Bricklin
SV-1

Why it matters

The SV-1 ("Safety Vehicle 1") was Malcolm Bricklin's attempt to sell a safety-led American sports car, built with provincial money in New Brunswick. Gull-wing doors, an unpainted colour-through acrylic body and a steel perimeter frame with integral roll cage made it unusual, and the company's collapse after about $23 million of government investment made it a well-known business failure.

How rare is it?

Six separate kinds of rarity – never combined into one number.

Each kind of rarity is rated separately and never combined.

Photos

Exterior, interior and detail photos with their licences.

• Bricklin SV-1 (Wikimedia Commons: Bricklin SV-1)
  Photo: Calreyn88 · CC BY 4.0
• Bricklin SV-1 (Wikimedia Commons: Bricklin SV-1)
  Photo: Thomas Vogt from Paderborn, Deutschland · CC BY 2.0
• Bricklin SV-1 (Wikimedia Commons: Bricklin SV-1)
  Photo: Thomas Vogt from Paderborn, Deutschland · CC BY 2.0
• Bricklin SV-1 (Wikimedia Commons: Bricklin SV-1)
  Photo: Ventura19 · CC BY-SA 3.0

Production

Every figure says what it counts.

Independent counts (e.g. engine and colour) are never combined into a calculated figure. Surviving examples are never presented as original production.

History

Bricklin had a prototype built by a California custom builder in 1972 and used it to raise money. Quebec declined, but New Brunswick agreed to a loan guarantee and a share in the company. Cars were assembled in Saint John, with the acrylic bodies made in Minto. Production started in the fall of 1974 and the early cars were poorly engineered.

The 1974 model year had 780 cars with the AMC 360 V8; all 1975 cars used the Ford 351 Windsor with automatic transmission, from VIN 781 to 2880. Twenty 1976 model-year cars followed (VIN 2881 to 2900). The company went into receivership on 26 September 1975, and Consolidated International bought the finished and unfinished cars.

Technical specifications

Engine

Transmission & drivetrain

Chassis, body & dimensions

Performance

“Not yet verified” means no source has been checked for that value yet. Nothing is estimated to fill a gap.

Identification guide

How to tell an original from a replica or later conversion.

The source treats VIN 2900 as the last official Bricklin and says cars above it were built from parts by unauthorised sources. 1974 cars have the AMC 360 V8 (about 137 with a four-speed manual); every 1975 car has the Ford 351 with automatic. The five factory colours were white, orange, red, green and suntan, moulded into the acrylic rather than painted, and there is no cigarette lighter or ashtray.

Sources

Each number links to the exact facts it supports.

1. 1
   History of the Bricklin Car Level C Bricklin Autosport

   • 2854 Bricklins were completed at the Assembly Plant
   • all with the AMC 360 cubic inch motor
   • All 1975 Bricklins had the 351 Ford Windsor engine
   • AMC 360 cubic inch motor in 1974
   • Approximately 137 Manual Four Speed cars in 1974
   • Manual Four Speed cars were manufactured
   • Four-Sided Perimeter Box Frame incorporating a Roll Cage

   Accessed 2026-11-13
2. 2
   Canada's History – Bricklin SV-1: Canada's DeLorean Level C

   • 2854 Bricklin SV-1 cars produced before the company went into receivership

   Accessed 2026-11-12
3. 3
   Chevrolet Corvette Stingray vs. Bricklin SV-1 Level C Don Sherman · Car and Driver · 1975-05-01

   • Ford 351 Windsor V-8
   • 351-cubic inch Ford Windsor V-8
   • its two-barrel carburetor flattens the engine out above 4000 rpm
   • Ford-made "C-4 Cruise-o-matic"
   • Ford-made C4 Cruise-o-matic is the only transmission
   • steel-tube perimeter frame
   • AMC Hornet suspension and brakes; doubled camber change
   • rear drums that lock the back wheels early; front discs fade
   • fiberglass in a sheet molding compound with a vacuum-formed acrylic outer skin
   • 0.40-to-0.60-inch-thick sheet of acrylic plastic
   • It will pull 118 mph
   • 16.6 seconds (83.6 mph) in the quarter-mile

   Accessed 2026-11-13