Exceptionally Clean: 1975 Bricklin SV-1
Cars are often named after their founders, such as Ford, Dodge, Oldsmobile, Chevrolet, etc. That’s true for Bricklins, too, such as this 1975 model SV-1, named for founder Malcolm Bricklin. I had forgotten about Bricklin until I stumbled across this listing, and at first glance, I thought, “It’s called a Bricklin because the front is shaped like a brick”. The styling is attention-getting, and it’s an amalgam of shapes and angles that do and don’t necessarily mesh together. Regardless, a Bricklin SV-1 is a rare find today as they were made in small numbers and for just three model years – and this example is in survivor condition. Interested parties will find this gullwing two-seater in Keller, Texas, available here on Craigslist for $43,000. Thanks are due to Tony P. for this tip!
Bricklin, a Canadian company, was shortlived with only 3,000 units being assembled between 1974 and 1976. Being a two-seater sports car with an acrylic/fiberglass body, front-engine, and rear-wheel drive configuration, it wasn’t much different from other mid-seventies two-seaters, like the Corvette, conceptually anyway. Its standout feature was its gull-wing doors. While I would suggest that the front-on look is rather severe, it is intriguing in profile. This example has been well-kept; it presents like new with its minimal 23K miles of experience. We covered a similar Bricklin three years ago, and while almost identical, the mileage is different enough to delineate the two as separate cars.
1975’s power was a 175 net HP Ford 351 CI V8 engine tethered to a FoMoCo FMX three-speed automatic transmission—not exactly the stuff of a high-performance, limited-production two-seater. The seller tells us that this one “is all original and in great shape!” but provides no account of its running and driving characteristics.
The interior is exceptionally clean and shows little indication of use or weather-related damage. It has a limited production or handmade vibe about itself, the mini center console in particular, but it’s functional, and the front seating positions appear as if they would smartly accommodate long-legged passengers.
Back to an earlier thought, what was the real market for this car? It’s a neat, limited-production, and rare model, but barring those wing doors, it’s really not anything that stands out beyond what other mainstream competitors were bringing to the marketplace in ’75. OK, let’s talk price. At $43,000, what do you think, priced right or not quite?
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Comments
I was excited until I saw the price. A few years ago you couldn’t give these away. I don’t know what the market is for these, but at $43k, I’m out!
I am the same…I am out at 43k. They are hard to find for sale in excellent condition.
Malcolm Bricklin was the auto world’s P.T. Barnum.
Prior to his short-term run with the Bricklin SV-1 (this car) he launched Subaru in this country – not the way other Japanese brands started, but by trying to hustle the Subaru 360. It was so small and underpowered, it wouldn’t even make it as a kei car today.
And of course after the Bricklin car failed, he began negotiating, and then importing…THE YUGO. Malcolm missed a chance here – he could have called it the Bricklin SV-2, or GV-1 (GV was a trim level on American Yugos).
Bricklin’s story is fascinating; but the car represented…as noted, it doesn’t really stand out, apart from the doors. It’s not a technological breakthrough – it’s more a monument to Financialization of North American manufacturing.
I had a friend that brought over to my house a new 360.Eggshell white,if I remember most everything was in Japanese. Suicide doors that one time both flew open and it had identical dents on the body.Someone later on bought up the remaining inventory and built a track where you could drive them like a go cart.I think it was in Pennsylvania.
I agree with Michelle. I actually use to live in Keller TX and I have seen this car. I just don’t think these will ever reach these kinds of prices. There is nothing special about them to warrant it.
I had a red 75 for a few years, the seller is dreaming on that price!! No checks, cash only!!
My high school buddy’s dream car. Too bad he never saw it to fruition. He looked at a nice one eons back for less than 5k. I told him to buy it. He instead bought some Maverick race thing that amounted to nothing.
How about that smurf blue 1st gen Viper R/T in the background? Good luck finding another smurf blue Viper. But even that isn’t worth $43K.
351Ci Ford engine? Most likely a Windsor series & there’s Plenty of parts to give it oomph Competition 3/4 cam w/hydraulic lifters kit works real nice, add a 3k stall speed Trans converter & a Ford 9inch rear end it’ll be more than ok.
As is it’s a ol dog.
It’ll need a low profile 4bbl carb intake also.
That price??
No way …no.one wants a Bricklin in any condition at 43k
25k maybe 28k max defo below 30k.
Looks way to much like a Bradley GT kit car.
These cars get laughed at on the street their such nonsense.
They suffer from under steer in the front due to the heavy engine & old sagging front suspension won’t help – it’d need reworked for sure.
The seals on the suspension components go bad after so many years & the grommets & bushings get real soft.
Car will be sloppy to drive.
Only thing I can think of is DEATH RACE 2000 with White Power Ranger at the Wheel.
Neither the seller nor I referred to the engine as a 351 C, it is a Windsor.
JO
The suspension on these is pure AMC Hornet.
Parts-bin engineering.
Checker used to do that, too. The Marathon, engineered 1960, used 1954 Ford front suspension. After emissions, they left Continental (Teledyne Continental Engine Company) for Chevrolet engines. The Warner Gear automatic was replaced by various TurboHydraMatic versions.
I have NO DOUBT that a small operator like Malcolm Bricklin did the same…especially when he was offering money and AMC needed money.
Read about one Bricklin owner who was trapped in his car when the electrical system failed. He had to climb out through the hatchback.
Yep that’s a pretty famous story. Reminds me of one winter in Montana and my buddy’s Datsun 280 ZX where we were inside and somehow the doors got frozen shut. Fortunately it was a T-top car and somehow we got those open and climbed out through the T-tops. Fun memories
Speaking of winter cold, I was working a short contract stint at Yale Univ Medical Y2K upgrades & while walking by a woman in the parking lot this very cold morning Dec ’98, I watched her slam her Saturn door & it shattered into over a dozen pieces onto the ground! That was a morning I didn’t mind walking in 10 min late as I literally watched her slam it & shatter, I had to walk over & physically, pick up the pieces so to say lol! . Couldnt believe my eyes or hands, at the time, didnt know they were plastic lol!
That head on view is ……. different. It looks like it’s trying to swallow something.
Or maybe sticking out it’s tongue.
That was my lead image and what made me think of a brick. The editor thought differently and put it in position two so it doesn’t line up with my opening thought.
JO
Timing is everything in life and Bricklin was introduced at a very poor time in the automotive market …underpowered and looking for all the world like a kit car it didn’t sell well …$43K?? Not in my lifetime !!
There are many articles about Malcom Bricklin, but what’s rarely written about is the relationship between John Z. DeLorean and Malcom Bricklin. After Consumer Reports wrote a critical article about the Subarus he imported, he was stuck with a number of unsold cars, and, if memory serves, was pressured by the Federal Department of Transportation to recall ones that had been sold. He came up with the concept of offering the public a chance to drive them over a desert course, taking about a minute a lap, racing the clock, for a dollar a lap. He retrofitted an external roll cage, offroad tires, and raised the ground clearance. He tried to get DeLorean interested, but John recommended that Bricklin hire his younger brother, Jack, who had worked in Ford Marketing on the Mustang. When Bricklin decided to build a two-seat gullwing safety vehicle (what SV stands for), the DeLoreans asked if they could continue the motorsports entertainment concept.
They founded Grand Prix of America, commissioning former Chevrolet engineers, Don Gates’ and Mike Pocobello’s company, Antares Engineering, to design and build about a dozen cars, styled after a McClaren F1 car, powered by a Wankel rotary originally designed for snowmobiles, and built a track in Troy, Michigan. GPA contracted with a division of Outboard Marine that produced LawnBoy riding mowers to build about 300 cars for the planned franchisees. GPA built a few tracks John wasn’t able to raise additional investment money, and tried but failed to find a buyer. Malibu Grand Prix bought cars from the bankrupt company and hired the guy that designed and built the timing system. Eventually Malibu designed their own cars, heavily copying many features.
I know this history because Herb Adams, a DeLorean protege at Pontiac, joined GPA and hired me as chief engineer.
There’s an article at Hagerty.com on Malibu Grand Prix that tells this story.
In a casual conversation among me and the DeLorean brothers, John started talking about Malcom Bricklin, and with obvious admiration, talked about what a genius promoter Malcom was. Coming from John DeLorean, who had a pretty high profile in Detroit, I thought at the time, that was really saying something.
You all know that John went on to build two-seat gullwing cars, styled by ItalDesign-Giugiaro, and like Bricklin, securing money from a foreign government (in DeLorean’s case, Northern Ireland) to build a factory.
But what nobody writes about is how John basically followed in Bricklin’s footsteps.
And, while I don’t know the details, I have a guess that Malcom overall made out pretty well, not from the SV-1, but from the US distribution agreement he originally negotiated with a then unknown Japanese manufacturer, Subaru.
Thank you for that; never knew there was a relationship between DeLorean and Brinklin. I’ll have to read the Malibu article. Thanks again.
I saw one a state over for 5k$ maybe an hour and a half away a couple years ago, but never made the trip, I saw a trailer load of new ones ( maybe 5 or 6, there was red green white, they were all brand new . I would get a cheap one and make it faster
I had #2044. Nice car as long as the doors worked. The windows are glued to a track so in FL the glue dries out and the window falls.
My neighbor has one, once a month he backs it out of the garage and lets it run, while washing it, then a 10-minute drive around the neighborhood, and back in the garage until next month.
400% upcharge?? Seller must have been visiting Colorado recently. Had an acquaintance pick one up late last year. He’s over the moon with it, but the amount of work he had to put into it was phenomenal. At the end of the day he still has a run of the mill kit car. Gullwing doors were a cool thing in a day when every other car car opened conventionally, but that doesn’t justify the price. Feels like a flipper got this from an estate.
Who cares what anybody would or wouldn’t pay for a certain car??? If you love, want…buy it! Car collecting is not always about profit and loss. We have 2 Bricklins mixed in with an extensive collection of 60’s and 70’s cars. Yes, the asking price on this one is at first glance high. However if it is an outstanding example of the type requiring no or little restoration, then to someone who wants a really good one this is not overspending. What would you invest in time and money if you had to do more extensive work? Few are found in this condition. A lot of people comment here whom I read and respect their thoughts. There are a few who know absolutely nothing about the subject and comment like they do. I did pre-delivery work on these cars back In the day and can tell you anything you need to know about them. Yes they’re quirky, yes their look is distinctive and a matter of personal taste…but isn’t everything? Other than the door and headlight mechanisms, which are easily improved today, they are very easy to work on and as everyone knows share a lot of parts with Ford and AMC.
So I beg to differ with many comments here. Are they fun to drive? An absolute blast. Are they a dog as one uninformed commenter said? Hell no. Are they prone to any untypical mechanical issues as opposed to any other classic of the period? Absolutely not. Do they perform well? You bet, but to comment that it should have this added or that, is just ridiculous. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Every car does not need to be taken to mechanic extremes, and it’s usually dribble coming from someone who thinks they have something useful to say.
Possible hairline cracks in the body?
Possible. But our ’71 LS5 Vette just got a body and paint refresh because…you got it, hairline body cracks.
Someone commented that there was a time you couldn’t give them away. Hmmmm. How many Chevelle’s and Camaros and Mustangs, etc. languished in junk yards until we all started treating them like gold.
If you say they look like a kit car, you’ve never stood beside one or been in one.
When we open our collection for viewings, the Bricklins are among the most popular. Imagine that.
In short…and maybe it’s just me…these deserve respect for being innovative in their day, a gamble from the beginning, but a piece of automotive industry history.
Two final facts. Prices are rising for these, as they should.
And the real reason Bricklin went out of business was why? Well contrary to popular belief it was because they were just getting more orders than they could produce fast enough to produce enough revenue to keep the factory running. Bricklin asked the Canadian Government for another $20,000,000 loan and was denied, which sealed their fate. If anyone has any desire for more info about this subject…and wants a real answer, lol, feel free to message me.
Well said, eclectic collector! You put us back in our place as we needed to be. We all need a perspective check now and again. Thank you.
Amen
Eclectic collector has it right, every are chair expert can throw trash talk about what should be done, why it is wrong and why the designer/builder should have hired them to tell them how to do it right. this without ever have driven or in may instances seen the car they are commenting on.
The reality is that no one really cares if you think a car is over priced or not worth considering. Classic cars are always an aquired taste and often based on what we find or found to be of interest, from either an apperance or performance standpoint, or maybe it was the same car some uncle drove.
One persons passion could be found in a VW bus, while another’s attention is drawn to Italian wheels, there are vette fans out there and Shelby fanatics.
Not everyone see 4 wheels from the same eyes
Well said, and thank you for your comment!
As an owner (#2128, only one on the road in the uk) they are a lot of fun and handle and go better than the contemporary corvette. I’ve even shown mine at the Goodwood Festival of Speed on the Cartier lawn :)
Make sure the air doors work, refresh the suspension bushes, tune the standard carb, and the car has plenty of torque to smoke the rear wheels and corner properly.
There’s a lot more love coming their way nowadays. Ask Jay Leno
All true. And they sound fantastic with their stock exhaust system as well.
Indeed they do