Gullwing Doors Your Thing? 1974 Bricklin SV-1
One of 147. It’s not some kind of Ferrari, is it? Not quite, though the car in question has unique lines and sporting pretensions, and it’s rare. It’s a 1974 Bricklin SV-1, and it comes to us via an interesting tip delivered by Rocco B. The car is cheap, at a $7500 asking price here on craigslist. You’ll have to get to Waynesboro, PA to collect it should you make a deal.
The Bricklin was the brainchild of Malcolm Bricklin, who made his name, and fortune, by bringing Subaru automobiles to the US market. His namesake car, the Bricklin SV-1, was manufactured in Saint John, New Brunswick and sold in 1974 and 1975. Only about 3000 of these cars were built, and 147 had the four-speed, so this model is on the rare side. It is numbered 760 in the production run. When you see it, don’t be surprised if it appears as a close cousin of the DeLorean. Both have similar vibes and gullwing doors.
One thing you won’t get is Ferrari-style repair bills. The motivating power of this Bricklin is an AMC 401-CID mill. Apparently, this was built by the late Bricklin authority Terry Tanner, as the ad drops his name. The original engine, though, would seem to have been a 360-cubic inch block of American Motors origin. (Bricklin aficionados, please provide any details you have on this.) The odo reads 3338, though no claim for actual mileage is made. On the downside, the engine, which puts out 400-hp, does not have spark, though it does turn over. The compression is good. Once it’s running, fun will be had, attributable to the fact that a four-speed manual transmission backs up the engine.
The current owner answers a bunch of questions as to what’s being presented here. Information provided includes that the cowl is not rusted; the frame and door jambs are good; but the body panels are cracked. Apparently, that’s pretty common. And in a sign that someone was using the car, and willing to spend money on it, there’s a Vintage Air AC unit installed. The radiator has been upgraded and there’s an electric cooling fan installed, though that might reflect cooling problems, unless it’s just needed because of the apparent engine swap.
Looking at the admittedly scant collection of images that accompany the ad, this Bricklin looks to be in decent overall shape. It just became the storage spot for someone’s boxes over the years, and likely needs all the help that a car sitting around for a long time typically needs. So if you’re inclined to do a refresh, or you have an AMC 360 sitting on a stand waiting to become the beating heart of a driver, this might be the car for you.
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Comments
I can’t really speak to the viability of this Bricklin. But in their day I thought they looked pretty cool, and I still find them attractive today. I haven’t seen one in the flesh in years.
I have not thought about the history of the Bricklin for a while, so I did a quick read of the SV-1 on Wikipedia. What struck me were the many engineering problems in getting the vehicle off the ground, let alone getting it into “normal” production (which never really did occur). And how folks like me, who are mere observers of the car industry, really don’t understand what it takes to make something like this happen. E.g. we often bemoan why this or that model, or powertrain, or option, or combination thereof, wasn’t or isn’t offered on our favorite car. There are probably lots of reasons why (design or engineering issues, cost, parts availability, internal company guidelines, government regulations, etc.).
Thanks Brian K.
You know, I look at this and think, when these mid-engined cars came out, just the epitome of innovation never seen before. Now, it’s just a derelict hulk in the corner of a storage yard. Quick correction, a 401 in ’74 put out 255hp net. Even in gross rating, about 330. In a 3500 pound car, I bet it moved. Like DeLorean, just a flash in the pan, and no real chance of success, but sure turned the auto industry on end,,for a spell.
Never seen in an American car, that is.
Bricklin is not mid-engine or even “front mid-engine”. Bricklins had lots of AMC stuff besides the motor, which was a Ford 351in 1975. Javelin front suspension & brakes, AMC 20 with torque links in back. As you mention, the Bricklin is heavy. I would keep the 401and get it going. I would never get a DeLoreon, but would like a Bricklin.
Hi JL, boy, is my face red, I always thought these were mid-engine. Shows how much the public actually cared about the car. It sure looked like a DeLorean. I’m safe in saying the doors were the real gimmicks, only seen on high end MBs.
Sure hope all that junk on the ground didn’t fall off he car…
Bricklin, Bradley the height of engineering impotence.
To the crusher with all of them!
Years ago i had a red 75, these are some very bad photos to sell a car, and you can only guess why.
Would love to resto-mod one of these, with a modern Cadillac V6 and 6 speed, modern brakes/tires/suspension components, modern steering rack, and modern hvac. Would also look at weight reduction, as 3600lbs is a tad heavy-probably look at an alternative to the hydraulic door actuators, as well as the Battlestar Galactica bumpers.
A 400hp 401?Why would you consider going back to a 360?who’s asking for less hp,you would never hear me say that..Looks like a great power to weight ratio….
I’ve driven one of these. More HP/torque is not going to improve the performance. Lighter weight, better grip, a bit lower stance, better handling and much, much better brakes are in order. And fuel injection. Plus LED lights all around to replace the candles. I did not mention a 360.
I may have mentioned this in a previous post. I worked for a VW Porsche+Audi dealer in Champaign IL in the mid-70s. There was a Bricklin there that the owner had procured to sell. It was originally International Distress Orange or whatever they called that shade. It sat there so long that they finally took it into the body shop and did a complete respray in a beige color. I went by there years later and the Bricklin wasn’t there, but I have no idea if they actually sold it to a customer. It had a Ford powerplant.
The original factory finish on Bricklins was not paint but rather the color went into the “plastic” so if scratched the color remained. This is what I remember from when they came out. I’ve been wrong in the past, however!
The only thing missing is the tow away sticker on the rear hatch for an abandoned car….lol
This one’s still there (& still for sale) South of Rocky Mount,VA.
Rocky Mount, NC?
Like it says in my post – VA
The same Craigslist has a 1972 Porsche 914 sunk in a field for $9000.
Way too many zeros in automobile prices in this region.
Yeah, I’m going to run out and give this seller $7500 when they can’t even be bothered to remove all of the junk that it’s been holding for them for who know how long.
Total disrespect.
Moonlighting as a tow truck driver about 10 or so years ago, I towed a vehicle to a customers house with a huge pole barn on the property. The guy showed me what was inside and there were at least a dozen Bricklins like this one inside. He told me a little about their history and how he became a collector of them. I think he had every color they made. Climate controlled building also if I recall.
Any mention of a clear title to this project?
Somewhere in the afterlife there is cars and coffee with a bunch of guys hanging out and talking about the old days- John DeLorean, Malcom Bricklin, Preston Tucker and a host of others.
39 years ago I used to work at a dealer that sold new Bricklins in 1975-76. The price for any one of 4 colors was $12,500. I clearly remember customers being told that “some day these will be highly valuable classics”. No. Wrong. That never happened. All these years later I would still like to own one. I appreciate what they are, and what they aren’t. Finding a nice, well preserved, unmolested original low mileage Bricklin for under $20,000 is what you want. You do not want this wreck.
BF has listed several Bricklins over the past few years. One recent example in MI was in above average condition. Featured on BF, sold on ebay for $17,000. There was alot of interest + bids and bidders. The example here is in terrible condition.
Now that I’m old, I can say without hesitation that one is alot further ahead to spend $17,000. on the low mileage good one — and not buy a clapped out mess that looks as though it’s been sitting outside at a storage unit parking lot for too long. Eh hem. The $10,000. difference between the project car and nice original is well worth it. This Bricklin will never be nice again. Nor would doing a ground up restoration ever justify the enormous expense and time. Pass.
Not too long ago there was one for sale, if i remember right it was on B_T, it had less than 100 miles on it, it sold for just over $100k. Way too much!!!
My observation re: Bring-a-Trailer is that pretty much every car sells for way too much! No argument — there are many nice vehicles on B-a-T. But from what I’ve seen over the years vehicles typically sell for a significant premium. That there are car guy bidding wars that go way beyond KBB / Hagerty values. B-a-T is a seller’s market, not a bargain buyer’s market.
Always thought these looked like a cheap kit car. Better set up versus the Delorean, though.
Best one-liner I’ve heard in past 50 years to describe the Bricklin is this:
“A factory-built kit car”. That sums it up nicely. The DeLorean shares the same general vibe.
Bricklins were a hodge-podge made up of bin parts from Ford, Chrysler, GM and other off-shelf parts. There were chronic problems with panel separation on the roof from the outset. The original gull wing doors were very heavy and hydraulics typically failed. I would often see owners with inop doors using hockey sticks to prop open. Owners / people working on a Bricklin would disconnect / pull the pin on the door hydraulic piston with the door attached to the body still on its hinges. Problem was if that 100 lb door came down with a limb or head in the way it could seriously injure. Picture prying open elevator doors when stuck between floors. But when crawling out the elevator starts moving. Like that.
Many long-time Bricklin owners converted the heavy-clunky gull wing doors to air piston. There’s a long list of typical Bricklin problem issues. They are a fun car, but engineering was lacking and not sophisticated. All the above said, like the DeLorean, the Bricklin has a place in automotive history.
i was one of the founding members of the Auburn, Indiana, Corvette club, in 1975, or so. We ran the entrance to the Labor Day Kruse Auction. It was a hoot. I fell in love with the Bricklin when we patrolled the grounds of the old high school, where the auction was held.
I thought the car was the penultimate of automotive engineering. I was wrong.
I bought one in 1982, or something.
It had the Ford 351 Windsor engine, which was barely sufficient to keep it up with melding onto an interstate with a headstart.
The doors were hydraulically actuated, electrically activated, and took minutes to open.
I brilliantly converted the doors to an air system that allowed them to open in only about 20 seconds.
I live on a mountain in Tennessee. That thing never made it up more than about 800 feet before it overheated and blew the coolant.
It never made it up to my house without a stop at the “space house” to cool down.
My ignorance was rewarded with a loss of only about $4,000, when I sold it to an admirer, with about my intelligence.
If you look at the car closely, you will note that there is no way that sufficient air can get in to cool the radiator.
To the plus side, gasoline only cost about $1 a gallon, so its average use of 10 gallons a mile was not a big deal.