Today Malcolm Bricklin stopped by the Westin Riverfront's Restaurant Avondale to meet some of the Vail Automotive Classic Board members, thanks to his son Mark, who is the "Marketing Guy" at our local newspaper, the Vail Daily (coincidence, they are a major sponsor of the 2011 event!).  Here is a bit of his story in the automotive industry, although talking to him in person is much more enlightening, animated and exciting.

A Brief Look at the Career of Malcolm Bricklin

Malcolm Bricklin founded Subaru of America in 1968 (at the age of 29). The first car imported was the Subaru 360, a small car which got 66 mpg before high mileage was a concern to most car buyers. In 1990, Fuji Heavy Industries (Subaru's parent company) bought back controlling interest in SOA but to this point, Subaru was the only wholly owned American , Japanese import company… All of the other American import companies were wholly owned by the manufacturer; Datsun (Nissan), Honda, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Suzuki, Isuzu & Toyota. Subaru of America is based in Cherry Hill, NJ… a Philadelphia suburb… this is where my Dad lived when he started the company.
 
In 1971, Malcolm founded Fastrack International which was an earlier version of "Malibu Grand Prix".
 
In 1972, he started working on the Bricklin SV1 which may have had some impetus from Ralph Nader & Consumer Reports questioning the safety of the tiny Subaru 360 on American roads… the Bricklin was conceived as a Safety Car from the start. Bricklin Vehicle Corporation was based in Scottsdale, AZ with offices in Parsippany, NJ & Livonia, MI and factories in St. John & Minto, New Brunswick. The car was manufactured in 1974 & 1975 with a handful of folks claiming their cars as 1976 models because they were on the production line in t he Fall of 1975 when the company filed for receivership.
 
Malcolm worked on the Bricklin-Turner Engine featured on the cover of Mechanic Illustrated in 1977.
 
He imported the Bertone X1/9 and Pinninfarina Spyder when Fiat stopped building the cars…. this was in 1983 - 1985. Pinninfarina stopped building the Spyder to make room for an assembly line for the short-lived Cadillac Allante in 1985. The Pontiac Fiero came out around this time and boosted the popularity of the mid-engine X1/9. These two coach builders, have designed every production Ferrari - ever.
 
In 1984, Yugo America was founded and Malcolm ran the company until 1988. Starting at $3990, the Yugo GV, GVS, GVX and Cabrio were the fastest selling European import in the US, ever. In 1988, he sold the company. The YUGO is the only manufacturer not to have a vehicle recall, ever.
 
In 1995 -1997, he owned the Electric Bicycle Company… selling electric bikes through auto dealers… the bike went 20 miles on a charge at an average speed of 15 mph.
 
Visionary Vehicles planned on importing a full line of cars manufactured by Chery in China. This took place from 2003 - 2007. A huge amount of publicity and attention was generated by this project… very interesting story. Chery and a host of 'partners' including Chrysler, conspired to oust Bricklin and his investors… at this time, Chery has never imported a car to the US and is currently involved with litigation that may end by the end of 2011.
 
He is currently working on a variety of projects which may include a new Bricklin, possibly electric.
 
Many thanks to Mr. Bricklin, Mark Bricklin, and the Restaurant Avondale for making this great event happen today!