Company Profile
The Bricklin Vehicle Corporation was a short-lived Canadian boutique automobile manufacturer famous for creating the Bricklin SV-1—a futuristic, gull-wing sports car marketed as the world's first dedicated "Safety Vehicle."
Backed heavily by the provincial government of New Brunswick, the company represents one of the most ambitious, dramatic, and financially controversial chapters in Canadian automotive history.
- Official Legal Name: Bricklin Vehicle Corporation
- Founded: 1974 (Defunct in late 1975)
- Founder: Malcolm Bricklin (The eccentric American automotive entrepreneur who also co-founded Subaru of America and later imported Yugos)
- Assembly Plants:
- Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada (Main Vehicle Assembly)
- Minto, New Brunswick, Canada (Fiberglass/Acrylic Body Panel Facility)
- Primary Target Market: The United States sports car market (competing directly with the Chevrolet Corvette)
- Core Product: The Bricklin SV-1
Company History
1. The Politician and the Promoter (1973)
In the early 1970s, Malcolm Bricklin conceptualized a radical sports car that proved high performance did not have to sacrifice driver safety. Looking for manufacturing subsidies, Bricklin was courted by Richard Hatfield, the Premier of New Brunswick. Seeking to inject industrial manufacturing jobs into a historically depressed maritime economy, the New Brunswick government provided millions of dollars in direct loans and financial guarantees to secure the factory.
2. Production Nightmares (1974–1975)
Production of the Bricklin SV-1 began in 1974, but the venture was plagued by operational disasters from day one. The specialized vacuum-forming process required to bond the acrylic color layer to the fiberglass body panels suffered from catastrophic failure rates—often cracking during cooling, resulting in a 60% scrap rate at the Minto plant. Additionally, the complex powered hydraulic gull-wing doors frequently failed, trapping drivers inside.
3. Bankruptcy and Political Scandal (September 1975)
The cost to build each vehicle skyrocketed far past its intended retail price, forcing Malcolm Bricklin to repeatedly ask the provincial government for cash injections. With over $21 million CAD in provincial taxpayer money spent and the company still bleeding cash, the New Brunswick government refused further aid. The Bricklin Vehicle Corporation was forced into receivership in September 1975 after building just under 3,000 total units. The collapse became a massive political scandal for Premier Hatfield's administration.
Core Vehicle: The Bricklin SV-1 (Safety Vehicle One)
The SV-1 remains an instantly recognizable pop-culture icon, featuring a wedge-shaped design and dramatic gull-wing doors. True to its name, it prioritized innovative safety technology decades ahead of its time:
- Integrated Roll Cage & Bumpers: The car was built with an integrated steel roll-over cage and an energy-absorbing bumper system designed to withstand a 5 mph (8 km/h) impact without any structural damage.
- The Acrylic-Fiberglass Body: Instead of paint, the car’s body panels were made of composite acrylic sheets bonded to fiberglass. The color was embedded directly into the acrylic, meaning minor scratches could simply be buffed out. It was offered in five striking "safety colors": Safety Red, Safety Orange, Safety Yellow, Safety Green, and Safety White.
- The Powertrains:
- 1974 Models: Powered by an AMC 360 cubic-inch (5.9L) V8 engine.
- 1975 Models: Shifted to a Ford 351 Windsor (5.8L) V8 paired exclusively with an automatic transmission.
- The Catch: The heavy safety equipment and thick composite body panels made the car incredibly heavy (nearly 3,500 lbs), severely bottlenecking its performance as a true sports car.
Historical Legacy
Despite its brief 2-year production run and financial failure, the Bricklin SV-1 has achieved a massive cult following. Today, an estimated 1,700 vehicles survive worldwide, highly prized by collector networks. The vehicle stands as a monument to Canada’s boldest experiment in independent sports car design—a vehicle that was structurally magnificent but undone by supply chain limitations.
