Malcolm Bricklin

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Malcolm Bricklin

Nationality American
Alma mater University of Florida
Known for known for his self-named automobile company, successful importer of foreign cars

Malcolm Bricklin born March 9, 1939 (1939-03-09) (age 69) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an automotive entrepreneur. He is best known for his self-named automobile company, and for being one of the few Americans who has successfully imported foreign cars with Subaru, Fiat and Yugo.

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[edit] Handyman America

He graduated from William R. Boone High School in 1956.[1] 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. Bricklin left the business having become a millionaire in the process.

[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 made a deal with Subaru to introduce those cars to the United States. Malcolm and his partner, Harvey Lamm, formed Subaru of America, Inc. to sell Subaru franchises. It marked the beginning of the Japanese influx.

[edit] Bricklin

When Bricklin sold his stake in Subaru, he received enough money to pursue his own American dream. He decided to design and manufacture his own vehicle, which he called Bricklin SV-1, a car with an exotic appearance (including 100 pound gullwing doors). "SV" stood for safety vehicle, and Bricklin applied standards far ahead of anything the United States government was imposing in the 1970's. The SV-1 was manufactured in New Brunswick, Canada, an area not known for auto manufacturing. Sales did not meet expectations, and only 2,854 cars were built before the company went into receivership, owing the government $23 million. It is believed approximately 1,500 Bricklin cars still exist.

[edit] Bertone and Yugo

Bricklin went on to import Fiat X1/9s (rebadged as Bertones). And, in the 1980s, he formed Yugo America, Inc. with a goal of bringing an extremely affordable car to U.S. drivers. The cars were manufactured in the country then known as Yugoslavia and carried the unheard of price tag of $3990. With 160,000 vehicles sold during its launch phase, the Yugo quickly became the fastest selling European import in automotive history. Although the Yugo was a frequent target of late night comedians due to its notorious reliability problems, it is one of the only cars never subject to a recall. [2] Bricklin sold his stake in Yugo in 1989.

[edit] Electric vehicles and fuel cells

In the 1990s, Bricklin turned his attention to the idea of producing environmentally friendly vehicles. He studied battery technology and went on to form an electric vehicle company, marketing an electric bike known as the EV Warrior. At the turn of the century, Bricklin became very involved with several progressive fuel cell technologies, but he never lost his desire to bring a low-cost, high-quality car to the United States.

[edit] The search for the global car

Beginning in 2002, Bricklin began his search for a manufacturing partner that could help him create another value brand in the US. He flirted briefly with the idea of going back to what was once Yugoslavia (now Serbia), but the factories were in disrepair and he didn't feel he could create a quality vehicle there. Bricklin embarked on a three-year journey around the world to find a manufacturing partner. He looked in the UK, India, Russia and finally decided to work on importing cars manufactured by China-based Chery instead. The Chery-built vehicles were scheduled to be sold in the United States in 2008 by Visionary Vehicles LLC but by Fall 2006 it became clear to Bricklin that the Chery was not yet capable of producing the standard of vehicles that Bricklin had planned. The partners were also at odds about the importance of including hybrid vehicles in their planned line. In November 2006, Bricklin announced the end of his venture with Chery, but he continued to pursue his interest in China as a manufacturing source.

[edit] Coming Full Circle

Today Bricklin and Visionary Vehicles are planning to use his experience with both fuel cell technology and his knowledge of manufacturing economics to create a line of plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) [3]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Orlando man's message: Buy made-in-U.S. products. Orlando Sentinel.
  2. ^ 50 Worst Cars of All Time. Time Magazine.
  3. ^ How Carmakers Are Responding to the Plug-In Hybrid Opportunity

[edit] External links

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