Canadian doc shines spotlight on infamous Bricklin SV-1

"Bricklin: The Gullwing Gamble" dives deeper than ever before into the gullwing '70s New-Brunswick-built sports car

Roughly 50 years ago, Malcolm Bricklin made an audacious gamble that he could start his own car company, design a sports car, and build that car in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. That car, the SV-1, did materialize, but the profits didn’t. Now, an in-depth docu-series explores the eccentric Malcolm Bricklin, his flawed but promising car, and the ensuing fiasco that swallowed Canadian political leaders and millions of dollars.

Malcolm Bricklin was a self-made success — or a serial scammer, depending on your framing. He made his first fortune by importing Italian Lambretta scooters into America, realizing an untapped market. He then parlayed that coup into a scheme where he imported the Subaru 360 micro-car into America, via an obscure loophole in the environmental regulations of the time.

The 360 was grossly undersized for American roads and earned harsh condemnations from safety advocates of the time. But it was the genesis of Subaru sales in North America, a brand that continues to thrive to this day. And it was on the heels of this Subaru escapade that Bricklin figured the timing right to make his biggest gamble yet and start a car company of his own.

The resulting car was the SV-1, a gull-winged sports car with V8 power, a composite body, and the very latest in vehicle safety innovations. The car looked low and fast, and auto-show-goers and readers of car magazines were rapt with anticipation. But where to build the SV-1? 7 Low-mileage Canada-built Bricklins up for auction Canada's national bird should be the SV-1 Bricklin

Despite the SV-1 never being sold new to Canadians, New Brunswick was to host assembly and manufacturing of the car due to a generous and controversial incentive offered by the provincial government to Bricklin. The resulting fiasco would leave Bricklin, New Brunswick Premier Richard Hatfield, and many angry taxpayers pointing fingers at each other. Fifty years on, the SV-1 is an ignoble icon of Canadiana.

The docu-series, produced by New Brunswick-based Cazador Productions in collaboration with Postmedia Studios, dives in deep to tell this story in the way it deserves. The doc showcases the formation, rise, and fall of the Bricklin SV-1 with exclusive interviews from historians, collectors, automotive experts, and even Malcolm Bricklin himself. Bricklin: The Gullwing Gamble premieres August 6 on Fibe TV1, or on the Fibe TV app.

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