Sharp's Commercials - Bond Equipe 1963 - 1970

1970

The Equipe GT was Bond's first four wheel car, a sports car, with fibreglass two door body. Essentially it was a Triumph Herald chassis cab, complete with bulkhead, windscreen and doors, with the Triumph Spitfire 1147 cc engine The doors had slightly revised glass, to accommodate the fibreglass, fastback roof and rear assembly. The Herald's forward hingeing bonnet was replaced with a revised version giving an excellent, clean, sportscar appearance. This was replaced by the GT4S model in 1964, offering 4 seats, and an opening boot lid. In front, the beautiful, Italianate bonnet styling was spoiled by the addition of Reliant Scimitar, quad headlights, flanking a, cut-down version of the original Herald grille. A bonnet scoop was also added. A 1296cc engine was introduced in 1967. During the life of this car, it was not uncommon to see Triumph Heralds, modified by the fitting of a Bond Equipe bonnet, as all the side body lines matched perfectly. Less common were Bond Equipes, bizarrly, fitted with Herald front ends.

In 1967, three years before the take-over by Reliant, the new Equipe 2 Litre was introduced. Based on styling proposals by Trevor Fiore, the doors had new skins and all external traces of the Triumph Herald were gone, unless you paid particular attention to the windscreen surround. The Reliant Scimitar headlamps were retained, but now incorporated into a, stylish, full width grille. In the rear, gone were the Lucas, triple-bullet tail-lamps and this elevation began to resemble the, later, Reliant Scimitar SS1, which would not be along for another twenty years. This model had the six-cylinder 2-litre Triumph Vitesse chassis and engine, uprated to the Mk.2 version in 1968, at which time a convertible version was also offered.