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The Other Gullwing: Bricklin SV-1 Car And Part Stash

Health issues are forcing a Bricklin enthusiast to relinquish his collection of two project cars and a deep stash of parts. The owner’s son is managing the sale, which includes a running, project-grade SV-1 and another rolling chassis, along with multiple body panels, spares, and other useful parts for putting the cars back together. The S1 was certainly a significant vehicle destined to go down in automotive folklore as “The other Gullwing car,” but the following today is limited. Find the stash of cars and parts here on craigslist for $11,000.

The red car is the one that, while disassembled, it said to run and drive and come with the majority of parts needed to put it back together. It retains its AMC-sourced 360 V8, paired to an automatic transmission. While a manual was available, I’ve seen relatively few SV-1s equipped with them. The Bricklin certainly didn’t get as much of the spotlight as the iconic DeLorean, and despite the innovation it promised in terms of occupant safety, it never caught on with the American public – especially as the price tag ballooned and quality control suffered.

Like so many other great ideas that don’t catch fire in their original recipe, the Bricklin did at least inspire a legacy of safety innovations that we still see evidence of today, such as its integrated roll-over structure and energy-absorbing impact bumpers. All that safety aside, this Bricklin may put your own health in jeopardy if you bring this platter of cars and parts home without spousal approval. The seller notes the red car is number 097 off the line, and the parts car is number 1,209.

The second Bricklin in the deal looks more complete, by way of having its doors and hood still attached. The seller does not elaborate as to what level of running condition it is in, other than to describe it as a rolling chassis (which likely indicates there’s no drivetrain). Photos show numerous spares, including numerous body panels, and the seller adds that there’s also interior parts, glass, doors, and more in the collection. Here’s my question: is $11K a fair ask for the whole package, or is the market of Bricklin enthusiasts too small?

Comments

  1. Avatar RayT

    Jeff, where did you come up with a connection between Malcolm Bricklin and John DeLorean? I was interested enough at the time of the SV-1’s debut to follow its story as much as a magazine reader could, and never heard that…. Oh, and I just zipped through the Wikipedia entry for the car and nope, no John Z. anywhere.

    My inquiring mind wants to know! Have I been missing something all these years?

    Like 1
  2. Avatar Otto Matic

    They didn’t make very many of the AMC powered cars. Definitely desirable for a bricklin. No mention of the Pantera taillights?

    Like 0
    • Avatar Claudio

      Are they pantera taillights ? I think that they are simply italian tailights that were on numerous cars of the era …
      Btw there is a cheap bricklin on marketplace in the montreal are for 4 k canadian , thats pocket change for american buyers

      Like 1
    • Avatar That AMC Guy

      The ’74 Bricklins came with AMC 360 V8s, the ’75 models with Ford 351 Windor engines. AMC didn’t have sufficient V8 production capacity to continue supplying engines. Unfortunately Ford engines were hit particularly hard by 1970s emission standards and made noticeably less power than just about anyone else’s; in this case 220 hp for the AMC 360 versus 175 hp for the Ford 351W, and you could not get a manual trans with the Ford mill.

      These cars used a lot of AMC bits in the interior and the front suspension was also sourced from AMC. (I have a PDF copy of the Bricklin parts manual and you can see at a glance it’s the same suspension found in a Gremlin etc.) An AMC rear axle was used as well, down to the funky two-piece shaft and hub assemblies.

      Like 1
  3. Avatar JoeNYWF64

    That link above is the most informative i’ve ever read about the car!
    Interesting the prototype did not have hidden wipers. Imagine the confusion if production models were stainless steel too, like you know what car! I sure would like to dismantle & weigh those 8 ! mph bumpers.
    Wonder who made that steering wheel. Is it a pontiac formula wheel? Should have been in corvette & camaro!
    Above car for sale is 1st Bricklin i seen converted to rectangular headlites – looks better than the big factory popup single 7 inch round ones.
    Malcolm should have asked for the 401 amc v8, & later the 400 or 460 v8 from ford for his car.
    I wonder if that Bricklin safety frame is safer than anything EVER fitted to any corvette, or any other mainstream vehicle, for that matter.

    Like 0
  4. Avatar PaulG

    The Scottsdale AZ Police Department had 3:
    Bricklin SV-1 Scottsdale Police Cars Page 1
    http://bricklin-sv-1-build-history.com/photo_9.html

    Like 2
  5. Avatar Del

    Imagine Police Depts ordering these ?

    Waste of money

    Like 0
    • Avatar jerry

      for your information you talk about money, you have no idea the money the province of nova scotia the dumped into the production of these cars only to get screwed by bricklin big time!

      Like 0
      • Avatar Del

        I am well aware of that Fiasco

        Like 0
  6. Avatar Comet

    On their best day these cars looked like a poorly assembled kit car.

    Like 0
  7. Avatar George Mattar

    All I know is I had the brains to Keep original Bricklin sales literature I got free at a dealer in 1974. Took it to Carlisle in about 2003. Walked up to a literature dealer. Said he never saw one. I said $100. He gave me the money.

    Like 2
  8. Avatar Kinmont Willie

    I have never been able to get past the utilitarian front bumper on the Bricklin. I didn’t care for it in the 70’s and I feel the same today. It was there to protect against the 5 mph tap, but with that low slung nose the Bricklin’s hood and lights would most likely take the hit, not the bumper.

    Like 1
  9. Avatar Ken Carney

    I have a long time friend that owns 2 of
    them here in Winter Haven Florida. I met
    him in 2004 when Charley took the roof
    off of the Winter home that he and his
    wife have here. We became close friends
    after I helped him get his roof repaired.
    Turned out that like me, he was a car guy
    too and that’s when I found out about the
    Bricklins. Both of his cars were ’75s as
    they had the 351 V-8s in them. One was
    Signal Orange and the other car was
    Yellow. As I recall, he was very proud of
    them as they were low mileage vehicles
    when he bought them. In fact, he asked
    me to do a portrait of the Orange car for
    him, which I did. Lucky for me, I’d gotten
    a whole set of hard bound car books
    that tracked the styling of American
    cars from the ’30s to the ’70s and there
    just happened to be some pictures of an
    SV 1 in them. We even talked about my
    going to his place to see them, but that
    never happened. I was really busy working and getting over my wife’s
    passing to make it happen. To my
    knowledge, both he and his cars are
    still with us as I lost touch with him
    after retiring from Taco Bell in 2009
    after 20 years of service. One thing’s
    for sure, these cars gave us something
    different to look at in a time when Detroit
    was cranking out thousands of ho-hum
    models that had their own issues. And
    And yes, they had their problems too,
    but they sure looked racy doing it!

    Like 3
  10. Avatar Claudio

    It may have a set of gulwing doors and exotic looks but i am sure that with a gremlin front suspension and a leaf spring rear that the drive and handling are nothing to brag about , little puny rotors and stock drums for the rear are dismal but for 1/10 of the price of a pantera , one can build a very different car on the cheap side , new injected 5.0, overdrive and a mustangII front and rear irs and youve got a very very rare car

    Like 0
    • Avatar That AMC Guy

      The devil’s in the details – and how the suspension is tuned. Remember this is also the same suspension and brake setup used in the 1970+ AMX and Javelin, and those acquitted themselves pretty well.

      In the 1970s AMC used the same front suspension in all of its cars from subcompact Gremlin to full-size Ambassador, with the exception of the Pacer. The only differences were in spring and shock rates – control arms, bushings, ball joints were all the same across the board. (Upper half of the front end was changed for the 4WD Eagle in the 1980s.)

      Like 0
  11. Avatar Frank Alessio

    I owned a 75 Bricklin white…..seriously dont know whats the hater side of this. Every place I went with that car, it drew crowds. Almost caused a few accidents popping the doors open. This car was heavy, but cruised at 80mph smooth as ice. And the connection to Delorean? Lets just say he took some design aspects of the Bricklin and slim pickings at that. I raced a Lamborghini Jolpa on the NY throughway….we got up to a significant speed until the Jolps said bye bye. I enjoyed that Bricklin for a few years from the age of 19 to 21…Seaside Heights, NJ was a fun time in that car.

    Like 0

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