WITH quite startling performance, the Bond 875 threw away the three-wheeler rule book. Just after the Second World war, Lawrie Bond launched his Minicar three-wheeler which was very sparse in terms of equipment and just about everything else. But afterwards Bond qualified for a licence to thrill with its Triumph based Equipe sports car and decided to develop this know-how into the world of three-wheelers. The result was startling. The 875, built at the Bond factory in Preston, did not look much, but when you got behind the wheel it was made of sterner stuff. Launched in 1965 with production getting under way the following year, the 875 was special because it had the engine at the rear, and not at the front as was normal with lightweight glass fibre three-wheelers. And the engine in particular was sourced from the Hillman Imp which gave the car some punch. Some said its performance was frightening, and yes it was a tad scary because the 875 could attain 80mph with little effort. The problem was the handling because oversteer was on a grand scale, due to it lightness at the front. In fact the whole car weighed less than 400kg making it a better performer than the Imp itself. The 875cc alloy engine came as a complete package with Imp transmission, rear suspension and rear wheels. A bonus was that the engine was the detuned version as used on the Commer van so cheaper two-star low octane petrol could be used. And because of the car's light weight it qualified for cheaper motor cycle road tax too. Although I never got round to driving one I hear all sorts of performance claims for this car. One is that racing driver John Surtees managed to achieve 100mph in one at Brands Hatch. Built up to 1970, there was also a 95mph Ranger van version. The 875 was was curtailed after Reliant bought out the Bond company in 1969, because the 875 did not sit comfortably against Reliant's Regal model which the company was pushing – as were some owners from time to time. But the 875's main competitors were the Imp and the BMC Mini and it stood up very well against such classics With a 0-60mph sprint of 16 seconds, and only 14 seconds for the lighter van, the 875 was no sluggard, as was proved by an Autocar magazine road test in 1966. The top speed achieved was 82.8mph but 0-60mph did not agree with the official time taking a longer 22.5 seconds. But all was ahead of the 850cc Mini, except in cornering, comfort and price. At £506 the 875 was more expensive than the £478 Mini - and of course it had one less wheel. | 
News | Road tests | Buying advice | Views | Special reports | Manufacturers | Used cars | New cars | Book an Ad | Dealers
