It’s not like every collector has to eventually own a Bricklin, the interesting-looking coupe created from the fertile imagination of the early importer of Subarus for US sale, Malcolm Bricklin. But if your ambition is to own some sort of automotive oddball (and that word is not meant as a criticism), a stylish small sports car that is decently powered with a V8 engine, and even gull wing doors, then the 1974 Bricklin SV-1 shown here on ebay might be worth looking over. It’s in Blue Ridge, GA, in case you want to do that looking firsthand. You can buy it for $13,900, or you can make an offer.
Owning a Bricklin, you’ll certainly be in select company, with only 2834 made. This one is number 639, rendered in attractive red body panels made up of acrylic resin bonded to fiberglass. Buying this, you’ll have something that often doesn’t come with a collector car—lots of documentation, including, as the ad says, “title, books, and a whole folder full of paperwork.” Fun! It makes me wonder what’s been going on with this car, described as a “Barn Find” and not driven much. The 13,000 miles that the odo shows are apparently original. The engine is the relatively powerful but easy to maintain AMC 360-CID V8. So it’s not a Ferrari, but neither is it going to drain your wallet like one of those might do.
On the other hand, the quality control of the manufacturing process for the Bricklins doesn’t exactly meet that of an Italian exotic. Search “Bricklin quality control” to see stories like this one about the problems that were experienced with the body panels during manufacturing, amongst other aspects of this quirky little car. If you still decide a Bricklin is for you, note that this one is for sale via an ad, so there’s no particular closing date to keep in mind. It’s worth observing on the urgency scale, also, that this car was advertised prior to this go and didn’t sell at a higher price. Anyway, the kind of money being asked—even if you did pay the asking price—doesn’t seem daunting in a day when the bottom end of the collector market is no longer a few thousand bucks.
Perhaps reassuring, there’s a frank and detailed statement from the seller, in which we learn, amongst other things, that the car does run and drive, not perfectly, mind you, but “a good start.” I don’t know about you, but I like the sincerity this exhibits, and I like this car. So since the seller invites an offer, why not give it a go? How low will you start that process moving?
I owned a red 75 for a few years, yes the build quality was rough. The 74’s are more rare, this does look like a fair deal, a manual shift is even more rare. These are not a exotic sports car. Might do better on BaT.