Bricklin SV-1

The body panels were manufactured in a separate plant

in Minto, New Brunswick. Manufactured from 1974 until early 1976 for the U.S. market, the car was the creation
of Malcolm Bricklin, an American millionaire who had
previously founded Subaru of America. The car was designed by Herb Grasse.[1][2] The Bricklin factory was not
able to produce vehicles fast enough to make a prot. As
a result, only 2,854 cars were built before the company
went into receivership, owing the New Brunswick government $21 million.
The model name (SV-1), stood for safety vehicle one.
The original idea for the Bricklin SV-1 was a safe and
economical sports car, but due to the added weight of the
safety features, the car was inecient and simply a safe
sports car. The Bricklin was designed for safety with an
integrated roll cage, 5 mph (8.0 km/h) bumpers, and side
beams. The body was breglass with bonded acrylic in
ve safety colours: white, red, green, orange and suntan. The cars had no cigarette lighter or ashtray.[3] Nonsmoker Malcolm Bricklin believed it was unsafe to smoke
and drive. The Bricklin is the only production vehicle
in automotive history to have factory powered gull-wing
doors that opened and closed at the touch of a button
as standard equipment. The later DeLorean DMC-12's
gull-wing doors operate manually, and the Tesla Model
X's rear doors are referred to as falcon-wing doors rather
than gull-wing due to the extra hinge.

Green Bricklin

The rst Bricklin concept car, later dubbed Grey Ghost,

was built by Bruce Meyers of Meyers Manx dune buggy
fame in California. Its initial powerplant was a Valiant
Slant Six.[4]

Rear

1 Herb Grasse Design Work

In 1972 Herb Grasse (best-known for his contributions
to the conversion of the 1955 Lincoln Futura show car to
TVs original Batmobile when he worked with customizer
George Barris) built three Bricklin styling models to interest banks and other potential investors in the gull-wing
Interior
safety sports car.[5] The eventual full prototypes one, two,
The Bricklin SV-1 is a gull-wing door sports car that and three were a collaboration by Bricklin Vehicle Corwas assembled in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. poration, Herb Grasse Design and AVC Engineering.[4]
1

Technical specications

BRICKLIN AND ENTHUSIASTS

shows by virtue of AMCs purchase by Chrysler in

1987).

Power came from a 360 cu in (5,899 cc) AMC 360 V8 for

1974. Later cars used a 351 cu in (5,752 cc) Ford Windsor V8. Performance gures rated favorably against the
contemporary Corvette, which most auto magazines used
as a point of comparison.[6][7] The front suspension used
A-arms and coil springs, while the rear used leaf springs
on a live axle. For the 1974 model year, 772 cars were
produced, 137 of which had four-speed manual transmissions. All 1975 and 1976 cars had automatic transmissions. In 1974 potential owners were given a choice of
transmission and color whereas in 1975 there was only a
choice of color.

A Ford-engined Bricklin can be counted by purists

as being an unocial Ford. Bricklin owners are
openly welcomed into Ford classic auto shows.

In a bid to reduce production costs, Bricklin attempted

to bond breglass to acrylic plasticsomething the plastics industry had not perfected at the timeresulting in
a high failure rate and high production costs (some panels cracked while still in their molds). Cars also tended
to overheat due to using a single radiator opening in the
1974 model. Doubling the size of the opening failed to
solve the problem. Running examples today generally
feature a retrotted larger radiator.

An orange Bricklin is on show as part of the Haynes

International Motor Museum collection in Sparkford, Somerset in England.

It soon became obvious that Bricklins claims of a high

performance safety car were not realized in the production models. It is believed that fewer than 1120 Bricklin
cars still exist.[8]

1976 models

After the Bricklin manufacturers receivership, George

Byers and Sol Shenk of Consolidated Motors, an automotive liquidator from Columbus, Ohio, purchased the
majority of the parts and remaining cars left on the line.
These cars surfaced later, completely assembled from
left-over parts, and were sold as 1976 models.

Financial troubles

Under the direction of New Brunswick Premier Richard

Hateld, the provincial government provided nancing of
$4.5 million for Bricklins car. The money had been advanced on the assumption that Bricklin needed it to begin
the production of cars. In truth, it had paid for the engineering and development of Bricklins car as well as many
of the costs, including salaries of keeping Bricklins U.S.
companies in operation.[9]

Bricklin and enthusiasts

American Motors (AMC)powered variants are
welcomed at AMC club shows (as well as at Chrysler

The Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa, Ontario owns a white Bricklin SV-1 (Artifact
no. 1975.0622)[10]
There are only a couple of Bricklins in the Southern
hemisphere. One of note is resident in Christchurch,
New Zealand. Another was up for auction in
Australia in November 2006.

A white Bricklin is on show as part of the permanent

collection of the Western Development Museum's
location in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.
An orange Bricklin is on display as part of the permanent collection of the LeMay Americas Car Museum, located in Tacoma, Washington, USA.
A green Bricklin is a part of the collection owned
and displayed at the Musee De L'Auto located in
Les Jardins De La Republique Provincial Park in
Edmundston, New Brunswick. The car sports 1976
New Brunswick licence plates bearing the DS (Dominion Service) designator, indicating that the vehicle was owned by the provincial government. This
may have been the vehicle that was driven by thenpremier Richard Hateld.
A fully restored Bricklin used to be on display in
the New Brunswick Museum in Saint John, New
Brunswick, however, after a rst oor ood, it has
been taken to an archives site and is under rerestoration.
A tan Bricklin is on display at the California Automobile Museum in Sacramento, California, a museum that originally contained primarily Ford models and engines but now exhibits a cross-section of
all marques.
A tan Bricklin is on display in The American Police
Hall of Fame & Museum in Titusville, Florida.
In the 2007 season of Chop Cut Rebuild, Malcolm
Bricklin claimed that the Bricklins 'Grey Ghost'
prototype was the inspiration behind the DeLorean
car.
In 1976, the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto exhibited a model that was cut in half in order to show
design elements unique to the vehicle.

3
There are only 5 known Bricklins in Europe. A 1975
Ford powered model resides in Finland.
A white 1975 Ford powered Bricklin is on display at
the Kraftfahrzeugmuseum (motor vehicle museum)
in Sigmundsherberg, Lower Austria.
A white Bricklin is on display at the National Auto
and Truck Museum in Auburn, Indiana.
A few Bricklins were used as squad cars for the
Scottsdale, AZ police department in the mid-'70s.
They actually had the same paint scheme as regular
squad cars, and even had a single beacon on the roof.

In the media
The Bricklin Story was a 30-minute 1974 lm produced as a self-promotion piece. It aired nationally
on CBC and was roundly panned by critics.
History Television and Barna-Alper produced a documentary entitled Premier, Promoter & Their Car
for its Turning Points of History series. The documentary explores the political asco that surrounded
the Bricklin vehicle.

Bricklin: An Automotive Fantasy portraying the

Bricklin story through funk music. An orangecolored Bricklin similar to Hatelds was used on
stage during the show. http://www.bricklinmusical.
ca/
A white Bricklin SV-1 is featured in the 2011 movie
Hobo with a Shotgun. This Bricklin is currently
owned by YouTube star Andrew Grantham in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.
The last Bricklin (green) o the assembly line is located in Riverview, NB, and belongs to a used car
dealer.
A Bricklin SV-1 makes a brief appearance in the
1982 lm The Junkman.
A Bricklin SV-1 is an item featured in a 2012
episode of American Pickers.
An orange Bricklin is featured in a 2014 episode of
Fast N' Loud.
A brown Bricklin SV-1 is featured in the 2013 7th
series Frisky Business episode of "Hardcore Pawn".

A New Brunswick lm company, Cojak Productions, reviewed the Bricklin asco in a docu-drama 7 Awards
directed by Chris LeBlanc. Malcolm Bricklin returned to new-Brunswick to shoot scenes where he 1975 Bricklin SV-1 was rated by TIME in the series The
played himself. Three Bricklins once owned by 50 Worst Cars of All Time.[14]
the Irving family were discovered in Halifax and
were purchased for use in the lm. Titled La Lgende Bricklin, the lm was aired on RDI and Radio8 Commemorating the Bricklin
Canada on April 15, 2006.[11]
As part of his series Tout le monde en parlait, Socit Radio-Canada presented a 2013 30-minutes
documentary on the car, focusing on its economic
asco
Bricklin International member and New Brunswick
resident Charlie Russell wrote a two-part song in an
album called The Bricklin, where the song takes a
satirical view on the history of the car.[12]
New Brunswick Premier Richard Hateld's 1974 reelection campaign was nicknamed The Bricklin Election, possibly because of his governments nancial
support of the Bricklin company and because of
Hatelds use of an orange-colored Bricklin in his
campaign. He blamed criticism of the car on the
opposing Liberal government.
An orange Bricklin SV-1 is featured in the movie
Deadline Auto Theft.[13]
In 2010, Theatre New Brunswick and The Playhouse (Fredericton) produced a musical titled The

As part of a series commemorating Historic Land

Vehicles, Canada issued the Bricklin Stamp on June
8, 1996. It had a face value of 45.[15]
In June, 2003 the Canadian mint issued a $20
sterling silver Bricklin coin with selective gold
plating.[16]
Both the Bricklin coin and the Bricklin stamp were
a greater success than the car itself, selling out
quickly.

9 See also
Bricklin EVX/LS
Visionary Vehicles
HTT Plthore

12

10

References

[1] Bricklin designs by Herb Grasse.

grassedesign.com. Retrieved 2011-08-07.

Herb-

[2] Web Easy Professional Avanquest Publishing USA, Inc.

(1975-09-26). History of the Bricklin car. Bricklinautosport.com. Retrieved 2011-08-07.
[3] Bricklin SV1. Autocar. Vol. 143 (nbr 4107). 26 July
1975. pp. 5657.
[4] The First Bricklin Concept Car Consumer Guides
[5] The Museum of Automobile History in Syracuse, N.Y.,
has everything, except cars. Gregg D. Merksamer, Popular mechanics, November 2001. Popularmechanics.com.
Retrieved 2011-08-07.
[6] Production of the 1974 and 1975 Bricklin SV-1 by The
editors of Consumer Guide
[7] Chevrolet Corvette Stingray vs. Bricklin SV-1 - Road Test
By Don Sherman, May 1975
[8] "Where are they now? " Bricklin International (Club
Website), 31 October 2008
[9] "Richard Hateld. Heritage Resources, 21 January 2008.
[10] Artifact Spotlight - Bricklin SV-1. Canada Science and
Technology Museum. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
[11] Pedersen, Andy. "Bricklins Wild Ride. CBC.ca, 21
February 2005.
[12] The Bricklin Song. Bricklin.org. Retrieved 2011-0807.
[13] Deadline Auto Theft Movie Trailer on youtube.
Youtube.com. Retrieved 2011-08-07.
[14] Dan, Niel (2007-09-07). The 50 Worst Cars of All Time:
1975 Bricklin SV1. TIME Magazine.
[15] The Bricklin Stamp. Saintjohn.nbcc.nb.ca. 1974-0701. Retrieved 2011-08-07.
[16] 2003 $20 Sterling Silver Land, Sea & Rail Coins.
Coins4me.com. 2011-04-14. Retrieved 2011-08-07.

11

Notes

1. ^ 1974 Sales literature

2. ^ Bricklin History

11.1

Books

Out of Print
Bricklin - H. A. Fredericks with Allan Chambers
(1977) ISBN 0-88790-087-9 (softcover) ISBN 088790-088-7 (hardcover) 139 pages

EXTERNAL LINKS

How to Brickle The New Brunswick Funny Book Interduction [sic] by Still Pickens (1977) ISBN 09690732-0-8, 20 pages
Bricklemanship The New Brunswick Grief Book Interduction [sic] by Still Pickens (1978) ISBN 09690732-1-6
Bricklin Gold Portfolio 1974-1975 - Compiled by R.
M. Clarke (1995) ISBN 1-85520-309-X

12 External links
Dedicated website
Bricklin at The Old Car Manual Project features a
brochure for the 1975 Bricklin.
Story of the Bricklin, Heritage Resources Saint John
Turning Points of History episode summary
howstuworks: 1974-1975 Bricklin SV-1
The 50 Worst Cars of All Time, Time Magazine
In search of the Canadian Car - Bricklin SV-1 Online Exhibition of the Virtual Museum of Canada
Bricklin Sv-1 at the Internet Movie Cars Database

13
13.1

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

Text

Bricklin SV-1 Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bricklin_SV-1?oldid=713182350 Contributors: William Avery, Liftarn, Zanimum,

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