418 Haha, We were in the Mayflower, my parents, younger brother and myself,....our friends were roughing it in their Bond. Penzance was the furthest we got travelling from Sunderland....how we all managed it still gets me wondering to this day.
Ah! Ooops - my eyes missed-out the word "friends", for some reason (!)
My parents had one when I was little, they called It Bessie, RVH 287 ,love to know if its still around though doubt it ,used to go all over on holiday, my parents me and my younger brother towing a fully loaded camping trailer, did Devon and Cornwall from Yorkshire travelling through the night, took hours though me and my brother could lay down in the back and sleep, how the little 250 engine dragged that lot down there I'll never know !!!!
The Bond was my first car in red with a cream fibre-glass roof (model F). It used a 197cc two-stroke Villiers single cylinder engine. Took mine up to the Lake district, but hills weren't its forte... The gearchain snapped going up Shap and I managed to find all the link parts by torchlight and repair it at the roadside. Just lucky I guess.. Thanks for another great video!
The chain on mine went on a 1 in 10, had to find the bits to fix it - like you.
My uncle Nige, a lifelong biker, had one of these for more weatherproof travel. he went thousands of miles in it and it announced its arrival by the sound of the rattling gearlever.
Yeah, they were popular with old school bikers. Probably down to the Villiers twin engine. Travelled to scrambles meets in one as a small kid in the late 50s, early 60s. Painfully slow and you were buggered if you had to stop on anything other than a slight incline!
Absolutely Superb Video Ian! This Is Why The Bond Minicar Was So Popular! It Provided Cheap Transport With A Touch Of Fun! Seeing You Driving That Minicar Reminded Me Of My Dad's Three He Had! His Were The Earlier Mark C And D That Had The Soft Top! To Be A Dashing Convertible!! The Small Car! With A Big Heart!!!!
I’m starting to think that on the remarkable lil island nation that is our Mother, the Britts had absolutely no rules at all when it come to building cars, any thought was never considered to far out of the box. I am truly amazed by what Hubnut shows me every video Thank You!!!
They were better days.
Yep, mad but outright bold contraptions they made!
You should see a Scootacar!
1957 I went with my dad to collect our Bond minicar convertible. That summer we, dad, mum, me and sister and baby sister plus a heavy canvas tent set off from Kent to Scotland on holiday! Come weekends we set out with the Bond minicar club, a good dozen of us or more to tour the counties. I envy you!
Fantastic. So different and yet (for some of us! not so long ago). Lovely that the owner is happy to share and let you bring us one of your classic Hubnut at the wheel tests. The owner so laid back and matter of fact- turn the key all the way to the right to start it...forward, like that's how all cars are. Another classic video Ian this is why your channel is different and popular
I had a Mk F Ranger, the van version, for 3 years from when I was 16 did many miles all over England and Wales-from Cornwall to the Lakes. The rod brakes made stopping a bit hit and miss, but the turning circle was great and parking it was drive in and lift the back in to tidy up. Would love to have another today to reclaim my teenage years.
I remember the old Bond, it was the first car my uncle owned when I was young boy, our family found great amusement having to be kick started. My dad's first car was the old metal reliant with a wooden chassis. I think I was around 5 years old when he had that and I remember our holiday trips to the Isle of Wight, quite a trip from London in those days.
In my teens I raced model sailing boats. My friend had a Bond G. We frequently attended events in the Bond. 2 x 6 ft. Boats on the roof rack and all the bits plus girlfriend inside. Three abreast. Flat out down hill on the way to Brghton but rather slower up hill. One year my friend and his girlfriend drove it from London to Fleetwood ...and back! God we was 'ard in them days!
In the early sixties and as a 16 year old I bought a MKC to replace my motorbike. The one i boughtfor not a lot of money needed a rebuild and came without an engine. I used a 197cc single from a motorbike as the power unit, Only the later models had Dyna-start and reverse gears.
See that video brought back a lot of memories, I drove mine through the winter, apart from the cold, driving on snow and ice was more than interesting! They were quite popular at the time and I remember a magazine article that showed a couple of people driving one to Switzerland. Happy days.
There bloody scary with a Suzuki t 500 twin in one a mate of mine did it to his grandads when he passed away back in 76 the local village copper had a night mare when he found out wot was in it 3 up with l plates 80 mph ha ha no fear when your 17 the copper smashed it up the next day with a sledge hammer his dad helped as well aged 58 now and I think that old school copper saved are lives from Burt in Somerset
Mel B If I remember correctly you could drive one of these as a 16year old with a provisional license if the ‘car’ didn’t have a reverse gear. It was also amusing to see the driver holding up the bonnet and kick start the engine.
There was no reverse gear. The model tested here had a reversing Ciba Dynastart, and to reverse you stop the engine then turn the key the opposite way and start the engine up backwards, and that's why it had a warning light. This model came with a normal dynastart as standard, and the reversing one was an optional extra. It had to have both positive and negative contacts isolated from earth so that it could reverse.
you and me both my first 'car £29, red Mkc 197 villiers 8e motor, freedom at 16, learnt if you can believe it by driving down the Edgware road and round Hyde park corner and back up to canons Corner, learnt alot about being assertive going round Hyde Park corner, many long trips in that bond
I love the upright steering wheel which turns a simple spiral gear engaged with a quadrant. No steering box nor universal joints, just pokes through the dashboard. Couldn't be less complicated if you tried.
Austin Somerset wheel is the same it needs a leather fat rim of a ford escort gt to stop u smacking your knuckles on the window handle ha ha
Worm and sector steering. The entire engine turns with the front wheel.
Great video Ian. I remember in the mid sixties a neighbour had the Mk1 and you always knew when he was going to work as you could hear his bond start and you could see the cloud of fumes rising from his drive. We lived on quite a steep hill and he had to go up it to go to work and he thrashed it in first to about 5mph and then hurriedly change into second before the car lost momentum. In the mid 70’s as a motorcyclist who got fed up of arriving at work wet I passed my test and bought a Reliant Regal van with a heater - it was very quick to 20mph and I travelled thousands of miles in it changing it for a Robin van later which I regretted as it would never start from hot!
Happy days
Wonderful car, reminds us of why cars exist - to convey a minimum of one person and a maximum of ? people from point A to B, not about the amount of cup holders, multimedia devices, fuel economy or even safety, just a conveyance. Nice work
You must be joking! It was about the worst car ever made. A truly HORRIBLE and extremely unsafe vehicle. If the front tyre blows out, you are dead.
I think comfort matters a lot when driving
The Bond Minicar was about the most uncomfortable car ever conceived. Driving one was torture!
"Mind you, I've had sixty five out of the invacar... Downhill" - Great line, you must have been clinging on for dear life?!
Charlie Pragnell downhill and with a following wind... There is a way to get them to go faster but in involves a cliff...
My late Father had an older model bond three wheeler in the 1960's , and he always told me that if you stalled it in traffic you had to get out then lift the bonnet and swing your leg into the engine compartment to kick start the engine :)
I need 1. a bond mini car 2. a best friend like you 3. just to say thank you for entertaining me with HubNut . simply brilliant x
Wow yes,the latest Bond model.
Twin as well. More power. Enjoyed the view from the driver's seat.
Very luxurious as the drivers don't
have to stand in side and kick start. As in the original model.
A fun drive with you Ian, amazing tight turning radius on bonds.
Another good'n thanks Ian&
Grant kerney
🚘🚘🚘🚘
from Rich & friends 🐱
From LA. Calif. 🇺🇸
Even the later models had to be kick-started if the Dynastart failed - as it often did. Luxurious? No headliner, no rear suspension, uncomfortable seat and awkward driving position. Extremely noisy and terrible vibration.
The Bond Equipe was designed by a man called Alan Pounder, from Burnley, he was the chief Designer at Bonds, also The Ranger, a 18foot small cruiser and Power Skies, another one of Alans ideas. plus the Bond Scooter. i am nearly 80 now but remember all the details of those years, Bond Rallies up at Morecambe, Happy Days. Ian.
I've long fancied having a Bond for my second three wheeler. Really able little machine and seems quite lively for its engine size :) Shame you didn't get a good closer look at the chaps Equipé in the field as I love them as well, just look awesome imho. Maybe one day I would love for you to throw my Robin around the bendy lanes here in Dorset, I think you would find her a real eye opener as she gets to sixty in quite a short time and just loves windy bendy roads and goes round bends like she is on rails at speeds four wheel cars struggle with hehe
Hi guys - I bought a bond second hand in 1973 for 10 pound - it was the deluxe 12 volt version - unfortunately the brakes had seized on so I couldn’t move it - in 1974 I lived in South Africa for 9 years and when I came back to the UK it had disappeared !!! Before that my dad had a Bond soft top - it was ok as long as it didn’t rain - his was a kick start
"We're doing 10 and 50 at the same time."
Sounds like Heisenburg's Uncertainty Principle. "We know where we are, but we don't know our velocity."
Need mechanic for quantum mechanics the speedo's registering in the 4th dimension.
Xcuze me my tardis has no reverse Can you direct me to the nearest worm-hole.?
I remember some family friends having one of these, which could be driven on a mororbike licence. To reverse, you had to open the bonnet and turn the front wheel around. He used to keep his in immaculate condition, and was a metallic blue.
It was driven all around the UK, and Europe. He eventually passed his driving test and bought a mini (half timbered) traveller.
This brings back some memories of the early nineteen sixties. No wonder the Austin/Morris Mini took the cheap car market away from these awful vehicles. A teenage friend of mine had an old Bond he bought to do up (but he never did, he bought a new Hillman Hunter instead, a good decision I thought).
It's actually pretty hilarious how they essentially took the back end of a motorbike and shoved it under the bonnet of that thing... :D
It's weird because it would have been more stable the other way round. 2 wheels at the front and a non moving bike setup in the rear.
Like the Czech made Velorex "Oskar".
Reread that... I said two up front. Also the reverse isn't turning the wheel fully backwards. there isn't space for it to turn a full 180 in the engine bay. It's done after the transmissions output shaft with an extra gear to reverse direction of force.
I show in the video how reverse is selected. You stop the two-stroke engine and start it in the opposite direction!
A Harley Davidson golf cart used to do that. I wonder if is alters the ignition timing or does it just run retarded?
Thanks for posting this video ..... takes me back some 50 years! My first car(?) was a 300+ Isetta .... as a 16-year-old my parents thought I was safer in that than on a motorbike. At the time (1969/70) we - schoolmates/youthclub friends - had a few microcars between us....a handful of Isettas, a Trojan/Heinkel, a Bond, a Messerschmitt, and perhaps the most unusual, a Nobel. The Nobel was a proper - if extremely cramped - 4-seater, powered by the same Sachs 200cc 2-stroke single as the Messerschmitt. I wish I'd kept the bubble, but sadly the usual schoolboy lack of cash, and the need for new tyres and battery, meant it had to go (A while later I ended up with an old -even then- Lambretta for the princely sum of £10).
I've owned a Bond Minicar, two Messerschmitts and a Nobel 200. The Nobel was a nice vehicle, if a little under-powered.
To think. When I was a lot younger (82 now) my mate had one of these as his everyday car, traveling to & from work, shopping, holidays, etc. Of course, he spent a hell of a lot of time spannering :)
I bet the drive home in elly must have seemed almost luxurious!
I had that exact model but without the optional extra reverse, which was a reversing Ciba dynastart which enabled the engine to be started up backwards. That 250 twin had high compression cylinder heads and a straight through exhaust, hence the noise. It was available with a 250 single which was much quieter but slower. I could get to work in mine in 5 minutes, but I never beat 7 minutes in a proper car. It was so fast one up, but the more people you put in it the slower it went. It was great fun taking right hand corners on 2 wheels. Having no reverse was not a problem because you literally drive out of a tight spot sideways. I had it 2 years until I passed my car test, then traded it in on a Vauxhall Victor FS, but that's another story. Was the paint burnt off the underside of the bonnet like mine? That engine got very hot.
Very briefly, I had one of these when I was 16. A friend of my father died, and his widow gave it to me. this on had a single cylinder, 197 c.c., Villiers engine, which I had to kick start by standing in the engine compartment. (Dong this took a baleful toll on footwear and shin). Driving it was an excruciating experience, partially due the noise (which was like being in a metal dustbin with a motor mower) and the tendency of the front end to dip into the curb on roads with a pronounced camber. Economy motoring it was not, as it drank its 16:1 petroil mix. Later, I had a Francis Barnett motorcycle fitted with the same Villiers 9E, which would go at least three times farther on a gallon of petrol than the Bond.
I also had a bond mini in 1965 when I was in the navy and stationed in Portsmouth.Regularly drove up to London 5 up for the weekend no comfort with canvas rear seat and no heating in the winter.Absolute luxury when I sold it to buy a Triumph Herald.
Super post Arthur ! Happy memories
Brilliant piece of machinery. I had one in 1968 and used to regularly drive/freewheel/push it from my home town Brighton to Minehead in Somerset and back to visit my parents
My father bought one of these, new, in 1961 in green, when his 1933 Hillman Minx broke its halfshaft.once too often. I admire his intrepid attitude, I don't think you cd tempt me in one as a passenger.
Me hat's off to you for actually driving it.
Instead of an ambulance my metalwork teacher took me to the hospital in his Reliant after my gym/PE teacher helped break my foot. Hopping all the way to his car exhausted and beyond tears he proudly showed me the damage his thing had got from the night before. The front end was all held together with tape... lots... He'd shattered the front corner tipping it over in a roundabout. To this day I've never been more anxious as a passenger in ANY vehicle. No 3-wheelers on pot-holed roads EVER again ! I admire your courage in this death-trap. Only Fools and Horses...
Very interesting, thanks Ian. My Grandad had one - affectionately known in the family as "Pop pop". From that I'm guessing it was a single cylinder.
This is OUTSTANDING content! I'm so glad I found this channel!!
With that upright wheel it must be like steering a ship.
Aye cap'n.
Like having an outboard motor, but up front.
Probably handles llke one
I'm not sure which was the funniest, the car or the subtitles! Another great video Ian!
'old on, I think I 've lost me revs', well I bet that's never been said before on YT, thanks for entertaining Hub Nut!
Oh man I'd love to try a drive of one of these! Oddest thing I've ever driven is a Trabi but I think a Bond would be in another league.
My uncle had the van version of this deathtrap. Ended life as a chicken shed for mums Moran hens. even they were scared of it.
My brother owned one of the back in the 1960s. From what I remember it didn't have an electric start but you had to use a kick starter under the bonnet which was quite undignified.
I love the Bond 3 wheelers. It's in my "bucket garage" next to the Morris Minor Traveler, and the more modern Smart roadster.
Marvellous, utterly marvellous..exquisite gearchange..wow!
I really like how the speedometer cannot make its mind up about how fast your were going... :)-
All in all a very bizarre little creature, thanks for showing it.
Cheers,
- Eddy
I always liked the look of these. Saw one at Bromley pageant in the 80s loved them ever since 👍
Electric start!? Very refined. A neighbour had one back in the 1950's and I think he had to lift the bonnet and kick start it. Something like a 197 Villiers if I remember right.
I had that exact model. The twin engined version has the Villiers 2T sports bike engine with high compression heads and straight through exhausts, hence the noisiness. It will sing along at 70mph all day, but not uphill of course. I often went round corners on 2 wheels. You get a feel for how far you can go, and if you let go of the throttle and twitch the steering wheel back a tad, the errant wheel will sit down again. I got it because I had a motorcycle licence only. After a couple of years, I passed my car test and let her go. Everyone should drive one of these because you soon learn how not to lose control of a car. BTW, no one was ever killed in a Bond because the aluminium body acted as a perfect crumple zone.
Fantastic vid Ian! I'd give my right arm for one of these Bonds, my uncle was the MD of Bond Cars in Preston in the fifties 👍
Tom Gratrix?
@@chrisg6086 no CR Gray, Sharps
@@s1914 Ah yes, Colonel Gray was the Chairman, wasn't he? I believe he lived in Hampshire in later life? After he died, a friend of mine in Preston bought a red Mercedes coupé which apparently turned out to have been Col Gray's car.
@@chrisg6086 no, Lancashire, and I never recall him having a red Merc coupe, he did have a sky blue SL….
@@s1914 Thanks, It was an SL, and a very decent one too. I presume it must have gone on to someone else in Hampshire after he had it, then.
Another great roadtest of a really interesting vehicle. Thanks Ian 😀
*guy starts getting out of P50*
*cut*
*next shot*
Lovely speedo. Usually the lowest number is correct with wobbly speedos but this one seems all over the place :D.
Brilliant thing, the Bond minicar. It actually doesn't seem to drive too horrible, you didn't correct the steering all the time.
The earlier models did not have an electric start. You had a handle attached to a cord that came through the dashboard. When you got in, pulled the choke and switched the ignition on you pulled the handle, which effectively operated the engine kickstart mechanism to turn the engine over. After a while the cord frayed if you didn't change it regularly and there was always a danger it would snap and you would belt the passenger in the mouth with it! I remember my father lifting up the front to turn the thing around to park it in our back yard. I used to sit on my mothers knee in the front!!
I'm sure it makes you a better, safer driver as they prospect of crashing is frightening! Another good video Ian.
Steering seemed a little "book now, turn later", but that turning circle is just amazing. Awesome stuff.
A old navy acquaintance of mine had one of these, but it got written off when it was blown over on to its side on the Severn Bridge! Such an odd design to have endured so long; I presume that the tax and licensing advantages conferred on its designation as a motorcycle helped with this. Thanks once more Ian - I suspect that you had a blast with this one!
I and my girlfriend pulled into a parking area up a pass in the Lake District in our Bond when a very strong wind was blowing. The car was almost lifting off the ground, and we didn't dare get out, because I'm sure it would have blown over.
My uncle had one of these back in the day. He hand painted it British racing green! I remember him telling me when he went on holiday to Scotland with my auntie and their dog (that must have been a journey in itself all the wayfrom Stockport!) .
While he was up there the engine seized out in the middle of nowhere. He walked to the nearest town and managed to find a dealer or garage who sold him a piston, he walked back and repaired it at the side of the road and continued on his way. Try doing that with a modern car!
I think that the twin cylinder Villiers engine deserves the adjective, mighty!
I love the kickstart in the engine bay . Mental little car.
Back in the 1960’s a 16 year old (the minimum age then) could drive one of these on “L” plates - unaccompanied, but could not carry passengers, unless one had a full bike licence. They were classed as a motorcycle. I never owned one, but drove one many times, both convertible and like this one with a fixed roof. You could also buy a removable hardtop. Incredible to think that (in those days) a completely inexperienced provisional bike licence holder could drive one of these. A relative of mine did just that, picking a brand new one up from the manufacturers, Sharps Commercials in Preston, and driving it home to Oldham. As I recall there was no reverse gear.
Hello the one in your video is a Mk F. I worked there in 1961, until I was Jnr Salesman to Ken Wallace the Sales Manager and he opened Harbour Garage, VW Agent in 1964, i was Jnr Salesman in those days, after a few years, I was appointed General Manager of Fairways VW Preston Ltd, in 1971, went on to do that record breaking trip of a VW Beetle sailing across the Irish Sea in June 1973, With regards to John Woods, i new him very well a lovely man helped me a lot in my career , Happy days at Sharps Commercial, Part of the Loxham Group of Companies, Preston. HQ.
That was great! Styling wise I think the MK A and B looked best but I've never seen one on the road. Love the 2 stroke smell.
My Dad had a Mk C for a while. He fitted a pull lever in the cab with a cable attached to the kick start. So sophisticated!
Ah memories! My friend had one of these when we were both 16 and we used to travel to school and back. Given that we lived in the Pennines and the brakes were absolutely useless, we had some memorable journeys!
I have camped at that field. It is amazing seeing that collection.
Hope you're keeping a log of all these different cars you are driving Ian, because one day, you'll want to write them all down.
As usual, great drive and commentary, Ian. Some of the vehicles you take on, it must be very challenging to do both. I was offered the single cylinder (no frills) option for £75.00 in Carlisle, Cumbria in 1980. How my life might have changed if only I had taken it instead of a 2.5 Ford Granada (second-rate-Sweeney-mobile,) with a blowing exhaust and four star thirst...You could buy just about anything then for just under/over £100.00. I ended up with a Volkswagon Variant estate, otherwise known as a "Straight back." It had a curious device for pressurising the windscreen-washer...There was a connection from the valve of the tyre (in the front) to the water reservoir. This meant pumping the 15"tyre up to about 80p.s.i. Understandably, you'd be concerned about the tyre bursting under this pressure, so you did it with the bonnet in the down position. So all was well until the tyre went completely down and then you were left with neither screen-washer - nor a working spare tyre! V.W. went on to fit a Schrader valve to the water bottle so you could pressurise it directly with a airline AND have your spare.' The heat collectors weren't very effective either and one of the few times I remember being comfortably warm was when the "Deviant" was packed full of furniture from nose to tail.
When are you going to "grass-test" my 1975 Ransomes Matador cylinder mower with jockey seat? It has the allegedly, superior "Magg" engine. I say superior as, walking behind it or taking the "trailed seat" option is unbelievably slow and attempting any of the gradients in my terraced garden means either dismounting and/or pushing like mad. It has no reverse option so hopefully that means when the eeeeuuuuu get round to insisting on 3rd party insurance for tractor mowers* mine will be exempt from plating, testing and as long as I don't use the trailed-seat option too much I'll be spared a "proficiency-test." *Is this in case you drive out on the road by accident?" "No this is in case you drive over a hedgehog or your granny's foot...by accident!"
That is one of the craziest cars I have ever seen. Only in Scotland would you find that one.
I had one of these, but without the reversing dynastart. I didn't need it any way because of the ability to just go sideways with that steering system. It was so fast. I sold it when I passed my car test, and bought a 2l. Standard Vanguard . I had to add 3 minutes to my travel time to work to beat the clocking in machine. The Bond was amazing fun to drive, going round corners on 2 wheels for a bit of adrenaline. I swear I had it up to 70, but one up and with my 10stone weight. Adding passengers slowed it down noticeably.
I had one of these very briefly in about 1967. Electric start did not work so had to kick start it. I saw the kick lever in your vid but you did not mention it. Every start meant lifting the bonnet and throwing a leg inside the engine bay to kick!! Did not last long as did not impress girls. Like a motorboat at the fairground.
You can't deny you got your legover though, eh? ;-))
My dad had one of these when i was growing up in the 60s. it was a light blue colour. i seem to remember we spent most of our time pushing it :)
"Hey man how's this gonna steer?"
"Make the steering wheel move the whole engine with the wheel"
"Excuse me?"
Loving that gearbox.
It was possible to open the bonnet and kickstart the engine if the "starter motor" failed (which was most of the time). On the upside, with a small spanner the roof came off for the convertible version.
I would be happy to daily this in Canada. I love all the odd ball stuff.
I think more cars shoud have a sequential dog-sync'd gearbox. The modern ones are so lovely and snappy! Much faster and more satisfying than a standard H-pattern shifted box with synchromesh.
2 cylinder? Not on my much loved Bond. 197cc of pure undiluted power with 180 Deg turning circle and no reverse. Great fun and that huge bench seat offered a lot of prospects. Geddit 😊
I believe that the very early Bonds did not have a starter. To start one lifted the bonnet, stepped in, stood on the ground and kick started like a motor bike. I believe that another version had a wire attached to the kick start which went through a hole in the dashboard.....
my neighbour told me about his dad's one where you could kick start it on freezing mornings when the battery wouldn't start it up.
If that scammell explorer on that low loader works you should test drive it !!!
Very interesting car.......never saw one of these before. One wheel driven is unique. Good road test video Ian!
Nice to revisit the Bond minicar
Driven like a pro! And your co-pilot was a good sport too.
Mr hubnut you drove it like a pro I had a mk f with rod brakes completely refurbished by me and dad (mostly dad ) .He owned a mk d but did not finish restoring it.
There was a craze for microcars when I was in the 6th form at school, both amongst the pupils and the teachers. Several Heinkels and Trojans a Berkeley a Reliant Regal and a Bond Minicar. They could be had for around £15 at the time (late 60's), which seems cheap, but I got a nice 10 year old Triumph Herald for £50, so not that cheap in comparison. I wanted a bubble car, but my girlfriend said she would chuck me if ever I did - so the Herald it was. I had a ride in all of them. The Berkeley was the coolest by far. I remember staring out of the school window at the Bond being kick started by standing in the engine compartment. Not sure if this was the only way of starting it or a backup. The Berkeley got blown up (on a trip to Blackpool) during the summer hols, so it was towed 100 miles(!!) home by an Austin pickup truck, borrowed from a farm and fitted with a Mini engine, gearbox and front subframe. This required a huge bonnet bulge, which was moulded from fibreglass over a plywood former. God only knows how it got through an MOT, but I think it was brakes lights and steering only at that time. I went like a rocket needless to say, with the 850cc engine. Not sure if the car or owner survived!
Excellent video . Those engines are great
Lawrence Bond was someone I would love to have a One-2-One with, he was an amazing automotive designer coming up with strange ideas. Was that a Bond Equipe 4 parked next to a Scammell Crusader? I used to have the a Bond Equipe 2 Litre Mk1, which when someone saw it, they could either have one of four reactions towards it… 1) That looks interesting I wonder what it is. 2) They laugh. 3) They (or should I say my friend Neil) think the car should be based down in Brighton and owned by someone called Graham Norton or someone like him and 4) As I found when driving up the A1M when a nice man in a BMW Series 8 overtook and did a rude hand jester. I still don't know if he did not like the car or it's because my brother was in the car at the time. Anyway it was a hoot to drive and being based on a Vitesse Mk1 running gear and a GT6 Mk1 engine? it was easy to get parts for. But alas it had to go due to too many cars. It now lives down in Eastbourne, so not too far away form Brighton it seems.
An Equipe GT4S, and with a white Equipe 2 Litre saloon behind it
I want one, that looks fun to drive. I wonder if a 500cc motor would fit, here in the U.S. you need a little more power to keep up with your neighbors. Seriously you got me thinking about getting one here, I know the Invacar would be hard to register here, but on the other hand if I am right they did sell those Bonds here but with limited sales and thusly a Bond would be easier to register here. Now the Bond is my new dream car.
A Suzuki t 500 twin works well a mate of mine did it to his back in the 70s it was a flying machine and often the drive wheel would spine the tire on the rim and puncture the tube he also fitted small stabilizer 8 in wheels with to Honda cb 175 spring Shook's each side to take corners fast like a qwingo mobility scooter ha ha 80 mph then you chicken out no fear at age 17 back in the day
Thanks hubnut driven like professional must be GT fun
Bought back memories of my grandfather's Pop-Pop. His was a saloon (or ws it coupè?) in green. One-wheel dirve ....love it! Although t belonged to my grandad it seemed to spend a lto of time in my Dad's hands..... Gear lever had self-same rust pitting.... Plenty of room to work on the engine unlike TWC
thanks Hubnut 4 uploading video when I'm sat in work 👍👍
When I first started my apprenticeship in 1964 one of the machine tool fitters had one of these but I remember it as having a single cylinder villiers engine and you could start it by Kickstarter but cannot be sure. In the 70's my younger brother had a Bond 3 wheeler that had the Imp engine in the rear, it went well but was frightening to corner in. During the 60's the Messershmit, Isetta, Heinkel, etc cars were quite common and unlike today very cheap used as the advent of the Mini killed them off.
Most were single-cylinder, and some did indeed have an under-bonnet kick start. Don't stall it!
Fantastic! These are definitely another guilty secret of mine :) The only 3 wheeler that I have ever driven was a 1938 Morgan F type with the Ford side valve engine and crash gearbox. It was rather quick and handled better than I expected (though the single wheel is at the back of course). I found I soon forgot that it only had 3 wheels.
Two wheels out front One in the arse. Morgan's front engine rear wheel drive.. a regular car just missin a wheel.
It's cars like this that make me realise how much I love walking.
its got a tiptronic box haha
Brilliant. My Mrs would love that if I came home with one!
Maybe not.
Once on the open road it went well and the noise became quite pleasing (I dislike the 4 stroking on part load) 6:40
I always assumed the Bond Minicars had no heater since the engine did not feature a cowled cooling fan.
But apparently some models had a heater, there was a cowling around the exhaust pipe(s) to pick up heat and the warmed air was ducted into the cabin when required (it could be shut off by closing a flap) using the ram effect of the car's speed (there was no fan).
A schoolmate of mine had one of these when we were both 16, in a very hilly part of West Yorkshire by the Pennine’s. It was a miracle non of us got killed in the thing. We came to rest wedged in some park gates once because the brakes were that bad. Oh happy days lol.
What an interesting car. I didn't know that the whole lot turned with the front wheel. How did the steering feel? As it didn't look to heavy. I was surprised the gear change was much nicer than I imagined it would. Thanks for another great video👍
Not much steering feel!
You yubo wheel spinning about, I'm truly envious as you driving the Messerschmidt . Another great shared drive keep it coming