Bond Equipe GT4.

First of the two photographs featured, shows the Bond Equipe in its original, 1963, form. Rear headroom was an issue with this early 2+2 GT, so it wasn't long before the design was re-worked and the GT4S came on stream. But firstly, the information that came with this press photo of a GT4:

AC/BC/Motor Show 1963 -------------- Equipe - Stand No. 138A

THE NEW BOND EQUIPE G.T. CAR AT 1963 LONDON MOTOR SHOW
Bridges Gap Between Sports Car And Luxury Family Saloon

Britain's new, family-priced G.T. car - the 822 GBP Bond Equipe - on view to overseas buyers for the first time at the 1963 London Motor Show, Earls Court.

Italian-inspired Bond body design has been combined with Standard-Triumph engineering expertise to produce a car bridging the gap between sports car and luxury family saloon, marking the first Bond Cars venture into the four wheel market. The Bond Equipe G.T. has a body of steel and reinforced glass fibre built on the Triumph Herald 1200 double backbone chassis and powered by the Triumph Spitfire 1147cc 63bhp engine and gearbox.

These early cars are identifiable easiest by their single headlamp at either side (later GT4S cars had twins), and the steeply sloping rear roofline as already highlighted. Many Herald parts were used in the build of the mostly-fibreglass Equipe - as well as chassis and running gear, the eagle-eyed will spot the (steel) Herald door pressings, with modified tops to fit in with the Bond's different roofline. The lower body swages also echo Michelotti's Herald design, and the large lift up front bonnet/wing assembly will be familiar to Herald and Spitfire drivers everywhere. Side swages further up the body sides tie in nicely with those that feature on the standard Herald door.

Bond Equipe GT4

The GT4S for 1964

A year or so after the launch of the GT4, Bond introduced a facelifted version - the GT4S, as shown further down this page, which replaced the earlier car on the Triumph forecourts. It featured extra lighting up front, thanks to twin headlamps either side (an idea also seen on Triumph's Vitesse), but more importantly, a higher roofline to give those passengers in the back more headroom. Unlike the earlier car, the Equipe GT4S had an external bootlid (owners of the earlier variant had to make do cramming luggage in via the passenger compartment, not unlike the arrangement in the Frogeye Sprite, and Standard 8). Production of the 4S would continue til 1970, by which time sales of the six cylinder - Vitesse powered - version were dominating Bond's sales figures. The 1965-registered car shown below is fitted with wire wheels, and a Webasto pull-back sunroof.

Bond Equipe GT4S

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