Automotive entrepreneur Malcolm Bricklin's business successes and failings over the years have been well documented in the media over the years, with Autoblog being no exception. All eyes are on Bricklin to see if his grandiose plans for Chinese automaker Chery can meet with Subaru-like success, or whether the result will be more on the order of the dismal failure of his self-named Bricklin 'safety' sports car, or the discount embarrassment that was Yugo's foray into North America.
But apparently, all of this isn't enough for the once-and-future importer. According to Fortune Magazine's Alex Taylor III, Bricklin is chronicling his daily life leading up to the launch of Chery with a video crew that follows him around 24/7-- reportedly, more than 1,000 hours of footage has been recorded. Could 'Bricklin: The Movie' be far behind?
[Sources: Fortune Magazine via CNNMoney; AutoNews]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
not important @ Jun 3rd 2006 7:33PM
this guy clearly thinks that he is going to change the world. only time will tell if he is buying into his own bs or if can back up the hype with good cars at stupid low prices.
.T @ Jun 3rd 2006 7:45PM
Nothing will beat a movie about a man that peddles vapormobiles.
JB @ Jun 3rd 2006 11:20PM
This guy has an ego the size of China. Nothing would thrill him more to become the Richard Branson of the car business. Unfortunately for him, his projects have all been dismal failures, but the "I've been screwed by Bricklin" club has a lot of members.
The Chinese have an expression - blowing the cow, meaning to boast. I think Bricklin is pictured next to it in the dictionary. He is a piece of work. He had better be careful, though, he could find himself in a sticky spot with the Chinese govt when the Chery boondoggle collapses under the weight of his ego. The Chinese have the death penalty for about 300 crimes.
Chris @ Jun 4th 2006 2:13AM
Why would someone want to tape their own failure? ^^
I just don't buy his Audi for $20 000 strategy.
First of all, I would never pay that much for a car without a track record. Second, a cheap car with an over abundance of Cheapo-luxury features just sounds like a car with more things that could BREAK on it. Third, I would be concerned about the safety in such a cheap car. Finally, even if they offer a decent warrenty, they would neither have a the dealership/customer service network or the reserve funds to ensure warranty claims are taken care of.
gbh @ Jun 4th 2006 1:23PM
While it's hard to argue that Bricklin has ever been a long-term success in any of these ventures, it is also hard to argue against him being visionary.
Subaru in the 60's, the extended warranty, the SV-1...
Perhaps (and likely) his execution will be as flawed as it has been historically.
There is little doubt that this is the future though. Someday, I imagine you'll be able to get a new car/truck down at Harbor Freight for $8995. Laugh if you will, just remember Sears sold a lot of houses out of it's catalog not that long ago.
If there is anything that should strike *absolute* terror into the hearts of the big2, it's the Chinese investment in auto production. Sure the quality of Chinese will likely be even a bit lower that DET product - but it will be priced in line with it's quality - not it's legacy costs.
jonathan bricklin @ Jun 5th 2006 8:31AM
It seems rather blatant to me that to write a blog with such fool hearted rightousness about someone you know only from slanted articles in the media, you would need to be a rather impressive failure in your own right. I'm directing this blog, in general, to the other blog writers who so obviously share a similar perspective in life. To judge and critique comfortably from you lazy boy, beer in hand, with venomous anger, and clear jealousy in your voice you would need to have a clear understanding of failure, which i do not doubt, all do. Or you could really look at the facts. At 67 years old Malcolm Bricklin has more drive and ambition then the entire blood line of all these blog writers familys' combined, and he has the benefit of all of his failures(selling 160,000 yugos, and then the company for 20 million), and successes(starting a multi-billion dollar car company, Subaru) to build upon. To assume once you've failed, you'll forever fail, would be to dismiss every single great accomplishment and risk taker the world has ever known. It's inane, and embarrasing to think like that. What you are clearly doing is projecting your own pathetic failures, and by failures in this instance, i mean your complete lack of initiative, your fear of failure, your baby testicles preventing you from doing anything noteworthy for your entire life. I have the good fortune to be Malcolm's son who has documented over 1000 hours of Malcolm traveling the world and securing a contract with the premiere chinese automaker, and raising 200 million dollars, and haveing a good time while he did it. There is, however, one very positive note to this blog, and that is, i obviously have an audience for my movie about Malcolm. As much you might like to think you wont be attending. You will. Even if you have to drive a yugo to get there, you wouldn't miss it for the world. That much is true.
AXLE @ Jun 5th 2006 8:47AM
Wow you really Jonathan Bricklin? Great post, I totally agree with what you say. Chinese cars are coming and I have truely believe that Malcolm will succeed in this latest endevour. On a side note, I can't wait to see what vehicle the 4.0 V8 developed by AVL will be put into, can you give us a hint Jonathan? I encourage all the haters and fans to visit www.chinacarforums.com in regards to discussing what the auto industry in China has to offer.
www.gmaccessories-direct.com @ Jun 5th 2006 8:52AM
Bricklin's Son is the Director of this movie. I met him and his son at one of the prospective dealer meetings in Columbus, OH. They were asking $2 Million for a buy-in now (with no vehicles until 2007?) It was pretty great!
malcolm bricklins malignant tumor @ Jun 5th 2006 11:35AM
Jonathan,
I'm astounded at your arrogance and self importance. you couldn't pay me to see your stupid movie. i'd rather be the lazy beer drinking failure that is me than to be a self important prick like you, who wouldn't have anything if it wasn't your dad.
fuck your dad's ambition, who cares. your dad's an ass, and so are you.
and to AXLE. stop licking his balls.
gbh @ Jun 5th 2006 12:28PM
Wow, Jonathan.
After that little spoiled-punk-pop-psych tirade, you are going to get zero respect from those of us here who do have our own companies and don't sit around drinking beer all day. You'll also get no respect from lots of other folks who work hard everyday too.
One of the early stages of adulthood is admitting that nobody's parents are perfect. Not even your own.
I've learned that one of the things that 99% of all successful folks do is smile on the outside in the face of criticism. You know that you work hard, regardles of what others may think. You also shut the f*ck up and listen, because that feedback always contains some truth.
One of the grandest delusions is ignoring that there's millions of folks out there who are as smart/smarter than you and yours. Save for a bit of luck, and money, there's plenty of driven folks who could *easily* replace your dad. You? Odds are you would be nobody if it weren't for your father's money and access. That's real life.
Childish grandiosity and hubris will eventually catch up to you. Just ask Dean Kamen.
jonathan bricklin @ Jun 5th 2006 2:40PM
i will ask Dean Kamen when i get the opportunity. He happens to be a particualr hero of mine. And in your particular case I would have to agree, "there are millions(probably billions) of smarter people than yourself.
lalaland @ Jun 5th 2006 3:28PM
When Visionary Vehicles collapses, and the $2mil-a-pop dealers sue Bricklin, whadda ya bet that 1000 hours of (possible incriminating) film footage gets "lost" somehow...
jonathan bricklin @ Jun 5th 2006 5:09PM
considering film distributors are currently in the process of biding for the movie rights as i waist time writing to you, i would say it might be difficult to lose anything, nor would we want to. Continue your cynical, depressing life hoping for other peoples failures and i'll continue creating and inspiring others, cheers
gbh @ Jun 5th 2006 7:10PM
I do know and freely admit, there are millions of people out there smarter than me. My SAT's were only 98th percentile. I dropped out of Mensa years ago.
Depends on how one defines 'intelligence' of course, there are so many different types of giftedness. I'm sure you're aware of that too, but we have to lay this stuff out for those poor folks who are even dimmer than me.
Minor point of order - Your dad did not start Subaru- though he did start selling them in the US. From SV1 to Yugo and beyond, *every* project lost lots of money for lots of investors. I'm sure that was just an oversight on your part, not misstatement for the sake of aggrandizement.
As an intellectual, you might appreciate this, just as an aside. Today, I was having an interesting lunch with a police psychologist friend of mine. As brilliant as you are, I'm sure you know this stuff already, but gosh, I found it fascinating. We started talking about con-men. Did you know one interesting thing about a hustler is how immediately they get very defensive when you have their pattern figured? They get so used to fooling most of the people most of the time, they say the most ridiculous things trying to defend their actions. Has something to do with thinking that they are smarter/superior to everybody else. The best is when they start believing themselves.
If you haven't met MM, I bet your dad will explain to you what happened to him when he got a bit too full of himself.
Studies in narcissism and delusion. But, I digress. Back to the topic at hand...
You're right, I have been stupid. You and your father both deserve the rep you have earned.
Ciao.
jonathan bricklin @ Jun 6th 2006 9:49AM
Of course you have a shrink, and a police shrink to boot, to help you with your clear case of an inferiority complex, but i'm sure you're quite accomplished, you and your former mensa buddys. The point that puzzles me most is that while my dad continues to speak at Harvard and Wharton and UCLA and on and on, you continue to spew inacuracies from the comfort of anonymity. And to your point of our reputation, well for starters i'm quite pleased to learn i have a rep, and as far as my father's rep, well, lets see here, one of the worlds richest investors has invested in his company, several of the top CEO's of the most established businesses in the country have invested, he's on the cover of Fortune, inspite of the-as we established earlier, slanted article. Not to mention that when you get put out to pasture in your late 60's, malcolm still continues to ingnore schmucks like yourself and wake up every day and try and inovate and inspire those that work for him and those that look up to him. I like con man movies, and i'm sure your little mensa brain finds it easier to categorize malcolm as robert redford in the sting, than to actually grasp the very complex person that he is, that we all are, expect maybe yourself, you seem rather simple, anyway, i will conclude this rather fascinating conversation with yourself by taking all of your thoughts as a compliment and respectfully sign off. thanks for the fun.
YOUR MOM @ Jun 6th 2006 1:11PM
JOHNATHAN, I HOPE YOU DIE IN ONE OF YOUR DAD'S CRAPPY CARS. BUT THEN AGAIN YOU PROBABLY WOULDN'T BE COUGHT DEAD IN ONE.
YOUR MOM @ Jun 6th 2006 1:40PM
YEAH, JONATHAN YOU ARE JUST SO INSPIRING.
I'LL TELL YOU HOW INSPIRED I AM BY YOU WHEN I PICK UP YOUR SHITTY MOVIE FROM THE 99 CENT BIN AT BORDERS IN A COUPLE OF MONTHS.
WHAT AN ASSHOLE TO THINK ANYBODY WOULD PAY MONEY TO SEE A MOVIE ABOUT HIS LOSER DAD!
Darren @ Jun 9th 2006 1:51AM
By checking the available pics of V5, it looks like a "cheap chinses Daewoo" but several problems arise immediately. First, the chery name is too close to obviously, chevy. Second, how can chery competes in North American by its own to already now well climbing Hyundai/Kia/even Daewoo itself & don't forget V5 is also design by previous Daewoo designer. Third, GM sells Daewoo as Pontiac wave/Chevy optra/Suzuki swift+/verona. Fourth, dealer network/reputation, I do not want it is just like a few another SAAB/saturn dealer in each province in canada. People buy cars as investment & chery has no resale value compare to hyundai/kia/daewoo/suzuki. Fifth, only do if cheap cheap MSRP with loaded loaded features below at least $5,000 + tax less compare to similar equip Mazda 5/kia Rondo/upcoming Honda Latitude... etc around 2008/9.
Paul Stanley @ Jun 29th 2006 10:59PM
Until yesterday, I never heard of the name Malcolm Brinklin, listening to NPR (National Public Radio) the news about the introduction of a Chinese automobile to America was exciting.
I do remember the introduction of the automobile called the Yugo, a cheaper priced vehicle that was actually selling rapidly in my area of Baltimore, Maryland at the time.
Regardless of what someone else might consider a failure(s), Malcolm Brinklin, was audacious in his ability to not only introduce the Yugo in the early days and sell over 100,000 of them, but he accomplished what some only dreamed of like myself. He made the dream REAL! (smile)
What about the introduction of Subaru? Wow, I did not know he was behind that deal also. That is awesome! His tenacity propelled more plans of action, while others criticized, and they themselves could not accomplish in a lifetime.
What an inspiration of the American dream, entrepreneurship! What do you guys desire to accomplish in this life? Commit to excellance, thats my objective today and forever!