Bond Equipe History

Introduced in April 1963, the Bond Equipe GT 2+2 was a sharp departure from the Minicar: a proper four-wheeled 2+2 sports car with a hand-laid fibreglass body over a Triumph Herald chassis, using Herald windscreen, scuttle assembly, and doors alongside a 1147 cc Triumph Spitfire engine producing 63 bhp. It was the first four-wheeler from Bond and signalled the company's ambition to compete in the mainstream British sports-car market.

The GT4S variant arrived in September 1964 with revised bodywork (twin headlights, an opening rear boot) and continued with the 1147 cc unit until April 1967, when both the Equipe and the Spitfire simultaneously switched to the 75 bhp 1296 cc engine, creating the GT4S 1300. A parallel 2-Litre line launched in August 1967 used the Triumph Vitesse 2-litre straight-six and was offered in both coupé and convertible forms — the first Bond soft-top since the Minicar era.

Reliant Motor Co acquired Bond Cars in February 1969 and closed the Preston factory in July 1970, ending Equipe production. Total output across all variants was 4,389 cars: 451 GT 2+2, 1,934 GT4S, 571 GT4S 1300, 591 2-Litre Mk I, and 841 2-Litre Mk II.