Bricklin SV-1s for Sale at Mecum Glendale 2026 - No Reserve
On Friday, March 20, 2026, Mecum Auctions offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity: a collection of seven low-mileage Bricklin SV-1s – all selling with no reserve – at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. For collectors, investors, and fans of rare American sports cars, this is the most concentrated offering of Bricklin SV-1s ever assembled at a single auction.
What Is the Bricklin SV-1?
The Bricklin SV-1 is a two-seat, V8-powered sports car produced from 1974 to early 1976 by American entrepreneur Malcolm Bricklin. The name SV-1 stands for Safety Vehicle 1, and the car was purpose-built to exceed – not just meet – the U.S. federal safety standards of its era. Assembly took place in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, making the SV-1 one of the very few sports cars ever manufactured in Canada.
Bricklin’s design team, which included Art Center-trained designer Herb Grasse, wrapped a steel perimeter frame and integrated roll cage in a composite body made from color-impregnated acrylic resin bonded to fiberglass – meaning the cars arrived from the factory already colored, with no separate paint step required. Minor surface scratches could simply be buffed out of the acrylic material. The cars were offered in five distinctive “Safety” colors: Safety White, Safety Red, Safety Orange, Safety Green, and Safety Suntan.
The Gullwing Doors: Spectacular and Functional
The Bricklin’s most iconic feature – its hydraulic gullwing doors – set it apart from virtually every other production car of its era. Each 90-lb door was raised using a push-button hydraulic pump and took a full 12 seconds to travel from closed to fully open. Unlike the gas-strut setup of the later DeLorean DMC-12, the SV-1’s hydraulic system was uniquely dramatic – and uniquely demanding of attention.
Bricklin positioned the gullwing design partly as a safety feature: doors that open upward can’t swing into passing traffic. The doors became the car’s undeniable conversation piece, drawing comparisons to the legendary Mercedes-Benz 300SL – which Hagerty noted is “the other gullwing that only became more valuable over time.” The SV-1 predated the DeLorean DMC-12‘s debut by several years, giving it a legitimate claim as America’s own gullwing sports car.
Performance: A Legitimate Corvette Rival
Under the hood, the Bricklin SV-1 was no trailer queen. 1974 models received an AMC 360 cubic-inch V8 producing 220 horsepower, available with either a BorgWarner T-10 four-speed manual or a Chrysler three-speed automatic. For 1975, Bricklin switched to a Ford 351 Windsor V8 with 175 horsepower as the standard engine.
A 1975 Car and Driver head-to-head test put the SV-1 within a half-second of the Chevrolet Corvette in the quarter mile, recording 16.6 seconds at 83.6 mph and a top speed of 118 mph. The same test noted the car’s sporty suspension tuning and praised its road presence, with the magazine writing that driving a Bricklin made “Z-Car drivers circle in for a closer look.”
Why the Bricklin SV-1 Is Rare - and Getting Rarer
Fewer than 2,906 Bricklin SV-1s were ever built before the company went into receivership. Today, estimates of surviving examples range from approximately 1,120 to 1,700 cars worldwide. Among all SV-1s built, only 137–156 ever received the four-speed manual transmission, making stick-shift examples extraordinarily rare.
The car’s short production window – just two full model years and a partial third – means supply is fixed and slowly shrinking. There will never be more Bricklin SV-1s. That scarcity, combined with growing enthusiast interest, is the foundation of the model’s rising collector value.
The Bricklin SV-1 Collector Market
Values for the Bricklin SV-1 have been on a steady upward trajectory. Over the last several years, Hagerty reported a 20% increase in values for 1974–75 examples, calling the SV-1 “an affordable, eye-catching oddball” with “nowhere to go but up.” The Hagerty Price Guide currently values a #3 (Good) condition SV-1 at approximately $23,000, with pristine examples trading in the mid-to-upper $40,000s at auction.
At Mecum’s Larry’s Legacy auction in late 2025, a 1974 Bricklin SV-1 sold for $49,500, confirming the upward price trend for clean, documented examples. For buyers who missed that sale, the Glendale 2026 collection – all selling with no reserve – offers a rare second chance to acquire some of the lowest-mileage SV-1s ever put to auction.
The Mecum Glendale 2026 Bricklin Collection
Seven Bricklin SV-1s will cross the block at Glendale, spanning all three model years and multiple configurations. All examples are noted for remarkably low mileage – ranging from as few as 80 miles to just 8,877 miles – extraordinary for cars now over 50 years old.
The 1974 example (Lot F180.1) carries the ultra-rare 4-speed manual transmission – fewer than 160 examples similarly equipped were ever built. Every lot in the collection sells with no reserve, meaning the bidder, not the seller, sets the final price.
Why Collectors Love the Bricklin SV-1
The Bricklin SV-1 shares DNA with the DeLorean DMC-12 in all the best ways: an audacious entrepreneur, a short production run, gullwing doors, and a story that is equal parts ambition and spectacular failure. Both cars have since developed passionate cult followings among enthusiasts who value uniqueness over mass-market appeal.
Mechanically, the SV-1 is more approachable than many exotics. Its AMC and Ford-sourced powertrains mean parts are readily available through everyday supplier networks. The Bricklin International Owners Club provides community support, and specialists remain active for everything from hydraulic door system upgrades to body panel restoration. Canada even issued a commemorative Bricklin postage stamp in 1996 and a silver collector coin in 2003 – cementing the SV-1’s status as a genuine piece of North American automotive history.
For buyers seeking a low-production American classic with gullwing drama, a rising market, and real-world collectability, the Bricklin SV-1 checks every box. The Mecum Glendale 2026 collection – seven cars, no reserve, Friday March 20 – may be the single best opportunity to acquire one that the market has ever seen.
View the full Bricklin Collection at mecum.com/auctions/glendale-2026/collections/the-bricklin-collection/