bond national rally 24-27th may 2013

[Big Al]

Not an expert but A no suspension at rear so slim mudguards rakish slope to rear panel . B sliding pillar suspension , no shocks , so deeper mudguards. Also more upright rear panel giving more luggage room behind front seat. C/D same shell as each other but C 6volt and pullstart and D 12 v and starter motor . Different grills etc. But interim models. Have I got that right ?

A, cable and bobbin steering, plastic screen, tiddly engine. Phased out to B.

Did not the C have a different front yolk to the D. C could have electric start by Heath Robinson. Also could have de lux package of bumpers etc. The butterfly grill got lost somewhere. There will be numerous detail alterations.

I know little about Bonds so await an expert.

[Bob Purton]

Yeh, did not some have a starter motor bolted to the cylinder head with a fan belt the to flywheel operated by lowereing or raising it with a cable, as Al says, one of Mr Heath Robinsons finest? Also I think the mk D had  larger rubber in torsion  units for the rear suspension with more fixing bolt holes. Also MkC has Villiers 8E and D has 9E?

[richard]

I was thinking more visual for barry sorting photo's I guess. Plastic screens and bobbins almost all converted. Through Bonds series of update mods. Factory A's were very early on offerred with the deluxe glass screen and rack as B's . So only sure clue is the back panel angle and depth of wheelarches

[messerschmitt]

MY C is a deluxe and they did indeed have a starter motor bolted to the head. The yolk is different and the deluxe models had the more heavy duty 6V battery in the boot area.

[Big Al]

I think all mine were bobbin jobs. From deep storage where word of Sharp practice never reached, I guess. Might be right about the one from MacIntyre's though. Coo, if had that lot now they'ed be round like moths to a candle.

[Big Al]

MY C is a deluxe and they did indeed have a starter motor bolted to the head. The yolk is different and the deluxe models had the more heavy duty 6V battery in the boot area.

Now the standard would be marketed as the Sports model with all that extra weight on the de lux. Spend more, get less, its a clever trick if you ca do it.

[messerschmitt]

IIRC the flexitor units on a C have six bolts and those on a D have eight. Bodily, they are identical apart from the bonnet and grille.

[Barry]

Well the three pics you posted are all D  except the the cars by the lake - extreme right is nicks lovely OCG 7 mark C with C grill

That's confused me?  Assume you mean the one on the far left is a D with a C grill?

Its the back wings that also confuse me.  The D seems to have plain back wings or ones with a crease detail?

[Barry]

I was thinking more visual for barry sorting photo's I guess. Plastic screens and bobbins almost all converted. Through Bonds series of update mods. Factory A's were very early on offerred with the deluxe glass screen and rack as B's . So only sure clue is the back panel angle and depth of wheelarches

You are right Richard.  There seems to be confusion about the visual features between C & D - grill and rear wings. 
Any obvious visual differences between A and B???

[richard]

woah barry . go right back to my first reply - there you have the differences in a nutshell . no confusion
On C's and D's  it's the grill , the rear wings did change but again there are transition periods . other wing changes have more to do with whether it was a Tourer or Family model - but dont go down that one 
I told you the difference between A and B already - angle of rear panel and depth of rear mudguard - the early cars were regularly updated by owners so those are the only sure things.   
Of course a model will have been updated but if you see a perspex screened Bond it will be an A,  but a glass screened could be a deluxe A , an updated A or a B

CLEAR AS MUD 

[Rusty Chrome (Malcolm Parker)]

The differences between the Mk C and the Mk D are chiefly mechanical rather than visual, so unless you know the car or unless it's an early Mk C with the different grill, you generally can't tell one from the other in the usual front or rear 3/4 photo. Rear wings are a different style between the Tourer and the Family (fibreglass ones have the "detail line"), but not between Mk D's and later C's. The Family is quite a bit different, but you can't really see it in those two pictures taken from the front. Every Mk D I've seen so far seems to have very slight differences to the next, though I'm not sure if this is down to repairs/restoration or the progressive development that Bond indulged in with all of it's Minicars. The more significant mechanical differences are detailed on the Bond Club website http://www.bondownersclub.co.uk/.
The A's and the B's do look quite different if you look at the back, but the wider/deeper mudguards aren't always that obvious in front 3/4 views. Again, mechanically there were lots of changes. As Richard said, clear as mud!

Here's some more pics from the rally.

[Rusty Chrome (Malcolm Parker)]

More pics. Here you can see very clearly the differences between a Mk C Tourer and a Mk D Tourer. The last pic is from the 68 mile run (there & back) on Saturday out to Harlaxton Manor. They'd allowed an hour and half for breakdowns and for the first time nobody had one so it was still shut when we arrived. As well as the Bonds we were joined by a Nobel and Schmit and another four Bonds turned up on the Sunday.

[richard]

now rustychrome ( time we all changed to real names ) you have me there . surely the two photo's both show the same type of car , are they not both D Tourers ? did you post the wrong pic ?

[Garybond]

All very confusing add to the 'B' that the minitruck has a straight back, although not many of these about but looks the same from the front. Are the A and B the same body size
Must go next year looks a good turnout

[richard]

the club leaflet " know your Bond " says that the Mark A is "considerably smaller than the later cars" - it may be behind the seat but i have long suspected that the A , B , C and D share the same passenger footprint . the steep rake on the A and the different back panels re tourers/family,van ,truck etc. make the cars feel a different size and the C/D front wings give a different impression though.