Bricklin Sv 1 · 1974–1976

Bricklin SV-1

The Bricklin SV-1 is a two-seat sports car produced by American businessman Malcolm Bricklin and his manufacturing company from 1974 until early 1976. The car was noteworthy for its gull-wing doors and composite bodywork of color-impregnated acrylic resin bonded to fiberglass. Assembly took place in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. The name SV-1 is an abbreviation of "safety vehicle one". Bricklin company literature uses both the SV-1 and SV1 formats. To promote the car's safety bona fides, the company touted such features as its integrated roll-over structure and energy-absorbing bumpers.

Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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Company history

The SV-1 was the creation of Malcolm Bricklin. Prior to his Bricklin, built in New Brunswick, Canada, with a loan from the Provincial government, Bricklin is noted as the first businessman to import the Subaru brand into the U.S. in 1968. The Bricklin Canada assembly plant was located in the Grandview Industrial Park in Saint John, New Brunswick, at 150 Industrial Drive. A separate facility to produce the bodywork was in Minto, New Brunswick. With the support of New Brunswick premier, Richard Hatfield, the provincial government provided $4.5 million of financing. The government believed that this money would be used to cover expenses incurred to begin the production of cars, when in fact it was used for the engineering and development of the car as well as salaries and operations of the Phoenix-headquartered company.

Model history

=== Prototypes, design === The SV-1 was the creation of American entrepreneur Malcolm Bricklin, known in the industry for establishing Subaru of America prior to building the SV-1, and for importing Zastava cars to North America under the Yugo name afterwards. Bricklin wanted to build a small, affordable sports car with gullwing doors. Power was to come from a four-cylinder engine from Opel. Bricklin entrusted design of a road-going proof-of-concept car to Bruce Meyers, but responsibility for the design soon transferred to Marshall Hobart. Dick Dean built the car, which was complete by December 1972. This car became known as the Grey Ghost. When completed the car had a six-cylinder Chrysler Slant-6 engine instead of a four. Other features included a rear suspension from a Datsun 510, a braking system that drew parts from Opel, Datsun and Toyota, and a tilting steering wheel from a Chevrolet. In 1972, the Bricklin Vehicle Corporation began working with Herb Grasse Design and AVC Engineering to redesign and re-engineer the car. Three prototypes were built with assistance from AVC. AVC engineer Tom Monroe would later join Bricklin as Chief Engineer. Design of the production SV-1 was done by Herb Grasse, a graduate of the ArtCenter College of Design who had earlier been employed by both Chrysler and Ford. Grasse had also worked with George Barris on the conversion of the 1955 Lincoln Futura show car into the television Batmobile. It is claimed that Grasse opted to use the same taillamp units fitted to his personal DeTomaso Pantera for the Bricklin. These Carello units were also used on cars from Maserati and Lamborghini, but originally appeared on the Alfa Romeo 2000 Berlina. The first of the original three prototypes became known as the Red Car. While some references say t

Technical features

The SV-1 is a two-door, two-seat hatchback with gull-wing doors, hidden headlamps, and a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout. Its bodywork is a composite material made up of acrylic resin bonded to a fibreglass substrate. The acrylic is impregnated with the body's colour, which had the potential to reduce costs, as it eliminated the need for the factory to paint the cars in a separate step. The five "Safety" colours offered were one of the few options buyers had. The doors, which weigh 90 lb (40.8 kg) each, are raised by hydraulic cylinders controlled by switches in the interior, and take up to 12 seconds to open or close. The system is sensitive to the condition of the car's battery, as well as being prone to breakdown. The system uses a single hydraulic pump and has no hydraulic interlock, so opening one door and closing the other at the same time has the potential to destroy the pump. The Bricklin's chassis is a steel perimeter frame with an integral roll cage. The front and rear bumpers are designed to absorb the force of a 5 mph (8 km/h) impact. The front suspension uses A-arms and coil springs and is made up of parts shared with a variety of existing AMC models. At the rear is a Hotchkiss system of leaf springs on a live axle. Braking is by power-assisted 11 in (279 mm) discs in front and 10 in (254 mm) drums in back. Kelsey-Hayes provided the brake components for Bricklins built from 1974 to early 1975, after which the car used parts from Bendix. Production Bricklins are powered by one of two OHV V8 engines, depending on the year of manufacture. Cars built in 1974 received a 360 cu in (5.9 L) AMC V8 from American Motors. With a single four-barrel carburetor this engine produces 220 hp (164.1 kW) and 315 ft⋅lb (427.1 N⋅m) of torque. Transmission options for the

Special models

=== Police cars === In November 1974, Bricklin announced that they would supply five SV-1s to the police department in Scottsdale, Arizona. Only three 1974 cars were ultimately delivered. The cars were leased to the city for $1 each. The Bricklins had the same paint scheme as the department's regular cruisers and a single beacon on the roof. The cars were used primarily for public relations events. Officers found them difficult to get in and out of, and the Arizona heat caused battery issues that would prevent the electrically operated doors from opening. The "Chairman". In 1975, in an effort to raise capital, development started on a more exclusive model to be called the "Chairman". While mechanically similar to the existing car, Chairman cars were to have a larger engine than the stock SV-1. Visually they would be distinguished by black interior and a black body with gold stripes, gold coloured wheels and trim, and a gold-plated toolkit. The buyer was to be flown to the assembly plant to watch their car being built and receive a gold jumpsuit along with the car on delivery. Two existing SV-1s were used to prototype the Chairman. Prototype #3 was used for the car's exterior appearance, and SV-1 VIN #1339 was used for interior development. Work on the car began in Arizona in June 1975 and moved to Livonia by July. The Chairman did not reach production. The unfinished interior model VIN #1339 was bought by former Bricklin Manufacturing Engineering manager Terry Tanner and completed in the style of a Chairman. Mini Bricklin. In 1978, mini-car builder F.W. & Associates offered a miniature version of the SV-1 to existing Bricklin owners through the pages of the Bricklin International quarterly magazine. The cars were powered by a 3 hp (2.2 kW) Briggs & Stratton gasoline eng

In the media

The Bricklin Story is a 30-minute promotional film produced in 1974 by Insight Productions with funding from Bricklin. It aired nationally on CBC and was roundly panned by critics. History Television and Barna-Alper Productions produced a documentary, The Premier, The Promoter & Their Car, for its Turning Points of History series. The documentary explores the political fiasco that surrounded the Bricklin vehicle. Film company Cojak Productions and director Chris LeBlanc produced a dramatized retelling of the Bricklin saga titled La Légende Bricklin. Malcolm Bricklin returned to New Brunswick to shoot scenes where he played himself. Three Bricklins once owned by the Irving family were discovered in Halifax and were purchased for use in the film. The film aired on RDI and Radio-Canada on April 15, 2006. As part of its series "Tout le monde en parlait", Société Radio-Canada presented a 30-minute documentary on the car that focused on its economic impact in 2013. Bricklin International member and New Brunswick resident Charlie Russell wrote a two-part song, "The Bricklin", which takes a satirical view of the history of the car. In 2010, Theatre New Brunswick and The Playhouse (Fredericton) produced a musical, The Bricklin: An Automotive Fantasy, portraying the Bricklin story through funk music. An orange-colored Bricklin similar to Hatfield's was used on stage during the show. In 2021, the Season 1 Episode 6 installment of 'Seduced By Speed' produced by Motor Trend featured the Bricklin cars and interview footage with Malcolm Bricklin.

Sections adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); text is shortened. Read the full article for the complete history and citations.

Specifications

name: Bricklin SV-1
Manufacturer: Bricklin Canada Ltd., General Vehicles Inc.
Production: 1974–1976
Model years: 1974–1976
Assembly: Canada: Saint John, New Brunswick
Designer: Marshall Hobart, Herb Grasse
Class: Sports car
Body style: 2-door hatchback
Layout: Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout
Engine: 360 cuin AMC V8 (1974), 351 cuin Ford Windsor V8 (1975–76)
Transmission: 3-speed Torque Command automatic (1974), 4-speed BorgWarner T-10 manual (1974), 3-speed FMX automatic (1975)
Wheelbase: 96.0 in
Length: 178.6 in
Width: 67.6 in
Height: 48.25 in
Kerb weight: 3520 lb
sp: us

Specification summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Measured facts from Wikidata (CC0). Check the linked sources for citations.

More photos

Sources

Wikidata — https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15789847CC0 1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-01
Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bricklin_SV-1CC BY-SA 4.0 · Text © Wikipedia contributors; revision 1361615089 · retrieved 2026-10-01
Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bricklin_SV-1_AMI.jpgCC BY-SA 3.0 · Photo: Thomas doerfer · retrieved 2026-10-01
Car Model Index — https://models.autoculturesociety.com/Compiled record. Sources that do not permit reuse are not copied; this index is credited instead.