Displacement About Bricklin
The Bricklin SV-1 was a gull-wing door sports car built in Saint John, New Brunswick, and also in Minto, New Brunswick, Canada 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. Sales did not meet expectations, and only 2,854 cars were built before the company went into receivership, owing the government $23 million. It is believed approximately 1,500 Bricklin cars still exist.
The name stood for "safety vehicle one", an odd choice of focus in a sports car from the fuel-sensitive 1970s. The Bricklin was designed for safety with an integrated roll cage, 5 mph bumpers, and side beams. The body was fiberglass with bonded acrylic in five "safety" colors: white, red, green, orange and suntan. The cars had no cigarette lighter or ashtray. Malcolm Bricklin believed it was unsafe to smoke and drive.
Power came from an AMC 360 in³ (5899 cm³) V8 for 1974. Later cars used Ford's 351 in³ (5752 cm³) Windsor V8. The suspension was independent in front with A-arms and coil springs, while the rear used leaf springs on a live axle. 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.
772 model year 1974 cars were produced, 137 of which had four-speed manual transmissions. All 1975 and 1976 cars had automatic transmissions.
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.
