1976 Bricklin SV1

[gullwings]

... can't seem to get any pics loaded here so must rely on Facebook...


www.facebook.com/VIN2882/

... it's almost spring!!

MP

[vulgalour]

Exciting title, just a shame it's a link to Facebook. There is a click-to-upload function for pictures on the forum just under the reply/post box, it's normally pretty reliable.

[rattlecan]

My mate has one, lives on IOM

[gullwings]

Mar 1, 2017 18:35:38 GMT rattlecan said:

My mate has one, lives on IOM

SIMON!!! 

[gullwings]

[gullwings]

Thank you Vulgalour; I got it finally!! (slow learner apparently)

[grandsport]

Always loved those Canadian oddballs. Got to sit in one at a car show few year back, also a white one.

[gullwings]

... yes, white is the most common colour for the years made (3) but only one in '76 before they went bankrupt and shut the line down (Sept. 1975).

Overall; I am pretty sure that green was the least number made.

The issue with these is the colour is impregnated into the acrylic (no paint on the exterior), which is bonded to the fiberglass under-structure of the body panels... the colours were subject to fading and colour shifting and in some cases even before they left the assembly line. In most cases; the original colour can be rescued by literally block-sanding the body. The acrylic is about 1/16" thick so you have a bit of depth to work with to accomplish that feat. The white ones change colour too but tend to just get bleached out brighter. They are subject to cracking and de-laminating too due to temperature shifts and in some cases; stress and flex. Some owners have had success fixing parts with the help of a bathtub repair guy as they are similar.

The factory only made 2854 cars before it's demise and more than half are still out there! Many are in rough shape but there are a lot of marque-specific parts still around to restore them and the bodies have been "copied" in fiberglass. The new bodies would need paint though as the acrylic isn't on them. Mechanically; they are a breeze to keep mobile as all the parts are from other cars and readily available most places.

Simon's (on the IOM) is a '74 so it has the AMC 360 cid 4-barrel engine and 727 tranny... this one has the Ford 351 Windsor 2-barrel with the FMX 3-speed auto and for '76: a cat converter and single exhaust.

To drive one is almost the same as a similar period Corvette with the 350 engine.

Mike P

[vulgalour]

That's ace! Here's an artwork of one I did a little while ago.

[Rob M]

Thats ace!!
The back end reminds me of a Datsun 240/260 Z.

[ozzy]

there is a good video on you tube about them and the guy that came up with the idea

[rattlecan]

Mar 1, 2017 18:41:49 GMT gullwings said:

Mar 1, 2017 18:35:38 GMT rattlecan said:

My mate has one, lives on IOM

SIMON!!! 

That's right, he has a Delorean, as do I, so that's how I know him. Likes his gullwings obviously

[gullwings]

AHA! Yes, Simon has a DMC but I don't hold that against him... he has a Brick too... he tells me it keeps his pizza warm in the back on the way home from the take-out...

Brick owners call DMCs "kitchen appliances" like refrigerators or ice makers... we on the other hand have bathroom fixtures like bathtubs or acrylic showers...

His Brick is far more rare but has lots of weird idiosyncrasies too, like the DMC does... most Bricklin owners get asked "why did you paint your Delorean?"... we shake our heads...

Mike P

P.S. Nice artwork Vulgalour!

[sridgett]

I love these there so different.

[gullwings]

Mar 1, 2017 19:24:35 GMT Rob M said:

Thats ace!!
The back end reminds me of a Datsun 240/260 Z.

... yes, many have said the car looks like a large-sized "Z" car... 

The designer (Herb Grasse) had a Pantera at the time and when Malcolm Bricklin gave him a day to design the rear end; he borrowed the lights from his DeTomaso...

They have been used on a lot of cars over the years though...

MP

[gullwings]

[chandlergti]

I had a Orange 75, it shows on the list as being broken for parts now though I know it wasn't. It's still sitting under the same tree with the doors delaminating. Yours looks very nice!

[terminator]

There was a car custom show on telly some years back hosted by Dan Wood. They did a Bricklin and another ,amustang? From a parts list, if my memory is OK.

[gullwings]

... thanks ChandlerGTI; she is almost sorted now, having been totally disassembled and restored... the pics and story are on the Facebook page listed at the start of this post at the top (if you are interested).

I have some detail work to do buffing out the acrylic body this spring as it has some micro scratches in it. Even though it was a new body and never on a car (only the hatch is original to the car); it was NOS and after almost 40 years; had some "issues" to deal with. No cracks though and no warping as yet and I have re-aligned some of the panels slightly from when the pics were taken.

Always a work in progress but pretty close now... mechanically she is a dream.

Mike P

[gullwings]

Mar 3, 2017 19:27:44 GMT terminator said:

There was a car custom show on telly some years back hosted by Dan Wood. They did a Bricklin and another ,amustang? From a parts list, if my memory is OK.

... yes... that was Dan's personal project car and he owned it in the end... it was sold at eBay auction after 2 or 3 previous attempts... the paint was all cracked and the body panels shook when it ran... it "looked" a lot better in pictures than it actually was in the end... a shame... it was "built for TV" so a lot of corners were cut and they were all evident in the end.

I think it sold for $14K or $16K at auction (US $), if I recall correctly... it would have had to be disassembled and at least the body replaced again. I heard he put somewhere in the neighbourhood of $90K into the car but it was in a lot of areas that didn't matter I guess.

Nobody I know, knows the new owner or has seen the car since the auction... it has disappeared into somebody's garage... it might emerge in years to come on eBay stating; "bought this car to restore and lost interest" or "ran out of money" or "lost my garage space"... sad but common for these cars. They are so simple to understand and fix (even the automatic/powered gull-wing doors) that many are sitting and deteriorating for no really good reason.

Mine here sat for 7 years with the windows down in Canadian 4-season weather before I found it... I was lucky it was in the shape it was.

Mike P