Bricklin SV-1 History

The Bricklin SV-1 — the 'SV' standing for 'Safety Vehicle' — was the brainchild of American entrepreneur Malcolm Bricklin, who had earlier brought Subaru to the United States. Conceived as a safe yet sporty two-seater, it was built in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, with roughly C$4.5 million in financing from the provincial government under Premier Richard Hatfield. Its signature feature was a pair of powered gull-wing doors; each door weighed about 90 lb and was raised and lowered hydraulically, taking up to around 12 seconds to operate.

The car emphasized safety engineering: a steel perimeter frame with an integral roll cage, energy-absorbing 5-mph bumpers, and a body of color-impregnated acrylic resin bonded to fiberglass, offered in five 'safety' colors and requiring no separate paint. The 1974 cars used a 360-cubic-inch (5.9 L) AMC V8; for 1975 and the handful of 1976 cars the engine switched to Ford's 351-cubic-inch (5.8 L) Windsor V8. Notably, the SV-1 was offered with no cigarette lighter or ashtray, reflecting Bricklin's safety-minded pitch.

Production was plagued by quality, supply, and cost problems — the cars were reportedly sold below their cost to build. Only about 2,906 SV-1s were completed: roughly 772 in 1974, about 2,100 in 1975, and around 34 assembled from leftover parts in 1976. Bricklin Canada Ltd. was forced into receivership, with its final operating day on September 23, 1975, ending the marque after a single model. Surviving SV-1s have since become collectible curiosities of 1970s automotive history.