Bonkers R1-driven Bond bug is only for the brave
Powered by a one-liter, 150-hp motor from a Yamaha YZF-R1 superbike, this ’70s Bond Bug cycle-car can hit 62 mph in just 3.5 seconds and go on to over 120 mph.
It’s a far cry from the original Bond Bug (no relation to 007), which mustered just 30 hp from a 700-cc Reliant engine and, when launched in 1970, struggled to exceed Britain’s 70-mph national speed limit. It was designed by Tom Karen of Ogle design, based on the Reliant Rogue, and pitched as a budget sports car. Clearly, with only three wheels, it wasn’t actually a car at all. In fact, one of the key selling points of three-wheelers in the 1970s was that you didn’t need a full car driving license to pilot one.
Resplendent in bright orange paintwork, and with snazzy graphics, removable doors, and a forward-hinged canopy, the Bond Bug did have a certain appeal. The biggest problem was price. When it launched the Bug was £629—you could buy a Mini for less, which had the benefit of two more seats and one more wheel.
In all just 2270 Bugs were made when production was stopped in 1974, but a small cult following surrounds the few that remain. One such Franco-English fan decided to create the most bonkers Bug in the world by fitting it with the engine and six-speed sequential transmission from a Yamaha YZFR-R1. You can see from the photos that it looks to be a well-executed, if ill-conceived, conversion, with the bike’s instruments neatly fitted to the dashboard and a pair of prominent stainless-steel exhausts jutting out of the rear.
Anyone brave enough to take the wheel will find that the Bug is up for auction, with no reserve, by Paris-based Artcurial on November 1, where it is estimated to fetch up to €30,000 ($35,000).
