RUMCars Forum
General Category => Off Topic Lounge => Topic started by: Barry on May 06, 2014, 10:34:23 AM
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At 875cc, derived from a Bond) its not a real microcar but deserves a mention. (It's also quite big)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acAS8ZrISoo&feature=youtu.be
The pet project of Third Doctor Jon Pertwee, the Whomobile was much more than an outsized prop for a TV time-traveller. Pertwee built the car with his own money, working with British customiser Peter Farries. Although its eight-inch rubber skirt made it look like a hovercraft, the ground-hugging Whomobile was in fact a three-wheeler, similar to the diminutive Bond 875 (1965-70), with a modified 875cc four-cylinder engine from a Hillman Imp providing the motivation (sorry, those jet nozzles were just for looks). And the car was street-legal, albeit barely; the bubble top worn in its Doctor Who appearances (Pertwee coaxed his producers to write the Whomobile into the series’ 10th season) had to be replaced with a more traditional windscreen – from a motorboat, in fact – to make the car drivable on public roads. Pertwee claimed to have taken his winged wonder to “well over” 100mph. He made a memorable appearance with the car in October 1973 on the BBC children's television show Blue Peter. Watch the segment here.
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I wouldn't want to be riding my moped anywhere near this thing, those wings could slice a rider in half! Street legal? Hmmm. well over 100mph? Hmmm. science fiction?
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The Bond 875 was fitted with a water-cooled low compression 875cc engine from the Commer Van/Hillman Imp which gave the vehicle a top speed of 80 - 90 mph. Years ago someone from Eastbourne upped the compression by fitting Imp pistons and with a mild tune of the engine made the Bond into something rather lethal, just right for the drag strip.