Good morning, Autopians! Well, the suggestions keep rolling in, and I have to say, you’ve outdone yourselves. Today is all about failures, as we look at two plastic-bodied two-seaters that just didn’t make the splash their creators thought they would. But they’re both fascinating machines, and well worth a little discussion.
Yesterday’s little Chinese trucks were obviously obviously both overpriced for what are essentially toys for most of us. I know some brave souls actually drive low-speed vehicles around as if they were real cars or something, but most of us are too frightened to become a hood ornament on a Super Duty to do so. If you live in a contained area with no high-speed streets, like a retirement community or something, these could work, but you’re still probably better off with a nice Ford Festiva.
I was surprised by the outcome of the vote on this one. I expected the van to run away with it, due to the lower price and similarity to a kei van. But the Truckall seems to have made use of that cargo capacity to carry away the majority of your votes. Me, I’d take the van, simply because it’s a lot cheaper.
It has happened so many times I think we all have lost count: Someone has a “better” idea for a car, puts together a flashy design, gets some investors, and sets up shop. The lucky ones actually build a few cars, but most of them end up as vaporware, or worse, outright scams. Tucker and Dale versus evil Detroit, I guess you could call it, and Detroit always wins. The ones that do get made often end up forgotten, relegated to used car lots as curiosities, or parked in someone’s back yard after some unobtainium part fails.
These two come from different eras, and have different problems they’re trying to solve, but the wide-eyed optimism is the same. Both have plastic bodies, both have two seats, and both only lasted a couple of years. Let’s check them out.
2011 Think City – $4,377
Motor/drivetrain: 34 kilowatt electric motor, single-speed gear reduction, FWD
Location: Evansville, IN
Odometer reading: 19,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives, or so I assume
This adorable little car is one that almost made it. The Think City (or sometimes Th!nk City) is a front-wheel-drive two-seat electric hatchback, designed by Think Global in Norway with some help from Finnish company Valmet, as well as Ford. It was built in Valmet’s facility for the European market, and – get this – in Elkhart, Indiana for the US market. Yes, that’s right, the band instrument and RV capital of the world also gave us this cute little electric car.
The Think City is front-wheel-drive, powered by an electric motor that puts out 46 horsepower through a 10:1 gear reduction. It’s not much, but it’s enough to get the little car up to highway speeds – just barely. The motor is fed by a 23 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery that recharges from a standard wall outlet. Supposedly it’s enough to give the car 99 miles of range, and recharge overnight.
This little car has only 19,000 miles on its odometer, and hasn’t strayed far from its Elkhart home. But then, it’s a city runabout, tethered to a fairly small geographical region by its short range. It has amber warning lights on the roof, which makes me wonder if it was used for delivering mail or reading electrical meters (which would be ironic) or some similar short-trip official work. It’s well suited to those sorts of tasks.
It’s in OK shape, except for a split seam on the driver’s seat. Its Ford heritage is on display in the interior; I’m pretty sure that’s the same steering wheel and headlight switch my old Focus hatchback had. And by the way, the outside isn’t faded or missing clearcoat – it’s supposed to be a satin finish like that. The body panels are plastic, and molded in color.
1975 Bricklin SV-1 – $7,500
Engine/drivetrain: 351 cubic inch overhead valve V8, three-speed automatic, RWD
Location: Westland, MI
Odometer reading: 40,000 miles
Operational status: Engine runs, hasn’t been driven in a long time
Malcolm Bricklin is a name every gearhead should know. The car-loving entrepreneur is responsible for bringing Subaru to America, keeping Fiat Spiders and X1/9s landing on our shores after Fiat pulled up stumps in 1981, and, well, Yugo. But somehwere in the middle there, he also built his own car, this two-seat coupe: the SV-1.
The “SV” in SV-1 stands for Safety Vehicle. In the early 1970s, lots of new vehicle safety standards were proposed. Some, like five-mile-per-hour bumpers, were actually enacted, while others, like a rollover-protection standard that essentially killed off convertibles, never came to be. Bricklin wanted the SV-1 to meet or exceed every proposed standard. The fact that it was a stylish, V8-powered, gullwing-doored coupe was completely coincidental, of course. The early SV-1s were powered by AMC 360 V8s and available with either manual or automatic transmissions, but later cars such as this ’75 model have Ford power, and no manual option.
This SV-1 has been in storage a long time. The seller has revived the engine, but hasn’t gotten any further in the work needed to put it back on the road. It’s complete and intact, but you can expect to have to do a lot of work. Bricklin SV-1s weren’t much above kit cars in terms of build quality. The primer-gray hood is puzzling; like the Think above, SV-1s aren’t painted. The acrylic/fiberglass body panels, a massive source of production problems for Bricklin, were molded in one of five colors, with no paint necessary. I’m not sure why one panel would have been primered, unless it was damaged and someone repaired it using typical fiberglass repair techniques.
What worries me a bit more is that none of the photos in the ad show the doors open. The SV-1 has gullwing doors, which you would think the seller would want to show off. I fear they may not work. The doors are too heavy to open by hand; they’re operated by hydraulic cylinders driven by a failure-prone electric pump. If that pump is shot, it’s strictly NASCAR-style ingress and egress until you find a replacement.
(As a quick aside, I was once in possession of a 1975 Bricklin SV-1 brochure. I went looking for it several years ago, but it seems to have vanished somehwere along the way. I wish I still had it.)
Automotive history is littered with ghosts like these, cars from failed enterprises or defunct companies. Some, like the fabled Tucker 48 (no relation that I know of, by the way) end up in museums, the few remaining examples selling for huge sums. Others, like these two, aren’t so lucky. But that means mere mortals like us have a chance to experience a rare piece of history for a (relatively) bargain price. So which one intrigues you more – the little electric runabout, or the safety-conscious sports coupe?
(Image credits: Facebook Marketplace sellers)
I think the Bricklin is cool. But have absolutely no desire to own it or be the one to get it on the road again. At least the City I could use now until it gives out and I resell it to another person or a pick and pull. I have enough other projects that I don’t want to add another.
I really really wanted to vote for the Bricklin,but I just assume that it would be a bitch to get parts for and I would imagine that you would need a lot of parts as well.
I don’t really want the Th!nk either but it should be easier to live with.
Everyone here is stuck with the Bricklin, because there is no universe in which Mercedes Streeter does NOT buy the Think.
I worked for 3 years at the Dagenham Design Centre for Ford UK. Not only was it a design centre, they also manufactured all diesel engines Ford Europe – including Jaguar (jag-u-ar, not jag-wah), Land Rover etc. – and it was also a major distribution centre for cars. As such, it was a pretty large site.
Since Ford were involved in the Think project, and they never got sold over here as far as I’m aware, Ford had about half a dozen of these on the Dagenham site that any could just hop in and drive around the site for whatever they needed. I always remember them as being very cheaply built and pretty nippy up to city speeds.
The Bricklin seems like it should be the easy choice. Gull-wing doors, RWD, and a V8! Way cooler than a little electric city car. Especially one assembled in Elkhart by presumably the same people who haphazardly staple together most RVs.
But.. I know someone who owned a Bricklin. Someone with high mechanical aptitude and borderline mechanical masochism. Even he couldn’t deal with the Bricklin for very long. It really is that bad.
I voted for the Think City.
This essentially confirms why I made my choice. Every part of me is screaming to not subject myself to a Bricklin shaped purgatory.
I’ve never heard of the City until now, and in no previous Showdown have I ever voted for an EV period, but I think it’s got to be my choice today. The Bricklin was ugly and still is ugly. It’s heavy, the 351 is barely adequate, and Bricklin himself was slimy enough I don’t think I could have a car bearing his name in my driveway. Plus the City has the Valmet connection, which because my in-laws are proudly Finnish, is a selling point I suppose.
Bricklin!! No question about it. I followed their story from day one, and always admired Malcolm Bricklin for his ambition. They were cool cars when they came out and remain so today. This one would obviously take a lot of work, but it would be tremendous fun to cruise around in it once it was finished. As for the other choice, I’d rather get an electric bicycle. Cheaper and just as useful, at least where I live.
Until I get my dream job, starting pitcher in the MLB. I’ll leave the team cart in the dugout and drive the Bricklyn.
Anyone favoring the Bricklin should watch the VGG episode.
Think of the Think as an alternative to a golf cart or a Changli and it makes perfect sense. I think.
Umm, no thank you to a 50 HP over a decade old EV from Norway. At Least it is lithium Ion, but the battery is probably unobtanium and likely needs replaced.
The Bricklin will definitely run hot and the doors might cut off appendages at will. But, that thing is always the one people try to make excuses for trying to make work. I suppose I would in fact want to do a EV swap on the Bricklin if money was not an issue.
I wanted to vote for the Bricklin, but I honestly think (see what I did there?) I’d like the other one better, if for no other reason that I could actually use it for a bunch of dinky trips right now. The Bricklin is a longer term proposition that you would have to spend money on with questionable return. The other one is something that you could actually save a little money with.
Bricklin for me. It has the novelty factor AND it looks good. And parts/service is likely to be easier to come by.
Some of them are, with enough searching. It’s kind of a grab-bag of whatever was available from whatever manufacturer plus a lot of fully custom pieces, but major drivetrain components like the motor are mostly easy once you track down whose parts bin they came from.
I’m not sure you can really call the Think a failure. I recall seeing quite a few around in Northern Europe. Maybe just a failure over here in cheap gas fat ass land.
I mean, it was made in Northern Europe but it sold so few overall that the company failed. Made something like 2,500 total. I’m not sure by which metric it wasn’t a failure.
I’ve seen a bunch of DMC-12s over the years, doesn’t mean the DMC-12 didn’t fail.
Th!nk! There’s a lot of those in my area, and they’re cute as heck. I live out in the country now and their tired batteries don’t have enough range to get me anywhere and back again, but maybe a re-batteried one will one day land in my driveway.
That Bricklin SV1 looks like a lot of old brittle fiberglass surrounding the wrong transmission.
No dice on the kit car. That thing should go into the recycle bin.
But that Think thing is pretty cool! If it can still go 99 miles, it would handle my work commute perfectly. And it doesn’t look like a kit car to me.
Neither of these were kit cars.
Gosh, I love both of these weirdos, but BRICKLIN!!! Bricklin!
The Safety Vehicle has such a weird frickin’ backstory that it has to get my vote. I love to suffer. I want the Bricklin.
Nothing safer than car that never leaves the driveway.
One can’t get you out of town, the other won’t.
COTD
If this doesn’t win it’ll be a crime
I have a Zero and a Buell like that.
But which is which? The Think City will only get you 49 miles away and back again without a charge, but that’ll get you at least a little out of most major metros.
The Bricklin can theoretically get you wherever you need to go as long as there’s gas stations.. but in practice it’s probably not even going to make it out of the driveway.
I always liked Bricklin and came here to vote for it, but I can’t do it. Maybe it’s the kit car level of build quality, maybe it’s the sheer amount of work this would take (I currently have way too many projects and a baby on the way). But honestly? I like the Th!nk City a lot better. That’s a practical city runabout, the price isn’t too bad, and it doesn’t look like too much of a project.
I’m surprised and disappointed in myself, but I have zero desire to work on that Bricklin.
You perfectly summed up my thoughts!
Well put. I came into this all set to vote Bricklin, but after seeing that basket case and the price tag, I just couldn’t do it. Meanwhile the City would get daily use in short order.
Bricklins have never appealed much to me, with their clunky styling and underwhelming performance. You’d be into this for multiples of the purchase price before having a usable car in decent shape (let alone a show car). I actually saw a Think City at Trader Joe’s several months ago–neat design and it would be well suited for some people’s needs. It’s cheap enough to get my vote despite its limitations.
I have always liked the SV-1 for some reason. I think they are nice looking vehicles. I don’t know about this car, though. Getting this thing road ready is going to be a nightmare. Looking at past sales on BAT, it seems like you can get a ready to drive 10 footer for $20,000 to $30,000. Also, for what its worth, Hagerty values an SV-1 in good condition at $23,000 (their valuations also tend to be on the high side). I suspect someone with mechanical skill and a lot of free time could turn this car into a running 10 footer for less than $20,000 including the cost of the car, but that would be a lot of effort for little gain.
As for the Think, l think it is actually not a terrible value for the money, assuming it really can drive 99 miles on a full charge and go highway speeds (not at the same time, of course). That would make it comparable in performance to a first-generation Leaf, for slightly less money (you can get a Leaf for less than $4300, but don’t). This car could make sense for the right buyer.
The Think City is probably the better deal. The Bricklin is collectible, but it’s not a great car, so you’ve got to be a true fan to revive it. If the prices were closer, it might be worth it.
I went fancy golf car over plastic lawn ornament.
Going for the Think. I have enough V8s in the garage already so a funny little EV would make a nice addition. If the range is half decent, it would make a neat grocery getter.
I think that Think would actually apply for the Used EV Tax Credit of 30% since it’s at a dealer, which at that price and with the quirky and fun of an appearance, I’d be tempted to actually buy it