Bond 875 mk2

[Stuart Cyphus]

 Even from 6,000 miles hence, you can't keep me away from a bit of conveyance discussion. The main thing to remember with conversions on "odd" cars such as Messerschmitt's is that there are many disablitys which can stop you walking any distance but which can still leave you with enough use of the legs to be able to get into, & operate foot controls, in the normal way.  Trouble is, this ability to get into a car such as a Messerschmitt might indeed mean you do not QUITE qulify for a Ministry conveyance, hence why they bought a Messerschmitt, Scootacar or Trojan. Before anyone starts on about "why didn't they then get a normal car?", remember also the tax advantages etc that bubblecars had over normal cars, not to mention their ease of manoverability & fitting into gaps etc. This I would say is why there are several disabled conversions on bubblecars.

 Sounds like an intresting edition of Take Off awaits me when I get home.....

[Big Al]

Yes Take Off continues to be an above average publication. I had wondered about an Invalid Carrage version called Hop Off, a Bubblecar version called Pop Off and a step in the right direction might be caused by a Bond Bug version! In homage to Ronnie Barker there.

What is required is to find an intact Schmitt addapted car or an ex owner to find out more. I fear like original 1957 standard cars they have all been altered to the Club approved spec which pretty much did not exist! Hey ho.

[richard]

come on al you missed Peel Off and Scoot Off, watch this space for more i guess

[Big Al]

Nob Off! Oh sorry punctuation error there, Richard. Restauration, I like the concept. It is a cheap eatery where yesterday's Michelin star dishes are rebuilt and served to the enthusiast.

[richard]

cheap eateries - always worry i will get the schmitts

[Big Al]

It can happen! Is this why the Messerschmitt is shaped as the worlds largest suppository?

Should a group of us go on the Dragon's Den to remake the Bond 875? Nice quacker engine in the back. Gets round the congestion charge by being a two wheeler.

[Daniel Rodd]

i think if dragons den existed in the 60s they would have rejected the 875 when it was new!
been hearing some very interesting info of a friend of mine who was a bike mechanic in the 60s,most of his mates had an 875,all of them ended up rolling them,most suffered with tank slappers on the front end,and that the real reason why Bond went down the pan(ie had no money)was because of the amount of law suits being brought against them by people and their families of people who were killed in them etc due to their dangerous handling.

[P50]

i think if dragons den existed in the 60s they would have rejected the 875 when it was new!
been hearing some very interesting info of a friend of mine who was a bike mechanic in the 60s,most of his mates had an 875,all of them ended up rolling them,most suffered with tank slappers on the front end,and that the real reason why Bond went down the pan(ie had no money)was because of the amount of law suits being brought against them by people and their families of people who were killed in them etc due to their dangerous handling.

let's be honest here.  one wheel at front is not condusive to old age..!  my friend has 2 invacars and 1 robin and 2 regals.

they are evil!  tank into a bend and it's game over.  a la clarkson.  

ok for old boys in the 70's (and in their 70's!) with oversized ears, mottled red nose, oil'd down hair, crisp pressed beige slacks and smelling of wee who do 10mph round a bend but no good for a 17 year old who wants to show the world what a tasty driver he is!

ahh those were the days! when british crap was bought with pride.  

I used to live pretty much next to a reliant dealer (warwick double) in ilford in the 70's and used to note the yob mechanics ragging the arse out of sweaty regals and robins round the block for whatever test reason!

left me with no desire to own one!!

hatefull things but strangely endearing!        I'd like to park one outside montecarlo casino next to the veyrons and lambos!

[Daniel Rodd]

i love my Reliants,thats why ive had 20,they handle very well IF you know how to drive them,great fun sliding them round wet roundabouts.Alloys on the back helps a tremendous amount,as it widens the rear track.the key is slow in fast out

[P50]

i love my Reliants,thats why ive had 20,they handle very well IF you know how to drive them,great fun sliding them round wet roundabouts.Alloys on the back helps a tremendous amount,as it widens the rear track.the key is slow in fast out

Indeed. Slow in .i.e. 15MPH.  Then round the entire apex at 15MPH. Then when the road straightens out after say 20 yards nail the gas.   Getting the arse out in the wet may be fun untill it goes horribly wrong and you're upside down.

Consign them as a charming mistake of an oddity. 

Awful things. 

[Daniel Rodd]

what you on about,i rarely go below 30 on most bends,ive never even lifted a wheel,you must be doing it wrong
or did you watch top gear and actually believe that it was a standard car that they hadnt rigged with odd sized wheels because a certain tall chap couldnt roll it on que with the standard 10" wheels on?

[Bob Purton]

I'm with Dan, I had them in my teens, my dad drove them all his life and no, he didn't have enormous ears or a nose that looked like a strawberry! Neither of us got anywhere near to lifting a wheel. Tell us more about this special wheel they used Dan.

[Daniel Rodd]

they fitted a 14" wheel to the front,a 12"on the passenger side and the standad 10" on the drivers side,thus once that massive front wheel was turned it would roll over on command.the "wheelie" was done with a huge water barrel in the boot

[Big Al]

I too cannot really get on with one wheel at the front. When I tried using a Bond Bug the thing was pretty much undrivable fast after getting out of a Messerschmitt. I was for ever on two wheels. It was point and squirt whereas the Schmitt was about momentum and smoothness. The only reason that Reliants and Bugs are fast is because they are overpowered to gain the acceleration needed to keep up a good A to B speed. The Roly engine is a delight. I accept there is a challenge here to drive them and gain the best performance available just as there is with a 'Schmitt. However I prefer the style of the 'Schmitt which is the same required for the Saab Bullnose which ended up as a successfull rally car. I find this style gives me more satisfaction. To put against drifting a Roly I would put three wheel drifting a Schmitt round mini roundabouts keeping the power on but scrubbing off enough speed to exit correctly. Now that is a skill that courts disaster but when you have it it is an absolute blast, especially round the Magic Roundabout in Swindon so as to 'overtake' cars that passed you on the way in by using a different route over the various roundabouts that make up the whole complex. They really do not like it!
If Rolys and their chums were really dangerous they would not have been sold in the numbers they were. It comes back to what I was told when I learned to drive. Drive to the conditions prevailing. This seems to have been forgotten these days but in the '70's when you could only afford a '50's/60's banger it is very much appropriate. If you think a Roly is dangerous try a miss aligned sidecar outfit! Of course these days it is not the responsibility of the driver to make allowences for the vehicle which is assumed to always work perfectly in any conditions and an accident is never the drivers fault but down to some outside influence.


As to Top Gear the fact they have to script and fake so much really does undermine anything they come out with as you do not know what is real and what is false. Much of the driving is not done by them etc etc. It is the nearest our TV gets to Hollywood, more like Cricklewood! Yet as with soaps half the country seems to think it is real. Very worrying when you realise these same people can vote, drive and hold responsible positions in charge of dangerous situations. It also insults the car enthusiast as this is promoted as a programme for petrol heads. Well it is in the way the Sunday Sport is a newspaper.

Ultimately nigh on any TV showing of Microcars is a disappointment so it is almost worth not having them on TV unless we were to do our own presentation.

[blob]

they fitted a 14" wheel to the front,a 12"on the passenger side and the standad 10" on the drivers side,thus once that massive front wheel was turned it would roll over on command.the "wheelie" was done with a huge water barrel in the boot

I haven't been watching TG because I can't bare the awful scripting, but wouldn't mind seeing the aforementioned article, is there a clip anywhere?