Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles
available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. The Bond Bug was
a small British 2-seat, 3-wheeled sports car of the 1970s. Originally a
design of the Bond Motor Company, then after a takeover it was built by
Reliant, first in Preston, then Tamworth, in Staffordshire, and was
designed by Tom Karen of Ogle Design. It was a wedge-shaped microcar,
with a lift-up canopy and side screens instead of conventional doors. It
was originally designed for Reliant and used a modified version of the
Reliant Regal chassis, but was sold under the Bond Cars Ltd name after
Reliant had acquired the rival company. The original concept was
explored by chopping down a production Regal vehicle. This prototype
could be seen, abandoned, in the yard at Tamworth, for many years later.
The engine was the front mounted 700 cc Reliant light-alloy four
cylinder unit which protruded into the passenger cabin. At launch 29 bhp
was claimed for the less expensive 700 and 700E models. The more
up-market 700ES incorporated a redesigned cylinder head which permitted
the compression ratio to be increased from 7.35:1 to a slightly less
modest 8.4:1.
