Watch This Popular Mechanic Attempt To Bring A 1975 Bricklin SV-1 Back From The Dead

Key Takeaways

• The Canadian Bricklin SV-1, a rare sports car, is being restored by YouTuber DD Speed Shop despite its rough condition.
• The SV-1 had production problems and suffered from cracking bodywork, leading to its failure as a sports car.
• DD Speed Shop is working on repairing the SV-1’s exterior and engine to bring it back to its former glory.

The automotive world has many triumphs and successes. But along the way, there are plenty of vehicles that didn’t get the fame they deserved. Or simply fell short of their creators’ expectations. One such sports car built for a solitary year was the Canadian Bricklin SV-1. The SV-1 was the brainchild of Malcolm Bricklin, the man credited as the first businessman to import the Subaru brand into the USA in 1968.

Bricklin however decided to one day create his own sports car. The 1975 SV-1 was the product of that ambition. In 2023, the SV-1 is exceedingly rare, but YouTuber DD Speed Shop was able to purchase one themselves, albeit one in rough shape.

A video on the channel shows the car getting picked up from its previous home and heading into the YouTuber’s workshop to see if he can bring it up to life again. This SV-1 has not had the easiest of lives, but as a complete survivor, there is no reason to think that this car won’t be back on the rails again soon.

An Inspection Of The SV-1 Concludes it Is In Rough Shape

Bricklin SV-1 Engine Specs

(Sourced from Hagerty)

The story of DD Speed Shop acquiring the sports car started with an Instagram post by Vice Grip Garage, showing the car broken down at the side of the road. The YouTuber commented on the post before the garage replied to him and asked if he wanted to buy it, and he would do him a deal. A few months later, and finally, the car is in the YouTuber’s garage. It hopped around the United States before finally arriving in its home.

The rough state of the sports car is obvious from the off. It spent some time at Mortske Repair before it moved to the YouTuber’s workshop, and its time outside meant it soon accumulated a lot of dirt and grunge. The car also is in poor shape mechanically with it breaking down the last time it was on the road. The fact there is tape on the windshield of the sports car further hints at its overall condition. That does not detract from the fact that this has become a rare car and one that has earned a bit of a cult following.

The YouTuber explains that the SV-1 was a poorly constructed vehicle, and we can see this thanks to the crack running through the pillar on the left-hand side door. Build quality was a huge problem for the SV-1, and further inspection of the car reveals the scars of its hard life, with the roof particularly suffering. Part of this is thanks to its long life sitting outside, slowly eroding the condition. Sadly, the previous owner of the SV-1 took several of the rarest components from it, leaving DD Speed Shop with extra work to do.

Why The Bricklin SV-1 Was A Failure

Reasons That Made The SV-1 A Failed Sports Car

• The Bricklin SV-1 suffered from production problems and cracking bodywork
• Bricklin would soon get itself embroiled in scandal and debt
• The gullwing doors could trap passengers if the car rolled over
• A quarter of early body panels were thrown away

It is over 60 years since Malcolm Bricklin began to make his fortune. As Hagerty reports, the businessman first made a name for himself with a chain of hardware stores. By the early 1970s, Bricklin had begun importing Subaru’s into the U.S. and by the mid-1970s, he had drawn up plans for his own sports car. He decided to create something with gullwing doors, a small-capacity engine, and a steel cage. This last feature would headline a whole host of safety features for the new car, one of which was its heavy-duty bumpers.

Initially, Bricklin hoped to have a four-cylinder powerplant under the hood of the SV-1. But as Hagerty says, discussions with AMC led to the supply of 5.9-liter, 360 ci V8 engines instead. Bricklin went on a media crusade, conducting all sorts of interviews for TV, radio, and magazines.

This led to an order book for 2,000 SV-1s even before the prototype, but there were problems. The gullwing doors chosen had some of their own. There was no manual backup to open the doors if their electrical system failed, and occupants would have to climb out the rear hatch. If the SV-1 rolled, there was also no way of opening the doors.

The construction of the SV-1 was difficult for Bricklin to perfect. Cold or heat would crack the car’s body glass fiber panels. The production process became worse, as a quarter of the panels made needed throwing away. Hagerty also says that the first deliveries of SV-1s were unsaleable, due to their extensive problems. Soon, the company became mired in scandal and debt, and the dealer network for the SV-1 very quickly evaporated.

Repairing This Bricklin SV-1 Will Take A Lot Of Work

DD Speed Shop knows that there is a lot of work required on his SV-1 to get it back on the road. The skin will get peeled off the doors to see the panels’ condition, and the paintwork needs a lot of work. We get a look under the hood at its V8 powertrain, and the YouTuber reveals a few more concerns he has with the car. One of those is that it had no coolant in it, and he is hoping nothing inside the engine has cracked or broken.

The SV-1 Still Has A Complete Interior

The interior however is mostly complete, and the YouTuber does succeed in getting the engine to crank and turn over. It’s not clear when it last ran, but the sound of its V8 is good and it requires very little assistance from DD Speed Shop to keep it running.

The next steps are to get the car running better on its own and to make it more presentable to look at. The fiberglass panels are barely hanging on as they are just glued on, so that is another of the jobs lined up next for this obscure sports car.

Sources: DD Speed Shop YouTube Channel, Hagerty