Malcolm Bricklin

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Malcolm Bricklin

Malcolm Bricklin born January 9, 1939 (age 68) 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.

1 Subaru
2 Bricklin
3 Bricklin / Turner Power Plant
4 Bertone and Yugo
5 Recent ventures
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Subaru

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/1000 lbs) 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.

[edit] Bricklin

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 provided the 360 in³ V8 engines to be used for the 1974 cars; Ford 351 in³ V8's were used thereafter.

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 according to numerous dealers, buyers and magazine reviews, it was poorly engineered and assembled. Road & Track magazine (4/75) tested one borrowed from a private owner since Bricklin either 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. 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.

[edit] Bricklin / Turner Power Plant

Bricklin formed Bricklin Motors, Inc. to develop the Bricklin / Turner Power Plant, a true rotary engine (not a Wankel engine). However, this never saw the light of day.

[edit] Bertone and Yugo

Bricklin went on to import Fiat X1/9s (rebadged as Bertones) followed by his far more infamous importation of Yugo cars, priced at a competitive $3995. The Yugo venture had some success at first, but the vehicles soon gained a reputation for being unreliable and the operation folded.

[edit] Recent ventures

In the 1990s, Bricklin worked briefly to sell electric bicycles. 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 were scheduled to be sold in the United States in 2007 by Visionary Vehicles LLC but this plan has been dropped. The latest designs allegedly do not meet U.S. safety standards. Malcolm is currently seeking another Chinese OEM to manufacture his vehicles.