This Low-Mileage 1975 Bricklin SV-1 Is an Affordable and Underappreciated Sports Car

The Bricklin SV-1 example you see here was built in 1975 and is an original survivor with just 8,000 miles (approx. 12,800 km) on the odometer. This unit is said to have had just one owner until last year, and it might very well be one of the best surviving SV-1s.

Malcolm Bricklin, the American automotive entrepreneur who founded Subaru of America and introduced the Yugo to the North American market, is the man behind the Bricklin SV-1. With financial assistance from the Canadian government, he built a factory in New Brunswick and enlisted the help of ArtCenter College graduate Herb Grasse to design a new car to his own specifications.

Bricklin's aim was to build a car that fully embraced incoming US safety regulations and was fit for modern roads from a safety point of view. After various proof-of-concept cars, he came up with a striking-looking sports car with gullwing doors and a sharply sloping nose.

Called Bricklin SV-1 (which stands for "Safety Vehicle One"), the quirky two-seater was one of the first sports cars that prioritized safety, having been built with futuristic construction materials and some innovative safety features, such as a chassis-integrated steel roll cage to protect its occupants, energy-absorbing integrated bumpers front and back, side-impact guardrails, a sleek and sturdy fiberglass body, and anti-submarine seats. Plus, gullwing doors to avoid the opening of doors into the passing traffic.

The Bricklin SV-1 was indeed one of the safest sports cars of its era, with surprisingly good results in a 1974 crash test. But with all those safety innovations came a series of manufacturing flaws, which led to substandard build quality and subsequently to the car's premature demise.

Initially launched with an AMC-supplied 360-cubic-inch (5.9-liter) V8 engine and a choice of manual or automatic transmissions, a suspension based on the AMC Javelin, a body made of acrylic plastic over fiberglass, massive bumpers, and gullwing doors, the Bricklin SV-2 defied classification. However, it was a pioneering automobile for its era and was groundbreaking in many areas of design.

Bricklin Canada Ltd. produced the two-door, two-seat SV-1 hatchback only from 1974 to 1975, with the company closing its doors on September 25, 1975. Less than 3,000 cars were built in total, and it's estimated that just around 1,500 still exist to this day. Depending on the condition, these exceptionally rare cars are valued anywhere between $7,000 and $30,000, which makes them rather affordable by classic car standards.

The Bricklin SV-1 unit pictured here was delivered to Barrett Cadillac Inc. of Youngstown, Ohio, in 1975 and has spent decades with its first owner before exchanging hands for the first time in late 2023. The car is now offered for sale again out of West Ellicott, New York, with just 8,000 miles on the clock, which makes it one of the lowest-mileage examples we've seen coming up for auction.

The SV-1 boasts a two-tone black and white exterior paintwork over a tan interior and is powered by a 351ci Windsor V8 that was factory rated at 175 horsepower and 286 lb-ft of torque. This is the Ford-supplied engine that was fitted under the hood of later models and was paired with a not-so-sporty three-speed FMX automatic transmission, sending power to the rear wheels. According to the listing, an oil change was performed, and the battery was replaced under current ownership.

The car's composite body is made of fiberglass with a color-impregnated acrylic resin layer bonded to it. The body panels are mounted on a steel frame with an integrated rollover structure. It comes with those characteristic gullwing doors and pop-up headlights, and additional equipment includes power-assisted front disc brakes, a dual exhaust system, and air conditioning.

This particular unit rides on machine-finished 15″ Turbo Mag aluminum wheels shod in BFGoodrich Radial T/A white-letter tires that are said to be original to the car.

Inside the cab, you will find bucket seats covered in two-tone tan vinyl and suede microfiber cloth. Color-matching dashboard and door panels and a three-spoke steering wheel complete the package. The current owner installed replacement carpets and sound-deadening insulation in the past year.

This low-mileage 1975 Bricklin SV-1 is up for auction and is offered with an owner's manual, a Certificate of Birth, sales documents, and an Ohio title. The current highest bid stands at $7,000, with six days left to go. Though it was a failure in its day, the SV-1 is a car worthy of praise, and owning one these days is bound to make you a local celebrity.