Automodello 1974 Bricklin

At least once a week I am asked who is Automodello. And I answer that question by saying they are an up and coming mint with a passion for automobiles, especially the really rare ones. And if you take a few minutes to view their library, of releases, here on JSS you will see the majority of their replicas are ones you probably never heard of before. A little research will generally reveal an interesting story on the automobile, usually about a visionary with a dream. However, for one reason or another their dream never caught on, or even made it to fruition but at least they can say they tried.

Malcolm Bricklin was the brain-child behind the Bricklin automobile. Mr. Bricklin made his first million in franchising his plumbing and hardware stores; he later became the Subaru importer for North America, his first automotive related endeavor.

After getting his feet wet importing Subaru's Mr. Bricklin decided to build his own line of automobiles, hence the Bricklin was born. He named his automobile the Bricklin and the model was called the SV-1. These automobiles were not only a sports car, they were also considered a safety car; thus named the Safety Vehicle 1 (SV-1). Having a built in roll cage, shock absorbing 5-mph bumpers, and side guard rails, the SV-1 greatly exceeded the safety requirements of the day.

The Bricklin was a gullwing sports car that was designed by legendary designer Herb Grasse and manufactured in St. John, Canada for exclusive sale in the United States by General Vehicle Corporation. Production at the plant began in mid 1974 and continued through late 1975 with 3 model years resulting (1974, 1975, & 1976). There were 2,854 cars built before Bricklin went bankrupt. There were 772 produced in 1974 with a 220 horsepower AMC 360 cubic-inch V8. The 1975 model year saw 2,062 cars come off the assembly line. Bricklin went into receivership in September of 1975 with 12 cars left on the line. These had 1976 VIN plates and were considered 1976 models.

The SV-1 was plagued with build-problems from the get go. Most of the parts came from Detroit but the assembly was done in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada making for a logistical nightmare. The electro-hydraulic door system, albeit cool and made famous 20 years earlier by the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL, was not reliable, and the leaked badly.

Mr. Bricklins' goal was to build an inexpensive sports/safety car. However, when the vehicle was finally ready for market, the price had sky-rocketed from the original $4000 estimate to a whopping $7490, and in 1975 it increased again to nearly $10,000. Adding to the anguish of the higher cost was the fact that the Bricklin was plagued with poor quality throughout. Also, there was a very high scrap count of body panels, and production was much lower than expected. And let's not forget the problems with suppliers of the drive-train, suspension, and other components too.

In the end, the high cost to build, rising fuel prices, and low production drove Bricklin into debt of $23 million.

During its production life span which ended in 1976, 2854 automobiles were produced, a far cry from its goal of 50,000 units, which Bricklin needed to manufacture to make this automobile both affordable and profitable. Hence, the dream to build a state of the art sports car died and Mr. Bricklin found himself out $23 million dollars, but he had a dream and he tried, therefore I tip my hat to him.

As I stated at the beginning of this review Automodello is the mint which loves sharing these pieces of automotive history with us. The Bricklin although an also ran, in most people's eyes, it still deserves a place in automotive history.

The Automodello Bricklin is your chance to own this rare and unique automobile in miniature. Holding the 1:43 model in your hands you can't help but admiring the build quality of this museum quality piece. From the glossy finish to the outstanding photo-etched wheels and deep scribe lines throughout all the body panels this model was created to impress and it did.

The Automodello Bricklin includes a custom display case along with a certificate of authenticity. And just to be clear there are no working features on the standard edition, nor is there any numbering on the models indicating which model in the run you own.

The Founders Edition on the other hand includes opening doors and it was hand signed by Herb Grasse, the designer of the Bricklin SV-1. Also the run was hand numbered also. Mr. Herb Grasse passed away August 24th 2010.

The Automodello Bricklin is available in the following colors, in the Standard Edition:

• Safety Orange
• Safety Red
• Safety SunTan
• Safety White
• Safety Green

The standard edition has a run of up to 399 units in each color, and retails for $99 plus shipping and handling. I highly recommend the Automodello lineup of rare/unique automobile replicas; they are like potato chips once you get one you will want the entire line; they are that nice. But don't take our word on it, examine our images below and decide for yourself if these models float your boat; they did ours.

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