| abstract | - Bond Minicar is the name given to a series of economical three-wheeled cars manufactured by Sharp's Commercials Limited (The company was renamed Bond Cars Limited in 1964), in Preston, Lancashire between 1949 and 1966. The car was invented by Lawrence "Lawrie" Bond an engineer from Preston, Lancashire. During the war, Bond had worked as an aeronautical designer for the Blackburn Aircraft Company before setting up a small engineering business in Blackpool, manufacturing aircraft and vehicle components for the government. After the war he moved his company to Longridge where he built a series of small racing cars with a modest amount of success. In the early part of 1948, he revealed what was described as a new minicar to the press. Described as a "short radius runabout, for the purpose of shopping and calls within a 20-30-mile radius", the prototype was demonstrated climbing a 25% gradient with driver and passenger on board. It was reported to have a cc (cu in) Villiers two-stroke engine, a weight of under pounds (kg) and a cruising speed of around mph (km/h). At the time of the report (May 1948), production was described as "expected to start in three months' time". __TOC__ Sharp's Commercials were a company contracted by the Ministry of Supply to rebuild military vehicles. Knowing that the Ministry were ending their contract in 1948, Bond approached the Managing Director of Sharp's, Lt Col C.R. Gray, to ask if he could rent the factory to build his car. Gray refused, but said that instead, Sharp's could manufacture the car for Bond and the two entered into an agreement on this basis. The car proved popular in the UK market where it's three-wheel configuration meant that it qualified for lower Purchase Tax, lower vehicle excise duty and lower insurance. The three-wheel configuration, low weight and lack of a reverse gear also meant that it could be driven on a motor cycle license. The prototype and early cars utilised stressed skin aluminium bodywork, though later models incorporated chassis members of steel. The Minicar was amongst the first British cars to use fibreglass body panels. Though retaining much of Lawrie Bonds original concept of a simple, lightweight, economical vehicle, the Minicar was gradually developed by Sharps through several different incarnations, Convertibles were offered, as were van and estate versions. The cars were powered initially by a single-cylinder two-stroke Villiers engine of cc (cu in): in 1950 the engine size was increased to cc (cu in). The engine was further upgraded in 1958, first to a single-cylinder cc (cu in) and then to a cc (cu in) twin-cylinder Villiers 4T. The engines were developed principally as motorcycle units and therefore had no reverse gear. However, this was a minimal inconvenience, because the engine, gearbox and front wheel were mounted as a single unit and could be turned by the steering wheel up to 90 degrees either side of the straight-ahead position, enabling the car to turn within its own length. A way to reverse was offered on later models by stopping the engine and starting it backwards. This was done by reversing the Dynastart unit, which doubled as both starter motor and alternator via a built in reversing solenoid switch. In April 1962, the Purchase tax rate of 55% which had been applied to all four wheeled cars since the war was reduced to 45%. In November 1962, it was reduced by another 20% to 25% - the same rate as three wheelers. This rapid change meant that some three wheelers became more expensive than four wheeled cars like the Mini. In response, Thomas Gratrix, head of Sharps sent a telegram to the Chancellor warning that unless a similar tax cut were given to three-wheelers, there would be 300 redundancies and possibly the closure of the Sharps factory. Sales of Minicars declined rapidly from this point. At the end of production 24,482 had been made.
|
