1974-1976 Bricklin SV-1
Malcolm Bricklin could be considered a rather peculiar car guy. Before he set to work on his own car, he established Subaru’s American offices; later, he imported the Yugo to our shores. But in between those projects he brought to production a car of his own, the Bricklin SV-1 (short for Safety Vehicle 1). The emphasis here was on safety over performance wrapped in a fiberglass-acrylic body with the intent on exceeding all US government mandated safety measures.
The Bricklin was engineered in America, borrowing a lot of AMC Hornet suspension pieces. The car was manufactured in New Brunswick, Canada with a lot of financial help from the Canadian government. On the safety front, the SV-1 featured an integrated roll cage, high-impact bumpers, and side beams. Perhaps one of the most distinguishing features were the electro-hydraulic gullwing doors, and in 1974 the wedge-shaped design made the SV-1 stand out from its competition.
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