Saturday 28 April 2018

Mini Me



Spotted on eBay, this is a really unusual and rare little lightweight machine. It’s a 1951 Bond Minibyke, which uses a 98cc Villiers two stroke engine.


These were designed and made by The Bond Aircraft & Engineering Company Ltd. Towneley Works, Longridge, near Preston, the same firm who produced the Bond mini cars, Bond bugs, and the Bond Equipe amongst other things.


The man behind this firm had an aviation design background and wanted to produce something lightweight and unusual in design. The body is therefore entirely made of alloy.


This one has been fully restored, a task made easier because all parts and spares for Villiers engines / electrics are still freely available.


These little machines were unique and unusual in their day. They appear to have been produced between 1949 and 1953 and approx. 520 of this type were made in total during that period.


Survival rate has been low and there are perhaps a few dozen left in existence or possibly less.


Later on they used a 125cc JAP engine, which is apparently easy to fit as an upgrade should you require a little extra horsepower.




 (From eBay)

1 comment:

  1. Wow, someone put a lot of time into restoring that. Thanks for sharing, I'd never heard of them before.

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