Why the Bricklin

BRICKLIN INTERNATIONAL Officers 2007-2009 Chairman Emeritus: 1st: Buddy Saupe - 1806 Milmont Dr. #284 - Milpitas, CA 95035 OWNERS CLUB INC. Chairman Emeritus: 2nd: Jerry Putnam - 440 Whispering Pines - Springboro, OH 45066; (937) 748-0339 - email: [email protected] Chairman Emeritus: 3rd: John Martin - 16754 E Ave. X Space #25; Llano, CA 93544; (661) 317-9414 - [email protected] Chairman Emeritus: 4th: Norm Canfield - P.O. Box 320 Paradise, UT 84328 (435) 245-7515 President: James Wajda - 7534 Quail Ridge Dr. - Dexter, MI 48130; (734) 424-3777 - email: [email protected] Vice Pres: Steve Stratton - 693 Fire Trail Rd. Linden, VA 22642; Visit our Web page: (540) 635-7118 email: [email protected] http://bricklin.org VP Operations: Dr. Sandy Bigman - 2024 Sorrelwood Ct. - San Ramon, CA 94582; (925) 735-5037 - email: [email protected] VP Finance: Dwight (Doc) Shreck - 500 N. Washington - PO Box 829; Join the Bricklin Mailing list on the Net Weatherford, OK 73096; (580) 774-2774 To subscribe, go to: VP Membership: George Malaska - 38083 Princeton Drive, North Ridgeville, OH autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/bricklin 44039; (440) 281-8468 - email: [email protected] scroll down to “Subscribing to Bricklin” VP Publications: John T. Blair - 1133 Chatmoss Dr. - Va. Beach, VA 23464; and fill in the necessary blanks (757) 495-8229 - email: [email protected] VP Canada: Vacant Secretary: Vacant VOLUME 35 Chief Judge Terry Tanner - 2687 Rocky Ford Rd. - Bedford, VA 24523; NUMBER 3 (540) 586-9761 Legal Advisor: Bob Vincler - 445 Fort Pitt Blvd. #140 - Pittsburgh, PA 15219 Submit Brickline articles to: Bricklinalia: Stuart Zukrow - 39401 Helena Avenue; Sterling Heights, MI 48313-5521; (586) 932-6699 email: [email protected] John T. Blair, Brickline Editor Webmaster Michael V. Mitchell - 965 Kenner Dr.; Medina, OH 44256 1133 Chatmoss Dr. email: [email protected] Va. Beach, VA 23464 Photographer West John Worsley (MPhotog , FPPC) - 3221 Northwood Rd. - (757) 495-8229 Sacramento, CA 95821; (916) 481-8321 e-mail: [email protected] Honorary Herb Grasse - 26609 North 71st Place - Scottsdale, AZ 85266

Deadlines are 2/1; 5/1; 8/1; 11/1 for the April, July, Regional Directors 2003-2005 October and January issues respectively. * California Kevin Hand - 15104 Ashwood Lane - Chino Hills, CA 91709; (909) 597-7414 - email: [email protected] For more information or help submitting articles, check Illinois Bob Mueller - 300 Niagra - Schaumburg,, IL out the Web page, or contact the Editor. (847) 891-5889 Ohio Michael V. Mitchell - 965 Kenner Dr.; Medina, OH 44256; CHANGE OF ADDRESS email: [email protected] Michigan Stuart Zukrow - 39401 Helena Avenue; Sterling Heights, MI 48313-5521; (586) 932-6699 email: [email protected] Submit to: New England Paul Robichaud - 235 Whalom Road; Lunenburg, MA 01462; George Malaska (978) 345-0620 - email: [email protected] 38083 Princeton Drive Northwest Mark Fasano - 12029 44 th Ave So.; Seattle, WA 98178; North Ridgeville, OH 44039 (206)763-8900 Manitoba Bill Payne - 350 Budd Road Winnipeg, Manitoba; Canada 440-281-8468 R3X 1Z8; (204) 663-0087 Ontario Harry Hoekstra - 23184 Walker Road; Chatham; Ontario To avoid delayed or lost mailings, please notify the N7L 3Z3; (519) 351-6035 email: [email protected] membership director prior to moving. The post office * Denotes changes from the last issue will forward your mail, but there may be an additional charge for this service. IN THIS ISSUE Page 1 Northeast Exotic Car Show 2010 Jeffrey Torrey ADVERTISING Page 2 Bricklin #2634 Gets a Second Chance (Part 2) Phillip Carpenter Submit to: Page 8 Why The Bricklin SV1 Raffi Minasian Brickline Editor (above) Page 12 John Lodge’s Body Fit Procedure Part 2 - Reworking the door John Lodge Classified Ads are free to paid members for personal Page 18 A Visit To My Uncle Ed Vasso Joe Vasso vehicles or Bricklin related items. These free ads are Page 19 Bricklin Unbowed Chris Morris not intended for commercial endeavors. Page 23 Announcing Western Meet

The appearance of any ad in the Brickline does not constitute a recommendation by Bricklin International, Inc. Members should thoroughly investigate any adver- Front Cover - Phil Carpenter’s VIN 2634 - When Phil purchased tiser, product or service before entering into any type it, it was in need of some Tender Loving Care! of purchase, contract or agreement.

The contents of The Brickline are copyrighted and the property of Bricklin International. Reproduction without permission of the Editor is forbidden. Why The Bricklin SV1

By: Raffi Minasian

In 1974 I was in the 8th grade and saw my first Bricklin. It was quite orange. There in the California sun at a local spe- cialty dealership sat this gleam- ing plasticized wedge of sharp cheddar cheese. I was smitten with the audacity of it. I was al- ready enchanted with the idea of designing cars and the possi- bility of building my own some- day, so it was not without a bit of envy that I read about Herb Grasse, Malcolm Bricklin, and the various key players in the Bricklin story. The Bricklin was sexy, macho, they advertised in Playboy. Young rebels with advertising jobs, disco moves, and Herb Grasse and Raffi Minasian with Bricklin model water beds drive Bricklins long 8 before this image was to become a farce. I really wanted a tion flaws, and most will either bring the dream to the assembly Bricklin, mostly for the lifestyle love or hate the styling. But one line. but also because I believed an thing is certain, no one in post American independent car man- war America has ever launched Does all of this make the Bricklin ufacturer could succeed. and succeeded with the ambi- a great car? To me, most cer- tious goal of building a produc- tainly it does. The Bricklin was Seven years later, when the tion based car from the ground not only a success in the time price of used Bricklin’s were up. You can site Shelby or Dar- frame that it was conceived, down to a manageable range for rin as examples of successful assembled, and marketed. a college grunt, I purchased a post war car manufacturers, The very forces that allowed it safety green AMC powered 1974 but they both relied on proven to rise so quickly against the car with converted doors. The multi-million dollar developed, coming tides of oil embargoes, amount of fun I had as a college D.O.T. approved chassis or base mounting Federal Highway and student with this car is an entire model cars to prove their points. emissions restrictions, and the article in itself. Suffice it to say, You would have to chase clear growing surge of interest in the I spent a fair amount of time in back to the Tucker more than 20 Datsun 240Z (half the price of my “Members Only” jacket and years earlier to find a contender a Bricklin) were in the end sim- “Ray Bans” cruising the Pacific to this realm of a fully designed ply not strong enough to defeat Coast Highway. and engineered car, and even the assembly and economic mo- in that case, they only made 50 mentum that would ultimately The Bricklin means a lot of dif- Tuckers and 250 Darrins. Brick- put the Bricklin out of business. ferent things to collectors and lin wrangled some of the best But that does not change the enthusiasts all over the world. independent automotive talent importance of the achievement Some dismiss the car as nothing in the industry to develop the in the context of the times. Pio- more than a “kit car”, many are SV1 using a shoestring budget neers today with more money quick to point out the produc- and plenty of salesmanship to and vastly complex computer

July 2010 Those of you who have owned a Bricklin will appreciate how challenging that can be. Brick- lins were dynamic cars but they were plagued with body and build production quality issues the day they left the factory floor. The task of locating a pristine example 35 years later posed a challenge. As luck would have it, a near perfect example was located through the help of the Bricklin Owners Club just 4 miles from my home in North- ern California. Dr. Sandy Bigman (a Bricklin enthusiast since he was a teenager and the original owner of his car) allowed me to photograph his 1975 Safety Red First prototype Bricklin. The perfect body panels, matching paint, and original systems continue to struggle to on this car in order to prepare features show that many of the achieve what Bricklin did in half one for scale representation. early production problems that 9 the time and without so much as gave the Bricklin a bad name a fax machine. My first step was to locate and were taken care of in later series photograph a Bricklin of high production. Other than an af- Automodello™ builds scale mod- quality and of consistent and termarket wood dash and some el replicas of significant cars. original production condition. very minor upgrades to his car, When we first began the - dis cussions around the subject of significance, we segmented the discussion into American and European offerings. We also looked for interesting stories either of design, engineering, or simply a unique business story. On the subject of the Bricklin, we found all those stories in one car. Having owned a Bricklin for several years, I was used to the smirks and chuckles that often come from car collectors and historians who frequently if not a bit ignorantly place the Bricklin on the list of the 10 worst cars ever built. But the Bricklin con- tinues to outlive the jabs in many areas. So much so, that is was a great pleasure to focus deeply Almost done

July 2010 ficult to manage both in assembly and bonding. At this scale the glue applicator is not much thicker than a few strands of hair. Great care must be made to hide bonding “shelves” large enough to maintain adhesion, but small enough to not detract from the correct aesthetic. Many of these parts are millimeters in thickness, with wall thicknesses often less than 1mm.

Once we had constructed the master pattern and the assembled color and interior samples were created, Automodello™ called upon Herb Grasse himself to review the model and discuss Driver’s door open for a peek at the interior the details and features to en- sure an exact replica. Design- this was an ideal pattern car to (designed to accommodate the ing and developing scale mod- 10 use for replication. manufacturing bonded acrylic els for as long as I have, one of process on the real car) had to the most rewarding experiences Capturing the features of a car be carefully replicated with the involves meeting with some of in scale is both science and art. right body side sections and join the best-known designers and The art of scaling involves not to the lower panels. Windows discussing their work. Carroll simply relying on numeric re- and trim features are always dif- Shelby, John Herlitz, Dutch Dar- ductions, rather averaging out the visual effect of surface in- terplay against the entire com- position. Small parts on a large surface would nearly disappear if not properly scaled up. Con- versely, large features would have to be somewhat subdued so as not to dominate the overall form. Details like the tapering rear fender line, the secondary bone line in the mid section, and the linear but fluid overall form of the car all had to be averaged out in a consistent form. Paint, a feature that cannot scale be- yond its own viscosity, lays on a surface that is 43 times smaller and so radii and fillets have to be adjusted accordingly. Fur- ther, the careful panel shapes Rear view of finished model

July 2010 rin, Raymond Loewy, Tom Kel- the Automodello™ team and the Personal Note from Jim Cowen - log, Larry Shinoda, and Chuck Bricklin enthusiasts who contrib- Founder of Automodello™: Pelly, to name a few, were all uted to the making of this great When we embarked on the supportive, and eager to share model. Bricklin SV1, I knew from our their thoughts on the develop- experience with building the ment of each of their scale mod- The standard edition features all 1964 Griffith Series 200 the els. Herb graciously invited me interior trim as viewed through inaugural Automodello™ model to his home in Arizona where we the closed doors. Standard edi- we would benefit from expert spent the evening reviewing the tion is painted Safety Orange or guidance. This is where having pattern master and discussing Safety Red. The Founders Edi- both the original designer and a the overall body design. Herb tion (signed by Herb Grasse and strong owner community would is not only a great designer, he accompanied on the display sur- be indispensable. I wish to per- grills a mighty fine steak as well! face by a replicated VIN plaque) sonally thank Herb Grasse, de- His comments included correc- is painted in Safety Green and signer of the Bricklin SV1, and, tions to the front fender line features an open driver’s side these Bricklin International (the Bricklin has a unique kick- door, which reveals the interior members listed in alphabetical up just aft of the front wheel detail as well as a scaled VIN order: John Blair, David Hansen, that is often missed) as well as a plate mounted to the bottom of Martin Leigh, Michael Mitchell, slight bone line along the rear of the opened driver’s door. As a James Wajda and Stuart Zukrow the fender that tapers the body unique feature to the Automod- for all their help and insights on mass toward the rear corner of ello™ line, 52 Exploded Edition this project. the car. versions of the Bricklin will be available in Safety White and BI 11 Once the samples were refined, mounted on a hand made base they made the rounds through with protective enclosure and a series of review stages calling the usual liability disclaimer af- upon some of the most expert fixed to the bottom because Bricklin enthusiasts in the nation. there is no Automodello™ box. Dozens of details were returned including revelations concern- ing the door piston shafts, the colors of various parts of the interior, the wheel finish, the trim and part line features on the car, and placement of logos. Even though all Bricklins were built at the factory with the same multi- toned brown interior, it involves five shades of brown and tan, black, and grey. This model features one of the most complex interiors I have ever replicated in 1:43 scale. In all, hundreds of hours were spent research- ing and refining the scale model replica of the Bricklin SV1. The effort to preserve the originality and integrity of the design as it stands in history is evident in PreProduction Layout of Exploded Edition in Safety Whitel

July 2010 Bricklin Unbowed

By: Chris Morris It’s one Telegraph-Journal of the New Brunswick, Canada few times B r i c k l i n Published Saturday April 24th, has pub- 2010 licly dis- cussed the Exclusive: Maverick business- failed New man Malcolm Bricklin speaks out Brunswick about the failed sports car ven- enterprise ture that 35 years ago made him that ul- - and this province - notorious t i m a t e l y cost the FREDERICTON, NB - Roughly 35 p r o v i n c e years after New Brunswick’s wild about $23 ride with the Bricklin sports car million and crashed in bankruptcy, Malcolm resulted in Bricklin says he’s sorry. p e r s o n a l bankrupt- Well, sort of. cy for the t i r e l e s s “I’m sorry that the government American lost money and that I lost mon- entrepre- 19 ey,” Bricklin says in an interview neur. from New York City. The Brick- Both he and New Brunswick tax- lin project payers lost millions of dollars on s h o w e d the mid-1970s venture to build the world, the exotic SV-1 sports car. But he said, Malcolm Bricklin says he’s ‘sorry that the govern- Bricklin, the fast-talking, auto- that New ment lost money and that I lost money’ on trying motive dream weaver, still be- Brunswick to build a sports car in New Brunswick. lieves it was a fair deal for New was more Brunswick. than “a good spot to catch fish.” portation of the much-maligned And he insists that with a lot Yugoslavian sub-compact to “The government won be- more time and money, it would North America in the years fol- cause, with all due respect, it have worked. lowing his failed adventure in put New Brunswick on the map. New Brunswick. Everybody knew the car and “If we had the kind of money everybody knew about New they throw at new car devel- He said Vuic makes him look Brunswick,” he told the Tele- opments now “¦ we could have like a “con man” and he objects graph-Journal this week. “The done a thousand times better.” to being described as a “serial Premier (Richard Hatfield) saw it entrepreneur” and the “P.T. Bar- for its publicity value. He saw it Bricklin, 71, is angry about his num of the auto industry.” when he went around the world portrayal in a recently-released and everywhere he went, they book, “The Yugo: The Rise and Bricklin notes the Yugo still holds knew who he was because of Fall of the Worst Car in History“, the record for the most cars im- the car. It was great PR.” by U.S. historian Jason Vuic. ported from Europe. Bricklin masterminded the im-

July 2010 his own book because “the story is so much more fun” than what others are writing.

Bricklin said he has fond memo- ries of his days in New Brunswick and the exciting, if doomed, at- tempt to launch the futuristic SV-1 sports car on the North American auto market.

He said that one of the biggest problems the project faced was what he called the crude politics of the province which, to this day, astonish him.

“The attitude was, ‘If you’re not for me, you’re against me’ and ‘If I say no, you have to say yes.’ So that meant things got nasty because the Premier actually 20 used the car to win an election (in 1974).”

Just under 3,000 Bricklins were built in New Brunswick from 1974 until 1976 at assembly plants in Minto and Saint John.

Malcolm Bricklin, left, and Premier Richard Hatfield with the first The development was plagued Bricklin SV-1 to come off the assembly line in Saint John on Aug. 6, by production problems aris- 1974. The province loaned the American entrepreneur $20 million. ing from a complex design that included a fiberglass body with bonded acrylic and powered, “It met every safety regulation “I walked out of the room and gull-wing doors that opened and and every emission require- I said to the people I was with, closed at the touch of a button. ment and it never had a recall,” ‘Oh my God, I have never been he said. “With all due respect, in a room where I felt such evil.’ In the event of a battery failure, Toyota has had 10 million recalls I could really feel it. I went back occupants of the SV-1 would this year.” and I said, ‘Find a buyer. I’m for have to scramble through the sale. I’m out of here.’”‚“ rear hatchback. Bricklin said he bailed out of the Yugo venture after he met Slo- Bricklin is asking the publishers Bricklin says the cars were bodan Milosevic who would later of The Yugo, Hill and Wang, to ahead of their time. become president of Yugoslavia apologize to him and recall the and ultimately would be indicted book. “Thirty-five years later they for war crimes. look like they just came off the In fact, he is planning to write showroom floor,” he says of the

July 2010 roughly 1,500 Bricklins that still exist.

“It was the safest car ever built. Nobody to this day has been killed in a Bricklin. We did really inventive things and we did them in a province that was not used to that kind of quality.”

Bricklin still has kind words for Hatfield, and not only because the late Progressive Conserva- tive Premier was willing to lend him a lot of money for the sports car project.

“The Premier you had there, was world-class,” he said.

“Naturally, I favour him because Malcolm Bricklin poses with his gull-winged sports car, he gave me money and there’s the Bricklin SV-1, during the Toronto International Auto Show no question that definitely sways in Toronto on July 1, 1975 21 my mind. But let me tell you, I spent a lot of time with that man and that man was trying to do ground running like we did, that has not lost any of his enthusi- good for your province. That will be your Achilles heel.” asm, excitement or energy for was his only concern, it was his the development of leading- full-time concern, and he loved He said in a way it’s lucky he edge automobiles. his job. I wish we had politicians knew as little as he did about like that today.” building automobiles. A friend He has shown over the years of his, John DeLorean, tried pro- that he’s the kind of man it’s Bricklin said development of the ducing a similar sports car a few hard to bet on - or against. SV-1, which stood for “safety ve- years later and ended up losing hicle one”, was derailed by lack much more money than was lost A millionaire who brought the of capital and lack of a trained on the SV-1. sturdy Subaru to the U.S., Brick- workforce in the province. lin remains an enthusiastic mar- “Let me tell you, I’m really hap- keter of new-age vehicles. “I’m not knocking New Bruns- py I was dumb enough to not wick because it could have hap- know how much money it re- In the 1990s, he tried to peddle pened anywhere, but if you go ally costs to build a car,” Bricklin an electric bicycle, the EV-War- to a place with something other says, laughing. rior, to the masses. than an auto-building mentality, you’re going to have to spend “John did the same thing - it In the last three years, he was a lot more time and a lot more took him three times as long set to import a luxury sedan be- money bringing those people up and he lost $280 million and he fore the arrangement with Chi- to snuff,” he said. knew how to do it right.” na’s Chery went sour.

“Then if you have to hit the Despite advancing age, Bricklin That venture was the subject

July 2010 A Little Humor

of a documentary film his son, Speeding Oh, they’ll be all right in a min- Jonathan Bricklin, directed. ute officer. We just got off Route Sitting on the side of the high- 119. He now has turned his atten- way waiting to catch speeding tion to electric vehicles and is drivers, a State Police Officer working on a turbine system sees a car puttering along at 22 The Archer that would allow electric cars to MPH. He thinks to himself, This charge their batteries while they driver is just as dangerous as A duke is hunting in a forest with are being driven. a speeder! So he turns on his his men-at-arms and servants lights and pulls the driver over. when he comes upon a tree. Bricklin has not been in New Archery targets are painted all Brunswick since 2001, when he Approaching the car, he notices over it, and smack in the middle was forced to spend three days that there are five old ladies-two of each is an arrow. in Moncton after planes were in the front seat and three in grounded following the terrorist the back, wide eyed and white “Who is this incredibly fine -ar attacks of 9/11. He said he will as ghosts. The driver, obviously cher?” cries the duke. “I must never forget the kindness shown confused, says to him, “Officer, find him.” to him by the people of Moncton I don’t understand, I was doing during that difficult time. exactly the speed limit! What After continuing through the seems to be the problem?” forest for a few miles, he comes Bricklin was delighted to hear across a small boy carrying a that a musical, The Bricklin: An Ma’am, the officer replies, you bow and arrow. Eventually the 22 Automotive Fantasy, is sched- weren’t speeding, but you boy admits that it was he who uled to have its world premiere should know that driving slower shot the arrows plumb in the at The Playhouse in Fredericton than the speed limit can also be center of all the targets. on July 30. a danger to other drivers. “You didn’t just walk up to the “How cool is that?” he said. Slower than the speed limit? No targets and hammer the arrows sir, I was doing the speed limit into the middle, did you?” asks Tim Yerxa, the Playhouse’s ex- exactly...Twenty- two miles an the duke worriedly. ecutive director, said Bricklin will hour! the old woman says a bit be invited to the musical. proudly. “No my lord. I shot them from 100 paces. I swear it by all that “The play is really about people The State Police officer, trying to I hold holy.” who have hopes and dreams,” contain a chuckle explains to her Yerxa said. that 22 was the route number, “That is truly astonishing,” says not the speed limit. the duke. “I hereby admit you “Both Richard Hatfield and Mal- into my service. But I must ask colm Bricklin are portrayed as A bit embarrassed, the woman one favor in return. You must tell people with big ideas who want grinned and thanked the officer me how you came to be such an to accomplish something great. for pointing out her error. outstanding shot.” In Hatfield’s case, he wants to succeed for the people of New But before I let you go, Ma’am, “Well,” said the boy, “first I fire Brunswick and in Bricklin’s case, I have to ask... Is everyone in the arrow at the tree, and then for the automotive industry and this car OK? These women seem I paint the target around it.” for himself as an entrepreneur.” awfully shaken and they haven’t muttered a single peep this BI BI whole time, the officer asks with concern.

July 2010

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