Bricklin Owners Group

The Bricklin SV-1 was a gull-wing door sports car assembled in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. 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 Bricklin Factory was not able to produce enough vehicles fast enough to make a profit, and as a result, only 2,854 cars were built before the company went into receivership, owing the government $23 million. It is believed that less than 1,100 Bricklin cars in the entire world still exist.

The model name stood for "safety vehicle one". The Bricklin was designed for safety with an integrated roll cage, 5 mph bumpers, and side beams. The body was fibreglass with bonded acrylic in five "safety" colours: white, red, green, orange and suntan. The cars had no cigarette lighter or ashtray. Malcolm Bricklin believed it was unsafe to smoke and drive. The Bricklin is the only production vehicle in automotive history with factory powered gull-wing doors that open and closed at the touch of a button, unlike the later DeLorean DMC-12 that was built with doors that have to be opened and closed manually.

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. A high performance V8 was chosen so that in case of an impending accident, the power of the V8 was enough for the owner to pull away from the potential accident. The front suspension used A-arms and coil springs, while the rear used leaf springs on a live axle. 772 model year 1974 cars were produced, 137 of which had four-speed manual transmissions. All 1975 and 1976 cars had automatic transmissions.

1976 models
After the Brickin manufacturer's receivership, George Byers and Sol Shank 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, some sold as 1976 vehicles.

Financial troubles
Under the direction of New Brunswick Premier Richard Hatfield, the provincial government provided financing of $4.5 million for Bricklin's 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 Bricklin's car as well as many of the costs, including salaries of keeping Bricklin's U.S. companies in operation.

During production, the Bricklin manufacturer was constantly in debt, and had relied on provincial government support to keep the company running. One reason is the vehicle was estimated to cost $16000 to build, but it was sold for $5000 at the time, so the company lost the equivalent of over 2 Bricklins for every car built. To further complicate problems, Richard Hatfield was discovered to have secretly funded the failing company in order to win re-election. After the funding scandal, the government turned down a request for an additional $10 million to keep the company running. The factory shut down, and was put into receivership on September 25.

Bricklin and enthusiasts
A Ford - engined Bricklin can be counted by purists as being an "unofficial" Ford. Bricklin owners are openly welcomed into Ford classic auto shows.
AMC - engined variants are likewise welcomed at Chrysler shows by virtue of AMC's purchase by Chrysler in 1988.
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 red Bricklin is on show as part of the Haynes International Motor Museum collection in Sparkford, Somerset in England.
An orange 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 - America's Car Museum", located in Spanaway, 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 then-premier Richard Hatfield.
A fully-restored Bricklin is on display at the New Brunswick Museum in Saint John, New Brunswick.
A tan Bricklin is on display at the Towe Auto 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 2007 season of Chop Cut Rebuild, Malcolm Bricklin claimed that the Bricklin's 'Grey Ghost' prototype was the inspiration behind the DeLorean car.

In the media
The Bricklin Story was a 30-minute 1974 film 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 fiasco that surrounded the Bricklin vehicle.
A New Brunswick film company, Cojak Productions, reviewed the Bricklin fiasco in a docu-drama. Malcolm Bricklin played himself. Three Bricklins were discovered in Halifax and were purchased for use in the film. Titled Plan B: The Bricklin Legend, the film was aired on RDI and Radio-Canada on April 15, 2006.

Bricklin International member and New Brunswick resident Charlie Russell wrote a two-part songs in an album called The Bricklin, where the songs take a satirical view on the history of the car.
The Bricklin was featured at least once on Let's Make a Deal as a prize. It was valued at nearly $9,000. It was also offered as a grand prize on "The Price is Right".
A 1975 music album by Woodstock, New Brunswick DJ Charlie Russell, was entitled (with irony), The Bricklin and Other Sound Investments.
New Brunswick Premier Richard Hatfield's 1974 reelection campaign was nicknamed The Bricklin Election, possibly because of his government's financial support of the Bricklin company and because of Hatfield's use of an orange-colored Bricklin in his campaign. He blamed criticism of the car on the opposing Liberal government.
An episode of Chico and the Man debuted on NBC on December 19, 1975, guest-starring Della Reese included Ed and Chico getting in and out of a Bricklin.
A Bricklin SV-1 appears in two shots in the 1977 American film Demon Seed. It was driven by the husband portrayed by Fritz Weaver, of the main character portrayed by Julie Christie. Contrary to various sources, the car was not featured in a movie version of Harold Robbins' novel, The Betsy.
A Bricklin was also featured as the car driven by pornographic actor John Holmes in the 1977 film Eruption.
A white Bricklin was in the 1978 movie Corvette Summer starring Mark Hamill. The Bricklin car is shown in 3 different shots.
A most famous Bricklin was also featured in two H.B. Halicki movies which are from 1982 and 1983 which are called The Junkman and Deadline Auto Theft, where Halicki drives the Bricklin during a car chase and crashes it into a river. The Bricklin later winds up in the Los Angeles Police Department impound yard.
The Bricklin was featured in the September, 1974 issue of Playboy Magazine.
Inspector Gadget's gadgetmobile bears a striking resemblance to the Bricklin
In the 2007 season of Chop Cut Rebuild, one resto-rod project was a Bricklin.
The Bricklin was also featured in an adult film called "Up,Up & Away!"

Appearances in films
Demon Seed (1977)
Eruption (1977) X-rated
Corvette Summer (1978)
Fast Company (1979) [1]
The Junkman (1982) [2]
Deadline Auto Theft (1983) [3]
Cannonball Run II (1983) very brief peek
Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 (1983).[4]
Hawk Jones (1988)
Up! Up! And Away! (2001) X-rated
Multiple appearances in Canadian country artist Chris Cummings' music video for the song "Welcome Back" which will debut on CMT Canada in November 2008.

Commemorating the Bricklin
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¢.
In June, 2003 the Canadian mint issued a $20 sterling silver Bricklin coin with selective gold plating.
Both the Bricklin coin and the Bricklin stamp enjoyed greater success than the car itself, selling out quickly.

References
^ "Where are they now? " Bricklin International (Club Website), 31 October 2008
^ "Richard Hatfield." Heritage Resources, 21 January 2008.
^ Turning Points of History VI: Premier, Promoter & Their Car, Barna-Alper Productions Inc.
^ Pedersen, Andy. "Bricklin’s Wild Ride." CBC.ca, 21 February 2005.
^ The Bricklin Song
^ 1974 Sales literature
^ Bricklin in Fast Company
^ Bricklin in Junkman
^ Bricklin in Deadline Autotheft
^ Bricklin in Smokey and the Bandit Part 3

Books
Out of Print
Bricklin - H. A. Fredericks with Allan Chambers (1977) ISBN 0-88790-087-9 (softcover) ISBN 0-88790-088-7 (hardcover)
How to Brickle The New Brunswick Funny Book - Interduction [sic] by Still Pickens (1977) ISBN 0-9690732-0-8
Bricklemanship The New Brunswick Grief Book - Interduction [sic] by Still Pickens (1978) ISBN 0-9690732-1-6
Bricklin Gold Portfolio 1974-1975 - Compiled by R. M. Clarke (1995) ISBN 1-85520-309-X

External links
Bricklin vehiclesBricklin International Owners Club
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
scale model Bricklins
howstuffworks: 1974-1975 Bricklin SV-1