Top Ten Trivia
Our spotlight of trivia is turned on the unmistakable and unique Bond Bug.
The Bond Bug from Reliant marked a sea change in the world of three-wheelers, replacing austerity motoring with something that was radical, youthful and designed almost purely for fun. In advertising, they even touted it as a bird-pulling dolly bug (their words, not ours!). Here are some other facts about this wedgiest of wedge shaped cars. COMPILED BY SIMON GOLDSWORTHY
In some ways, the twin histories of Bond and Reliant follow remarkably similar paths. Lawrence ‘Lawrie’ Bond designed his three-wheeled Minicar aimed squarely at those struggling to buy their first car or wishing to move up from a motorcycle and made a deal with Sharps Commercials Ltd of Preston to build it from 1948. Meanwhile, down in Tamworth, Tom Lawrence Williams was also targeting the bargain basement end of the market, having registered his first three-wheeled delivery van under the Reliant name in 1935, and introduced the Reliant Regal three-wheeled car in 1951.
Both marques later went on to produce larger and more sporting offerings alongside their three-wheelers, Bond with their Triumph-based Equipe from 1963 and Reliant with their Sabre introduced in 1961 and the more familiar Scimitar family from 1964. I wouldn’t like to over- egg the similarities though, because the two operations had fingers in many different pies, Reliant in particular being prolific in the design, development and production of new models both here and abroad.
However, by the 1960s the three-wheeled offerings had grown very different. By now the Bond Minicar had been developed into the 250 G Twin, but was still very minimalist and powered by a 250cc Villiers two-stroke engine producing just 14.6bhp. In contrast, in 1962 Reliant introduced the thoroughly modern and roomy Regal 3/25 with a fibreglass body and an all-alloy 598cc OHV four-stroke engine putting out 24.2bhp.
Bond knew that they had to respond in kind if they were to compete. Their answer was the Bond 875, also with a fibreglass body but powered by an 875cc Hillman Imp engine in the back. The first prototype ran in 1964, but it wasn’t ready for production until June 1966. The 875 was developed into the MkII for March 1968, by which time the teething troubles had been ironed out and it had genuine potential as a rival to Reliant’s Regal. That potential was never to be realised though – in early 1969 the Reliant Motor Company took over Bond Cars Limited and promptly scaled back 875 production to a level that filled existing orders, finally killing off the model in February 1970.
It would be wrong to think that Reliant simply took over Bond to silence a potential rival, though. The reality was rather more complex, and included Reliant’s desire to develop the links with Standard-Triumph that had been forged by the Bond Equipe. Equally important was the reorganisation within Bond’s parent company, the Bradshaw Group, that required the sale of Bond Cars Limited so that the Loxham’s Garages Ltd dealership chain and Bond’s own Ribbleton Lane and New Hall Lane premises could be sold to Dutton Forshaw.
The end result was that the car we are celebrating today, the Bug, had already been designed by Tom Karen at Ogle Design Ltd, the idea was then sold to what was initially a not totally convinced Reliant board in 1967, and the car was launched as the Bond Bug in 1970. Here some other factoids about the model that will hopefully interest, entertain and even occasionally surprise you!
1
The Bug was a totally new departure for Reliant, whose three-wheeled cars had up to that point been aimed largely at buyers who wanted as much car as they could get for the minimum of outlay. The Bug was designed to be a fun car that would attract a younger clientele; in fact it was perhaps the first car to be targeted exclusively at drivers in the 17-25 year old age bracket. Reliant even put together a package for them that included hire purchase and two years’ insurance, the latter costing just £25 per year for any driver over the age of 18 at any address in the country.
2
Initially the new car was going to be called the Reliant Rogue, but after the takeover of Bond, this was changed to the equally alliterative Bond Bug. The prototype Reliant Rogue had retractable headlights similar to those on the Scimitar SS1 and Porsche 928 that rolled back when not in use so that the lenses pointed upwards flush with the bodywork. These were ditched for production in favour of simple fixed rectangular pods, whose 90° angles worked surprisingly well with the triangular bodywork, and certainly much better than the previous circular lamps had done.
3
The Bug did not have seats as such, just padding on the contoured bodyshell. Nor did it have conventional doors, but instead the roof, windscreen and scuttle were made as a single moulding that hinged forwards to allow occupants to enter and exit. The roof was assisted in opening and then supported by a spring-loaded gas strut, while sidescreens could be fixed to close off the sides. On the initial designs the rear of the Bug was angled sharply inwards to finish ahead of the axle and there was nowhere for the sidescreens to be stored when not
in use, so this was made more vertical for production to create a small lockable boot and a tiny parcel shelf. This bootlid was painted black so owners could use it as a display board rather than putting stickers in the very narrow rear window. 4
Reliant planned to offer customers only one colour choice on the Bug. Lime Green was planned initially, but then Reliant changed their mind and went with Tangerine Orange, either because it was cheaper or because it stayed brighter when dirty, depending on who you believe. (Reliant did also make some special promotional vehicles though – Lime Green for Rose’s Cordials, and White for both Cape Fruit and Rothmans Tobacco.) A range of specifications were available, though. The basic 700 model started at £548.0s.4d (or £48 less than the cheapest Mini), but was so pared back that it had no side screens and the roof was not even hinged. Unsurprisingly, only one was sold. The 700E costing £579.7s.0d was more popular, while the 700ES retailing at £628.19s.2d proved to be the biggest seller. 5
The Bug was capable of both 70mpg and 75mph, though presumably not at the same time. It was launched to the press at Woburn Abbey in June 1970, an event that generated huge and largely positive publicity even though one journalist managed to roll his car onto the Duke of Bedford’s lawn. Despite what was really quite a high price, the orders flooded in far more quickly than Reliant could build them. This contributed to (but was by no means the only factor in) Reliant’s decision to close Bond’s two Preston factories in 1970 and move Bug production south to Tamworth. 6
When Reliant wanted to exhibit their Bug at the London Motor Show in 1970, they were told that because it only had three wheels, it had to be shown at the later Motorcycle Show instead. So
Reliant hit on the ruse of joining two Bugs together back-to-back using a shared axle – the resulting car had four wheels in a diamond pattern and was allowed into the Motor Show. Reliant did point out to prospective buyers that they could only buy half of the car, though.
7 In October 1973, the Bug was treated to the bigger 748cc engine that had been developed for the new Robin (up from the 701cc unit as borrowed from the Regal 3/30 and Reliant Rebel). For those who were brave enough, this reputedly gave the 750ES Bug a top speed of 105mph. Unfortunately the new Robin was to be a mixed blessing for the Bug, as shortly after its launch in May 1974, Reliant axed the tangerine dream fun machine to concentrate on their new more conventional car. Estimates suggest around 2268 Bugs had been built in total. 8
The 750ES may have been the fastest factory Bug, but there were at least two four-wheeled dragsters built in the 1970s using Bug componentry. Metronome – built with Reliant’s cooperation and ultimately fitted with a Chrysler 6.8-litre V8 engine – achieved 154mph, and Doodle Bug with a Daimler 2.5-litre V8 engine managed 123mph down the strip. 9
Reliant was strapped for cash in the 1980s, and late in the decade they sold the tooling for the deceased Bond Bug to Mike and Gary Webster in Hampshire. The resulting WMC Bug (for Webster Motor Company Ltd) was developed as a fourwheeler using the front subframe from the Mini, though original style three-wheel chassis were also produced. With 12in wheels on the back and 10in on the front, the WMC Bug was sold as a kit to be built around the 850cc engine from a Reliant Robin, but few were produced before WMC folded in February 1998. 10
Another revival was attempted on the Bug after a complex series of failures and takeovers during the 1990s saw Reliant end up in the hands of a group of investors. They dusted off a proposed update of the Bug called the Reliant Sprint, but developed it in a four-wheeled direction as project RFW9. Two prototypes are believed to have been built before the project was canned in 1999, and one of them survives.