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Bricklin SV-1

vping

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Who knows what about 'em? I saw a 1975 last night parked across the street from where my company party was being held. I recall seeing it before but not sure. Looked prety cool but know nothing about them.
 

DrEntropy

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HATEFUL things!!

AMC fiddly bits, pneumatic rams to assist the doors (and FAIL frequently) which weigh a ton... Looks completely "third world" on close exam.

/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/pukeface.gif
 

tony barnhill

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That about sums it up - except that I wouldn't kick a free one out of the GarageMahal!
 

billspohn

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Aw they aren't that bad. The club apparently has fixes for the door business and they have a gutless smogged 175 BHP engine, but that can always be fixed.

They look interesting and should be mechanically dead reliable. A friend owns one but hasn't put it on the road yet.
 

DrEntropy

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I suppose I'm bein' a bit harsh. ~Anything~ can be made to operate as intended... with enough time and money. The examples I've run into have all been slugs. Last one was turned away at the door.

I remain harsh.
 

tony barnhill

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& their windows are too small for the flow of the body - plus, they limit visibility worse than an MGB roadster with its hood up!
 

JPSmit

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They are however one of the very few Canadian made cars out there. (at least recently) The Manic GT is another that immediately springs to mind in all of you I'm sure /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

It was made in New Brunswick as part of a provinicial "get business in" scheme. They were way overbuilt for safety but did leak etc. etc. The engines were (I think anyway) as gutless as anything in those post muscle car pre we now understand emissions now days.

All the colours were safety orange, safety red etc. etc.

Don't know of you get the Show "Chop Cut Rebuild" but they actually did a very nice job with one this season.

BTW the panels were acrylic - and colour impregnated as opposed to painted.

AND - when the ride was over, Bricklin sold the plans to John Delorean! (really)

https://www.bricklin.org/ (scroll down)
 

aeronca65t

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JPSmit said:
They are however one of the very few Canadian made cars out there. (at least recently)....

Really, it seems like *most* American cars are built in the Canada. There are big factories in Oshowa, Oakville, St. Thomas, Brampton and Windsor.

My mini-van is Canadian built as are a lot of Fords, Chrylsers and GM cars. Even the little Suzuki car I used to have was built in Ontario.
Canadians can be proud that their auto factories are rated the most efficient in North America.....ahead of Mexico or the US.

<span style='font-size: 8pt'>I used to live in Ontario. </span>
 

Banjo

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Ironic isen't it? "American" cars are made in Canada and Mexico while "forign" cars are made in Kentucky, Texas, California...... need I go on?
So Doc, what yer saying is that the Bricklin is basically the molded plastic body version of the Delorean? Both unusual non-painted bodies, both with leaky gullwing doors, and both with horribly underpowered engines for the kind of car they should have been.
 

tony barnhill

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When Studebaker was going out of business, they closed all their US factories & continued to produce cars in their Canadian factories for a few years.
 

AngliaGT

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I bought a Ford Faimont station wagon back in
the early '80's.Thought that I'd bought an American
car,until I saw the sticker...."Made in Canada".
Also,the Ford Crown Victoria is an imported car -
- Made in Mexico.

- Doug
 

JPSmit

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OK OK yes mea culpa- Cambridge - Toyota, Oshawa - GM, Woodstock - CAMI - Suzuki/GM Oakville - Ford, Alliston - Honda. What I meant to say was Canadian owned.

There the list shortens quickly

Russell - 1905 - 1915
McLaughlin (later Buick)
Manic 1970-1971 https://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/bv/70-71manic.htm
Bricklin 1975-1977
and now

Zenn https://zenncars.com/ which ironically are not allowed to be sold in most of Canada - See what Rick Mercer has to say on the website (if you know who he is /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif )
 

aeronca65t

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Yeah, I knew what you really meant.

Actually, I think there are some other Candadian car companies (I know there was a group that make Lotus Seven clones for a while).

Mercer's comments were good! I have a 12 mile commute, 4 days a week. A Zenn would be great for me.
 
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vping

vping

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Wow some harsh critics but revealing info. I've limited experience in driving the abundance of (sports) cars that BCF members seem to have. My experience is mainly with MG's and even that is limited. Need more free time to experience more cars even thought I'd not leave MG's for anything.
 

bugimike

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As far as Bricklins, I always felt that they were VERY aptly named!!! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif
 

DrEntropy

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AMEN! Pacer in plastic wrap! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/jester.gif
 
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vping

vping

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The registration listed it as a 1975 BRICK /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif
 

Sherlock

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Hey! I remember about the Manic GT...

As I recall reading, it was supposed to be quite a sports car.

As the story goes (if I remember correctly), a Quebec guy wanted to import the Alpine sports car in but wasn't allowed to, so he developed the Manic GT instead around the same concept. It never got very far, and there are very few left today.

There, how's that, and I didn't check out that website yet.

And in the early days (pre-1920's) there were many Canadian manufacturers, but virtually all of them were small-scale. There was even a company in the middle of Saskatchewan who briefly manufactured cars in those early days.
 

14dna

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The Bricklin was never marketed in Canada, so any here are imported from the U.S. My brother-in-law had one years ago. Quite a novelty, but totally slow and unreliable.
Dave
P.S. JP, the Cami plant is in Ingersoll not Woodstock (15 miles away) and people there get upset when they don't receive their proper recognition. Woodstock is where the new Toyota plant is being built
 
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