[woodcote]

         

PCS have certainly gone quirky with the second of their new kits. The Bond Bug has exactly half as many wheels at their Tyrrell P34 - and surely no-one else was going to release a three-wheel slot car this year... Oh well, at least it has something to race against. The Only Fools and Horses Reliant van is cheesy, whereas the Bond Bug is pure 1970s cool. I certainly wanted one when I was a kid and treasured my Corgi die-cast version.

       

       

The Bond Bug was designed for parent company Reliant by Tom Karen - who would go on to design Luke Skywalker's land speeder for the first Star Wars film. The Bug had its own chassis, but shared some of the Reliant Regal's running gear. The car was tiny, as is the PCS kit...

       

The Bug was fitted with a 700cc Reliant four-cylinder motor based on the Austin 7 engine. It produced 29bhp (later increased to 31bhp), which gave the car a top speed of 76mph - enough to get a ticket on the motorway - and identical to the top speed of a 1968 Lotus 7. The low seating position made it feel like driving a go-kart...

         

The tangerine paint scheme was the only one offered during the short 1970-74 production run, although six white cars were delivered to Rothmans for a promotional campaign. So that's six white cars and 2,264 tangerine versions that rolled off the production lines in Preston and Tamworth.

   

The full PCS kit contains everything you need to build a 1/32 scale Bond Bug. The body - plus detailing parts and decals - is available on its own for £27 and all the running gear for another £31.99. That means the full car is £58.99.

       

This is how the 3D printed chassis and running gear fits together...

       

       

The motor is a small Mabuchi can found in many HO slot cars, the Scalextric Go-Karts and is widely used by 1/43 scale scratch-builders. The front wheel assembly is very clever, the wheel is attached to the top of the guide, so steers with the car. Certainly a more detailed and imaginative solution than that employed on the Scalextric Reliant van and rather cute too.

         

Not surprisingly, the first run of PCS Bond Bugs sold out very quickly. There are now more in stock at Pendle Slot Racing. Full details of the kit and the build instructions are here: www.pendleslotracing.co.uk/pcs-bond-bug-kit

Many thanks to Neil at Pendle Slot Racing for the fabulous pictures of the assembled and painted kit.

[BAracer]

'Somebody' should buy a batch of these as club cars and organise a race series with them...

[Steven.G]

Tom Karen also designed the Raleigh Chopper bicycle.

[BAracer]

Tom Karen also designed the Raleigh Chopper bicycle.

And just going from memory, isn't the Bug the same tangerine as one of the Chopper colours?