WHEN DID YOU LAST SEE – A BOND 875?
By Ellie Priestley |
10th June, 2020
Some cars seemed destined to become remembered as only a “missing link” between two popular models, yet the 875 deserves a better fate. It is rather more than the Bond that linked the final examples of the Minicar and the first of Bugs. The 875 should be remembered as the Preston firm’s attempt at a new form of three-wheeler for the late 1960s.
The latest Bond debuted in August 1965, to a considerable degree of interest. The company favoured a Villiers power and an FWD layout for the long-running Minicar, but the 875 featured a rear-mounted unit. The engine was a low-compression version of the Imp plant, combined with Hillman-sourced all-synchromesh 4-speed transmission and independent suspension. The last-mentioned was quite a talking point for a 1960s three-wheeler.
The initial price was £496 19s 7d, and the top speed was a rather impressive 82 mph. Indeed, John Surtees famously drove an 875 around Brands Hatch in 1965, where he exceeded 100 mph! The GRP body incorporated a removable back number plate valance to allow greater access to the engine bay while the front compartment carried the spare wheel and little else; the owner could specify a roof-mounted luggage box for an additional £10 18s 6d. Bond also provided, free of charge, a blanking plate for those drivers with only a motorcycle licence to comply with the regulations of the day.
Autocar of 3rd September 1965 praised the 875’s ‘good brakes and unexpectedly safe handling’. They also noted that ‘Cornering is very stable, and there is little to remind one that there is only one wheel at the front’. Production of the Minicar ended in November 1966, and the 875 looked set to enjoy the success of its predecessor - yet only 3,400 examples were to leave the Preston works.
One problem was it developed a reputation for unreliability. Dealers faced the additional challenge that in 1965 the Reliant Regal 3/25, the 875’s main competitor, was already long-established. The cost was a further issue; in 1966 the Bond’s price was £505 13s 6d, with a heater an additional £9 4s 5d and a spare wheel (!) a further £9 4s 6d. A prospective customer who held a car licence might well have opted for a Mini or an Imp, both of which offered better accommodation for a family of four.
Bond continued development of the 875, with the three-door Ranger van in 1967; the extras included a paint finish for £10 and the front passenger seat. By March 1968, the facelifted Mk. II featured then-fashionable rectangular headlamps and a larger bonnet plus a heater and windscreen washers as standard. However, sales remained low and in February 1969 Reliant acquired the Bond Cars Ltd. The final 875 was constructed twelve months later, shortly before the launch of the Bug.
From a 21st century viewpoint, the gulf between the two Bond models now appears astronomical – if the Bug was for the Kings Road habitué the 875 seemed best suited for Joe and Petunia of the Coastguard Public Information Film - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6x236Q82_A. But there was a time when Bond proudly boasted they made ‘the fastest car on three wheels’ – as well as one of their most ambitious models.
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