Malcolm Bricklin
Malcolm Bricklin (b.
January 9,
1939 -
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania) is an automotive entrepreneur from
Phoenix, Arizona. In 1958, Bricklin dropped out of the
University of Florida and built his father's
Orlando, Florida, building supply business into a franchised chain of Handyman stores. A number of lawsuits from the
franchises arose and Bricklin left the business having become a
millionaire in the process. Handyman America Inc. soon went
bankrupt.
In 1965, Bricklin started selling franchises for motor scooters that included the
Fuji Rabbit made by
Fuji Heavy Industries, who also produced the tiny
Subaru 360 automobile. Bricklin realized that the 360's light weight (under 454 kg) allowed it to slip under the
United States government's safety regulations, and he and his partner, Harvey Lamm, formed Subaru of America, Inc. to sell
Subaru franchises.
Sales went reasonably well until
Consumer Reports magazine called the Subaru 360 the most dangerous car in the United States, causing sales to plunge. Bricklin was soon out of business, but managed to secure 1000 360's as part of his settlement, and attempted to franchise small race tracks where the 360's could be raced. He was soon sued by his financial backer for misappropriation of funds.
It was then that Bricklin pursued the avenue that would make his name infamous. He decided to found an automobile manufacturing enterprise for the
Bricklin SV-1. Having produced a
prototype and a promotional movie about the car, he began looking for investors in the fall of 1972. Several banks, including the
First Pennsylvania Bank lent Bricklin almost $1 million in total, and he rented a building in
Livonia, Michigan to transform the prototype into a production-ready vehicle.
American Motors were convinced to provide the V8 engines to be used, although some
Ford V8's were also used.
Bricklin set out to find more investors, sell dealerships, and search for production facilities while the Livonia team struggled with the design. The gullwing doors proved to be a particularly daunting task. Bricklin approached the
Quebec government in
Canada and tried to get financing and to make the closed
Renault assembly plant in
St. Bruno, QC available. Although the government was interested, it sent Renault's
Jean de Villers to
Philadelphia, PA to research Bricklin's financial background. The province soon backed away from the deal.
Success was found in
Richard Hatfield, then
Premier of
New Brunswick, who was seduced by the idea of a locally-built car. The province agreed to provide a $2.88 million loan guarantee and purchase 51% of Bricklin Canada's shares for $500,000. A plant was obtained in
Saint John, NB and another in
Minto, NB where the bodies were to be made. Production was to start in the fall of 1972, but the engineers in Livonia and the staff in Minto and Saint John were still struggling with design problems. Meanwhile, Bricklin had sold 200 dealerships.
In the fall of 1974, the Bricklin SV-1 finally went into production, but it was poorly engineered and assembled.
Road & Track magazine (4/75) tested one borrowed from a private owner since Bricklin would not or could not make one available, and came up with a long list of deficiencies. These included poor visibility due to narrow windows and high bodywork, poorly-fitting body panels, interference between the windshield wipers and hood, leaks, extremely slowly-operating gullwing doors (at 36 kg each), and a stiff manual transmission.
The quality improved and the plant managed to produce less than 800 cars in 1974, rising to 2100 in 1975, selling mainly on novelty. Additionally, the car could only be sold in the United States, because Bricklin Canada was not a member of the
Auto Pact. When the government of New Brunswick finally put a stop to production, with $23 million in debt accumulated, the company went into receivership in September 1975. Taxpayers were left with this debt
.Bricklin went on to import
Fiat X1/9s (rebadged as
Bertones) followed by his importation of
Yugo cars. The Yugo venture had some success at first, but the vehicles soon gained a reputation for being unreliable and the operation folded.
In the 1990s, Bricklin and
Lee Iacocca worked to sell
electric bicycles. This venture soon failed. In 2002, Bricklin planned to resume importing Yugos to the United States by 2003 (later pushed back to 2004, then 2005), using the name "ZMW" (short for "
Zastava Motor Works", referring to the Yugo's manufacturer) because of Yugo's extremely poor reputation. However, he later decided to work on importing cars manufactured by China-based
Chery instead. General Motors threatened legal action for the possible use of the name
Chery because it sounds similar to
Chevy. Bricklin initially wanted to challenge GM, but later changed his mind. The Chery-built vehicles are currently scheduled to be sold in the United States in 2007.
*
Bricklin SV-1*
Malcolm Bricklin Subaru, Bricklin, Fiat, Yugo cars*
Man behind the Yugo to lead new import wave in 2007, a January 2005 cover story from the
Detroit News
